NickEl Strumology

What we do

NickEl Strumology provide small, group led sessions for Guitar and Ukulele players of ALL abilities. Whether you have never played before, want to improve, or are an experienced player looking to play with other people; our sessions cater for everyone. You will be taught a range of skills on how to get the best out of your instrument of choice whilst playing a selection of popular songs together. If you are interested but do not have an instrument, no problem, there will be a few ukulele's to use during the workshop. Our aim is to share our combined knowledge, teach you new skills and, most importantly, play music together.

Who we are

Nick & Eleanor are current members of local band “The Collective”. They play every Wednesday at The Folly in Napton.

Nick has been playing guitar & ukulele for over 30 years. He started playing at The Folly in 2021, after lockdown restrictions eased. He had a desire to share music with the local community, to give people something to look forward to, and bring people together after a difficult time. It began with him playing ukulele in the garden of The Folly, people in the audience were encouraged to join in, either playing their own instrument, singing along, or playing a variety of percussion instruments that he provided. After only a couple of weeks Nick was joined by two bass players and a drummer, and “The Collective” was formed. Nick’s vision of The Collective was to encourage peoples love of music and playing together and has expanded to include other regular band members.

In July 2021 Eleanor went along to The Folly after her parents saw an advert on Facebook. Seeing it as a good way of getting out of the house and reconnecting with the “real world”. Eleanor had started to teach herself ukulele only a week before as an escape from doing GCSE’s. She loved it and has been every week since. From strumming along in the audience, knowing only a few chords, she progressed to learning guitar and in January 2022 she was invited to join “The Collective” and is now their lead guitarist. That one chance summer evening has had such a positive effect on her life. Through the encouragement & teaching of Nick, Eleanor has gained in confidence as well as musical ability. It even changed her career path as she is now pursuing a degree in Audio & Music Production.

Music is an important part of both of their lives and has changed it for the better. Now they want to spread the love of making music so others can enjoy it too.

Why Should you Come to our Workshops?

Music has the brilliant ability to teach so many skills beyond just playing an instrument and can have such a positive effect on mental health and wellbeing too. A chance to get away from the “day-to-day” anxieties of life, with music you can put your problems to one side and focus on something else that is positive. It can be perceived that learning an instrument is difficult, but we want to show that anyone can learn (regardless of their skill level, experience or age) but most importantly, we want everyone to have fun!