Introduction: About Me:
I am an award winning British guitarist, qualified at diploma, higher diploma and degree level - BA (Hons), have worked and toured with many named musicians (see below) and am now living in Los Angeles. I have taught everyone from well known YouTubers, company CEO's and famous actors!
I am offering in person, one on one or group guitar lessons, bass and ukulele lessons. I am also experienced and fully equipped to teach online lessons via FaceTime, Skype or Zoom etc.
My initial stint as a Los Angeles session guitarist consisted of going for high profile auditions, and being considered as a guitarist for X Factor USA. I also recorded for a musical and for a movie soundtrack.
More recently I have recorded in Travis Barker's private studio, recorded for Terry McDermott (runner up on The Voice) with x4 Grammy winning Duran Duran producer John Jones and have recorded on a number of projects with one of Pink Floyd’s engineer/producers at a major LA recording studio, including a session with Steve Ferrone (John Mayer/Tom Petty). I was also involved in an extensive European tour with Queen Kwong who’s members include Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Fred Sablan (Deftones), Carré Callaway and Hayden C. Scott.
I have also been working with a music publisher on a global basis, which include writing credits on songs which have gained national radio air play and charted at the top spot in various iTunes charts (globally) as well as working with an LA based company composing film music and have had placements on major networks such as MTV.
Being inspired to pick up the guitar after binging on my brother’s music collection, I enrolled at The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in Guildford in the U.K. In my first year, I gained a diploma in Contemporary Popular Music Performance with a Distinction and was also an award winning guitarist with a year’s endorsement to Ernie Ball.
Whilst studying for my music degree, I was chosen to perform live with Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was taught by many leading professional guitarists within the industry and developed playing in a range of styles including Rock, Pop, Funk, Metal, Latin, Reggae, Jazz etc. Some of the other key skills gained while studying at ACM were in pre production, post production, technical and stylistic development, music business, music law, music theory, live performance, sight reading, creative improvisation, composition and arrangement, and musical direction.
About Lessons:
I thoroughly enjoy teaching students of all ages because I can relate to students who are learning and trying to progress in their instrument as I can remember being in their position when I started learning music. Seeing students progress and improve as a result of helping them, I find to be one of the most rewarding aspects for me personally. It’s never too late to start learning no matter what age you are.
Essential skills are taught but lessons are tailored around what the students want to learn (otherwise they wouldn’t be fun!) and I can also help students prepare for auditions and give advice from first hand experience with the business aspects of the music industry.
Studying allowed me to develop playing in a range of styles including Rock, Pop, Funk, Metal, Latin, Reggae, Jazz etc. Some of the other key skills gained while studying were in pre production, post production, practical musicianship, technical and stylistic development, music business, music law, music theory, live performance, sight reading, session styles, solo performance, creative improvisation, composition and arrangement, and musical direction.
My Qualifications:
•BA (Hons) Contemporary Popular Music (Degree)
•Higher Diploma – Contemporary Popular Music Performance
•Diploma – Contemporary Music (Performance)
Instruments Taught:
Electric guitar / Acoustic guitar / Bass / Ukulele
Genres Taught:
Any
Ability Levels Taught:
Beginners to advanced
Frequently Asked Questions:
How long is a lesson?
Depending on the student’s age (the youngest I’ve taught has been around 5 years old), lessons can be 30 minutes, 45 minutes or one hour. Most students opt for one hour lessons.
Do you teach acoustic guitar or electric guitar?
Both!
Where do you teach?
I currently visit all of my students and teach them at their homes.
What age(s) do you teach?
I have taught everyone from kids as young as 5 to mums and dads in their 50’s and 60’s. It’s never too early or late to learn the guitar and it can be a lot of fun!
Do you teach group lessons?
Yes. From young bands to group lessons in offices, anything is possible.
What equipment and teaching material do you use?
I have an extensive collection of teaching materials, so students usually get a copy to keep for themselves. As well as printed materials, I also transcribe material for students to keep if and when needed. I also make use of my laptop which can act as a makeshift amplifier for myself and have some resources on there to help break down songs into easy to learn segments which can be a lot of fun.
How long should I practice?
At the end of each lesson, I usually write down what the student should practice before the next lesson. For much younger beginners, I recommend 15 mins per day and much older students, 30 – 60 mins. Practicing regularly is important if you want to become better at your instrument. Sometimes it can be frustrating learning a difficult passage, so I recommend putting the guitar down, doing something else and coming back later rather than working through the frustration and making it worse.
How long will it take to get better at the guitar?
Simple! The more you practice, the better you’ll get. There are no magic shortcuts!
Can you help me prepare for a live performance?
As I currently tour internationally, record in studios and studied live performance techniques when I qualified for my diplomas and degree, I can certainly help and give a lot of guidance in preparation for any kind of live performance.
Once I’ve learnt the basics, where can we go from there?
As I like to tailor some of the lessons around what artists and styles the student is interested in (it wouldn’t be as fun otherwise!), just a few of the many things to move on to can be: improvisational techniques, how to write songs on the guitar, learning signature riffs and licks from specific players, fingerstyle techniques, music theory, extended chords, the “CAGED” system, scales, sight reading, ear training, specific techniques on the guitar, learning specific songs and solos by breaking them down into easy to learn segments.
