TEMPOHOUSE
The old chapel's recital hall at blue hour: tall arched windows, rows of empty dark chairs and a black grand piano at rest under the wall lamps
Music lessons · Bristol · Ages 5–85

A place to become musical.

One-to-one lessons, bands, orchestra and choir in a converted chapel near Gloucester Road.
Book a £20 trialExplore the school
Piano · Guitar · Voice · Drums · Strings
The Old Chapel · Bristol BS6
02 / The house

Room for a first note.

Tempo House began in 2014, when Rosa Albright taught eleven students on one piano. Today the old chapel holds seven soundproofed rooms, fourteen working musicians and lessons for people from five to eighty-five. It still feels personal: one teacher, one weekly time, and a plan made around the person at the instrument.

Start where you are. Keep going from there.

Rosa Albright playing the grand piano in the tall-windowed piano room, her eyes on the keys
Rosa Albright · Founder & piano
03 / One-to-one & early years

Choose your instrument.

Every instrument costs the same. Every student has the same teacher each week, a written practice plan and a place in both recitals.
An adult's hands on the keys of a black grand piano in soft window light

Piano

Grand pianos in the piano room and the hall

A guitar teacher showing a boy a chord on an acoustic guitar in the chapel hall

Guitar

Acoustic, electric and bass

A singer in a voice lesson, one hand raised as she sings, seen past her teacher's shoulder

Voice

Pop, musical theatre and classical

A drum teacher playing beside a smiling boy and girl at a drum kit in the chapel hall

Drums & percussion

Two kits behind soundproofed walls

A violin teacher adjusting a teenage student's bow hold by a tall window

Violin

Instruments in every size

A cellist playing beside a music stand in the chapel hall under arched windows

Cello

From a quarter-size up

Four young children with handbells and a xylophone on the floor with their teacher on a Saturday morning

Little Notes

Ages 4–6 · Saturday mornings

04 / Every student

More than the half-hour.

  1. A teacher writing in a notebook beside a boy holding his violin

    01 — One teacher

    The same teacher every week, all year. Someone who knows what clicked last Tuesday — and what did not.

  2. A hand writing a practice plan in pencil beside an open book of sheet music

    02 — A clear plan

    Ten useful minutes a day, written down and shared with parents when the student is young.

  3. A girl playing the violin on the recital stage beside her accompanist at the grand piano

    03 — A real stage

    Winter and summer recitals. Every student can play, from a first piece to Grade 8.

  4. A closed dark-blue music book on a wooden table beside a violin

    04 — Exams, optional

    Grades when they help, never as the point. Half of our students never take one.

05 / The path

One piece leads to another.

There is a route through music, but no race along it.

  1. 00 / Trial lesson

    Thirty minutes to try an instrument and meet a teacher. We provide the instrument.

  2. 01 / First pieces

    Read notes, keep time and play a whole song in the first term.

  3. 02 / Grades 1 & 2

    Entered only when your teacher is sure, with a mock in the recital hall one month before.

  4. 03 / Grades 3–5

    Scales in every key, Grade 5 theory with Mei, and a place in a band or the orchestra.

  5. 04 / Grades 6–8 & beyond

    Advanced pieces, then the step to a diploma, an A level or a music college audition.

A teacher and a girl reading a score together at the piano
A conductor leading a mixed-age orchestra rehearsal in the chapel hall
An adult student rehearsing alone at the grand piano in the recital hall
06 / Four evenings a week

Music changes in a room together.

Rehearse, listen, count in — and learn what your part can do beside someone else's.
A teenage band rehearsing in the chapel hall with their teacher on bass
Ask about an ensemble
Ensembles

Ensembles

#WhenEnsembleFeeWho it is for
01Fri 5–6.30 pm

Rock school bands

£85 / termAges 11–18 · a gig in the hall every term
02Thu 6–7.30 pm

The house orchestra

£60 / termFrom Grade 3 · free with lessons
03Tue 7.30–9 pm

Community choir

£45 / termAdults · no audition · first week free
04Wed 6–7 pm

Jazz band

£85 / termAges 12 and up · solos from week one
07 / Inside Tempo House

Seven rooms. One old chapel.

