As music continues to be woven into our everyday life, learning to play an instrument can begin in many ways. For some, it starts at home. For others, it happens in church, school or through informal lessons with a musician.
For students at Saxophone Music Academy, popularly known as SAMAC, the journey is structured around something more deliberate: learning music one grade at a time.
Established in Lagos in 2007, SAMAC began as a one-room music school founded by Imọlẹayọ Balogun. Its early focus was on saxophone technique, jazz improvisation and preparing students for music theory and practical examinations administered by institutions including the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), Trinity College of Music and the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON).
What started from a single room has since developed into a registered music academy offering instruction across several families of musical instruments, as well as broader areas of musicianship.
In 2009, SAMAC moved to its own centre on Kareem Laka Street, Egbeda Akowonjo, Lagos, creating more room for its expanding approach to music education.
The academy’s curriculum now covers strings, brass, woodwind, percussion, piano and selected traditional African instruments. Students can study the violin, viola, cello, double bass, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, flute, oboe, saxophone, drums and piano.
There is also room for instruments rooted in African musical traditions, including the Ọjá, an Igbo flute, and the Gángan, the Yoruba talking drum.
For SAMAC, however, instrumental training is only part of the process.
Students are introduced to harmony, chord progression and reharmonization, composition, arranging, jazz studies, improvisation, music research and African music studies. The approach reflects the idea that becoming a musician involves more than learning where to place one’s fingers or how to read notes.
The academy operates two principal educational paths: its Basic School and Diploma School.
The Basic School runs from Grade 1 to Grade 8, with students receiving a certificate at each grade. Each grade lasts 12 weeks, allowing students to enrol at different points during the year and progress through the programme after completing the required period of study.
The Diploma School provides a more advanced route for students seeking broader professional music training. The programme runs across two semesters and requires students to major in one instrument while taking another as a minor. Students can also choose between classical and contemporary/jazz studies.
Entry into the Diploma programme requires Grade 5 theory and practical proficiency. The programme covers areas extending beyond instrumental performance, including Western harmonic studies, composition and arranging, jazz improvisation, writing and music research, and African music studies.
The academy also assists Diploma graduates seeking Direct Entry admission into a Bachelor of Arts in Music programme.
At the centre of SAMAC’s academic direction is its founder and Director of Studies, Amb. Imọlẹayọ Balogun, a Lagos-based jazz saxophonist, educator and researcher.
Balogun’s own musical education spans contemporary and classical music. He studied contemporary music at Peter King College of Music in Badagry before attending the MUSON Diploma School for classical music. He later obtained his B.A. and M.A. in Music from the University of Lagos and, as of January 2024, was pursuing a Ph.D.
His professional experience also extends beyond the classroom. Balogun has performed at jazz festivals in Nigeria and internationally, including appearances in the United States, Kenya and Ghana.
His teaching career includes work with the MUSON Diploma Department, where he has taught saxophone major and minor and clarinet minor since 2010, while also directing the school band.
He has also served as Principal at Peter King College of Music, where his teaching has covered saxophone technique alongside music workshops exploring jazz, highlife, salsa, reggae, traditional music and choir.
At SAMAC, those experiences feed into a broad teaching role. Balogun teaches music theory, Western harmony, saxophone, flute, clarinet, jazz studies and improvisation, band culture and research.
This combination of formal music education, performance and research is central to the academy’s identity.
SAMAC’s story is ultimately one of expansion without abandoning its original purpose. What began in 2007 as a small school focused largely on saxophone training has developed into an academy where students can begin with their first instrument, work through graded examinations and progress toward diploma-level study.
For young musicians, the academy provides a structured route from learning the fundamentals to developing a deeper understanding of music as a discipline.
And for a school whose story began in a single room, its philosophy remains relatively simple: musicians are made through learning, practice and progression, one grade at a time.
