100% In London College Of Music Exam

Congratulations are in order for Jan Burton for scoring 100% in London College of Music guitar exam. Jan started taking online guitar lessons with me back in February 2021 Jan has lessons on electric and acoustic guitar. Since 2004 I have given my students the option to take guitar exams to gain recognised qualifications. The majority of my students pass with either merit or distinction. However Jan is the first student I have ever known to have passed with a mark of 100% in a London College Of Music Exam, Rockschool or Trinity College exam. This is a fantastic achievement. In the time I have been teaching Jan she has also passed her Trinity College Initial Stage Guitar Exam with distinction. I asked Jan to do a write up about her guitar journey.

My Guitar journey by Jan Burton

Where do I start? I think that I have to somehow magically transport you back to 1976. I was an 18-year-old student nurse sitting in my room at The Royal Hospital nurses’ home in Wolverhampton. In my hands I had a copy of Boots (the chemist) Christmas catalogue. That is when I spotted my first guitar. There it was staring at me from the pages, a small perfectly polished folk guitar with nylon strings. I’d spend hours on my own in my room if my friends were working opposite shifts and this seemed to be the answer to my boredom. I was looking for a new hobby and this was going to be it! I was going to play the guitar! After all how hard could it be?

I loved music, and the charts at that time were particularly exciting with Queen famously topping the charts with Bohemian Rhapsody for 9 weeks between 1975-1976. That was the year when we actually won the Eurovision Song Contest with Brotherhood of Man’s entry, ‘Save your kisses for me.’ Many artists achieved their first top ten singles and Disco was about to hit its peak. ABBA was the dominant band back then but in the words of one of their hits which peaked at position number 3 in the charts, I didn’t actually have the ‘Money, Money, Money’ to go out and buy a guitar.

First Guitar

However, when pay day came around, I became the proud owner of my first guitar which I complemented with a music book and a set of tuning pipes. But things did not turn out well. I soon discovered that my fingers did not want to co-operate and my fingertips were so sore, I feared that I was damaged for life. The final straw came when I heard sniggering outside my door. I had attracted an audience, but not for the right reasons. I soon became disillusioned and my poor guitar stood neglected and unloved in the corner of my room.

The years passed by and wherever I moved to I managed to squeeze the guitar into my little Austin Mini. It accompanied me on my journey through life, including marriage, motherhood, retirement and a pandemic. It has waited silently and patiently for my return. That day finally came in May 2020 during the lockdown. Again, I found myself looking for a new hobby and I picked up my old guitar. I did order new strings as well!

Online Guitar Lessons

This time round I found it much easier. There are so many online resources available, plus I have the patience and commitment that I lacked before. At first, I followed the Justin Sandercoe online lessons and this gave me a good foundation in understanding my instrument. As I progressed, I invested in a new acoustic guitar as my first guitar was looking and sounding a bit worse for wear.

What I really longed for was a guitar tutor as I had so many questions and was worried about developing bad playing habits. I didn’t think that this would be possible with the pandemic but then I found Anthony’s website and discovered that he did lessons via Zoom sessions. It was the best thing I ever did.
I started lessons with Anthony in February 2021. I look forward to my weekly Zoom meeting and have definitely made progress since I became one of his students. His friendly attitude and patience has given me the confidence to try new things and to finally play music. I have also developed a ‘guitar habit’ and now have various guitars including electric guitars.

Exams

It was Anthony’s suggestion that I should enter for guitar exams. I must admit that I was not too keen at first, I thought I was too old. But the exams are inclusive of everyone. I do think that the exams give good structure to your learning and act as a guide to personal progress. I was pleasantly surprised when I passed my Grade 1 Acoustic guitar performance exam, and the initial rock and pop exam on the electric guitar. It has taken a long time to get to this point (45 years) and I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn.

Anthony has introduced me to different musical genres that I would never have attempted to play before. I have discovered that I actually like Indie rock and the modern pop songs. I think that Mick Jagger summed up my sentiments perfectly back in 1974 when he strutted across the stage and sang out
“I know its only rock and roll, but I like it!”
Yes, I do like it! And I want to say a big ‘Thank-You’ to Anthony for making it possible.

Guitar lessons

If you are looking for guitar lessons please click HERE for the contact details page. For more details about exams on guitar have a look HERE FOR ACOUSTIC or HERE FOR ELECTRIC GUITAR