Many musical activities flourish at Merchiston. Small chamber groups and rock bands alike appear regularly in concerts, and to play for their own pleasure. More formal groups are described below.
Choral Music
The Chapel Choir is the flagship of Merchiston's Music Department. It numbers over 70 pupils, and rehearses three times per week. It sings an anthem at the weekly Sunday chapel service, and gives frequent concerts both inside and outside the school.
It tours regularly at home and abroad; destinations over the last ten years have included Canada, Spain, Italy and, in 2006, France.
A Chapel Choir Concert in Aberdeen Episcopal Cathedral is pictured on the right. Click here to hear the Chapel Choir perform.
The Choral Society currently consists of 150 pupils, and rehearses twice per week. It performs a major choral work or works at an outside venue in the Spring Term, with professional soloists and a semi-professional orchestra. Somet concerts have been performed with the adult Colinton and Merchiston Choir or the choir of St George's School for Girls.
Recently performed works have included: Vivaldi's Gloria, Mozart's Requiem and Solemn Vespers, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Te Deum and 'Nelson' Mass, Britten's 'St Nicholas', Orff's Carmina Burana, Puccini's Messa di Gloria and Fauré's Requiem.
The Close Harmony Group, consisting of approximately 15 pupils, performs rather more light-hearted music, and rehearses weekly for 45 minutes. It gives regular performances throughout the year, and has made a major contribution to the tours.
In the Summer of 2008 it undertook a joint tour to Canada with the Pipe Band.
Click here to hear the Close Harmony Group (mp3 file)
 Large Group Music-making
The main school Orchestra performs in the termly school concerts and rehearses each Thursday evening. It is sometimes divided up to form smaller chamber groups such as a string orchestra, and chamber groups such as string quartets are formed periodically.
The Jazz Band meets on Monday evenings at 6.20 pm and again gives regular performances. Click here to hear the Jazz Band (mp4 file) perform.
The Junior Ensemble is a training group for younger boys not yet of a standard to play in the other school groups. It rehearses once a week, and performs in the termly Pringle House concerts.
Pipe Bands
 There are both Senior and Junior Pipe Bands. Both perform at concerts and on important occasions within the school, and the former takes part in external competitions and schools' piping events. In recent years the Band has made an Annual Trip abroad, and has also been invited to perform in Russia. In the Summer of 2008 it undertook a joint tour to Canada with the Close Harmony Group.
Click here to hear the Pipe Band (mp3 file)
Other ensembles
Smaller groups are frequently formed. Click to hear an example of a recent saxophone quartet
Stage Musicals
Drama and music regularly combine in large-scale productions, usually in conjunction with St.George's School for Girls. Productions in recent years have included Chicago, Cabaret, Grease, Guys and Dolls, Singing in the Rain and Oliver.
Instrumental lessons
Instrumental tuition is available on a wide range of instruments. Instrumental lessons generally take place within the academic teaching day, but are rotated each week to ensure that no particular class lesson is missed frequently. For 6th Formers, every effort is made to timetable instrumental lessons during private study periods or free time, and for younger pupils, every effort is made to avoid clashes with 'problem' subjects. Holders of music scholarships and bursaries receive free tuition in up to two instruments. Ample opportunity is given for pupils to give solo performances in the school's instrumental concerts, and pupils are regularly taken to professional concerts in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
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