What I offer
I’ve been teaching the guitar for 20 years. My specialisms are rock, metal and blues, although I have experience of other genres too, as well as a solid grounding in musical theory and technique.
I’m a member of the Registry of Guitar Tutors and hold an enhanced DBS certificate. I offer guitar lessons to students of all ages and abilities, usually from my own fully-equipped home studio on the outskirts of Stroud, but I can also travel to you if required.
As well as teaching individual students, I’ve also taught group sessions at Peter Gill’s Rock School for the past seven years.
Lessons
My lessons are tailored for each individual student; they could include working towards short-term goals (for example, preparing for a first public performance), or longer-term objectives (for example, developing soloing proficiency). For me personally, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing someone achieve their playing ambitions, and I will work with you to help you achieve this.
I am happy teaching everyone from complete beginners right through to advanced players who wish to further their technique. Please get in touch to discuss your requirements and we can develop an approach to help you achieve your guitar-playing aims.
Rates
Please contact me for further information on lesson charges.
I offer a free 30-minute introductory lesson, so that you can come along and find out more without any financial obligation.
Short, weekly lessons are usually recommended for beginners, with longer lessons more suited to advanced players. We can discuss what best suits you after your introductory lesson, should you decide to continue learning with me.
Lessons are generally conducted from my home studio just outside Stroud, but I can travel to you if that’s easier. Please note that this may incur an additional cost, depending on where you’re based. For more advanced players, I also offer lessons via Skype; rates for this will vary depending on your requirements, so please contact me to discuss.
- Payment: I am happy to accept direct bank transfers, cheques or cash.
- Discounts: Discounts are offered for block bookings, please ask me for further details.
- Cancellations: If you need to cancel a lesson for any reason, please provide 24 hours’ notice, otherwise I reserve the right to charge for missed lessons at the full rate.
Practice
Above everything else, I believe that learning to play the guitar should be fun. It’s true that if you take lessons with me, then I will expect you to practise; if you don’t, then it’s probably a waste of your money. But the aim is for your guitar practice to become something that really you want to do; after all, playing the guitar is very, very cool, so practising should be enjoyable!
In my opinion, even just ten minutes of focused, applied playing every day can make a difference. Obviously, more than this is always good. I tend to have a couple of rules I apply to myself:
- If it’s getting boring or your fingers start to hurt, then stop playing.
- We all have ‘off’ days, so if you’re just not playing as well as you know you can, then take the day off and come back to it tomorrow.
(I should add here that one of my cats has a weird ability to tell when I’m not playing well, and should really pack it in for the day. She doesn’t normally wake up when I’m playing, but if I hit some bad notes then she’s straight out of the room!)