Every room is soundproofed. Every room has what the lesson needs.
  • The empty piano room: a black grand piano and bench before two tall windows

    Piano room

    A grand piano and two tall windows

  • The drum booth: two drum kits on a wooden floor beside a lamp

    Drum booth

    Two kits behind soundproofed walls

  • The guitar room: acoustic and electric guitars on stands beside amplifiers under a tall window

    Guitar room

    Amps and spares of everything

  • The string room: violins and cellos of several sizes on stands beside music stands

    String room

    Violins and cellos in every size

  • The recording room: a mixing desk, two speakers and a screen showing a waveform, a chair in front

    Recording room

    Where singers and bands hear themselves back

  • The Little Notes room: small coloured chairs, a patterned rug and a table of handbells and xylophones

    Little Notes room

    Bells, xylophones and rhythm games

  • The recital hall: rows of dark chairs facing a stage with a grand piano under arched windows

    Recital hall

    120 seats, a grand piano, two concerts a year

The winter recital: a girl playing the violin on stage beside her accompanist at the grand piano, the audience in silhouette
08 / Winter & summer

The room listens back.

About forty students share one evening, from first pieces to Grade 8. There is no qualifying round: every Tempo House student can take the stage twice a year.

The recital hall · The Old Chapel · 120 seats

09 / Six of fourteen

Working musicians. Attentive teachers.

Every teacher still performs, records or conducts — and brings that living practice into the room.
Meet a teacher
Rosa Albright at the grand piano, her eyes lowered to the keys
Rosa Albright
Founder · piano
Still teaches four days a week.
Mei Tan smiling beside a young student at the piano
Mei Tan
Piano · music theory
Runs Grade 5 theory and the mock days.
Theo Marsh playing an acoustic guitar in the chapel hall
Theo Marsh
Guitar · bass · rock school
Toured for ten years. Writes a song with every new student in their first month.
Freya Lund smiling behind her drum kit with sticks raised
Freya Lund
Drums · percussion
Leads the Saturday rhythm club.
Inés Carrow playing the violin, looking down at her instrument
Inés Carrow
Violin · cello
Conducts the house orchestra.
Daniel Achebe singing and gesturing with one open hand as he teaches
Daniel Achebe
Voice
Leads the Tuesday community choir across musical theatre, pop and classical.
10 / From the house

What it feels like to begin.

  • Maya and her teacher Mei smiling together at the piano
    Maya cried before her first lesson and now cries when the holidays mean she misses one. Mei worked out exactly how she learns.
    Priya S.Mum of Maya, 9 · piano
  • Martin playing the cello in an orchestra rehearsal among younger players
    I started the cello at fifty-two. Nobody made me feel late to it, and last winter I played in the orchestra at the recital.
    Martin O.Adult student · cello
  • Callum playing an electric bass in a band rehearsal
    Being in a band on Fridays is the best bit of my week. We have played four gigs and written six songs.
    Callum R.Rock school · bass
11 / Lessons & fees · 2026–27

One price for every instrument.

One-to-one lessons are paid by the term. Autumn runs for eleven weeks; spring and summer run for ten.

  • Trial lesson

    £20once
    Try an instrument and meet a teacher, weekdays after school or Saturdays. The £20 comes off your first term if you carry on.
    • 30 minutes
    • Instrument provided

  • 30 minutes

    £22a lesson
    Where most beginners and younger children start, up to about Grade 3.
    • Same teacher
    • Practice plan
    • Both recitals

  • 45 minutes

    £31a lesson
    Scales, sight-reading and a new piece in the same week, usually from Grade 3.
    • Aural and theory
    • Exam entry handled

  • 60 minutes

    £40a lesson
    Grades 6–8, diplomas, auditions and adults who want the full hour.
    • A mock exam in the hall
    • A recording of your pieces

Exams are always optional.

Request a trial lesson
12 / Find the house

Ten minutes from Gloucester Road.

The Old Chapel, 9 Lantern Row, Bristol BS6 5UF. The front desk answers the phone from 3 pm on weekdays.
Monday–Friday
3.30–9 pm
Saturday
9 am–5 pm
Phone
0117 496 0732
Email
hello@tempohouse.example
Call 0117 496 0732Email the front desk
The converted stone chapel at dusk: glowing arched windows, a small spire, stone steps and an old street lamp
A converted chapel, with the recital hall at its heart
13 / £20 trial lesson

Come in. Try an instrument.

Thirty minutes to meet a teacher, hear the room and see how the instrument feels. We provide the instrument. If you continue, the £20 comes off your first term.
Which instrument?
Which instrument?
0117 496 0732
01 Send the request 02 The front desk emails you with a time 03 Meet your teacher at the Old Chapel