Guitar Lessons
Where will the guitar lessons take place?
All guitar lessons are in my home guitar teaching studio in the Codsall / Bilbrook area of Wolverhampton.
The studio is well equipped with teaching aids including computer based learning and recording software.
Lessons are worked around your personal goals and ambitions. During your first lesson I will establish your playing ability and discuss your musical goals. It is important you get what you want from your lessons whether it be studying for graded exams or just playing for fun. Lessons are on a one to one basis and tailored to your requirements.
Can I learn to play my favourite songs?
If you want to learn a particular song then I am sure we can do this. Once you have reached the necessary level to play the song. I always try to ensure that learning the guitar is as enjoyable as possible!
Can I practice for Guitar Exams during our guitar lessons?
If you want to take graded exams, please check out the Grades page or the Trinity Rock & Pop website for more information. I am fully aware that not everybody wants to take exams, so the option is up to you.
What kind of things will we cover during guitar lessons?
Practice Pieces
During your lesson you may want to learn your favourite songs or be studying a grade piece of music. I will help by teaching you correct techniques which will help unlock some of the parts you are practicing on your guitar. I also have some cutting edge software. This enables me to slow down pieces of music, and loop out sections of any track. So you can learn those fast runs and difficult chord changes at a slower pace, repeating the loop as many times as you like. This then enables you to learn where your fingers are going on the guitar. Once you have achieved this, we can then very gently up the speed of the required part of the song until we get to full tempo. The thing to remember when learning any instrument or piece of music is the three P’s:
- Practise
- Patience
- Pace Yourself
Chords
I have over the years seen many people struggle to play chords on a guitar. However after observing carefully what was stopping people playing clear sounding chords. I noticed most people were all making the same mistake. I can teach you how to avoid these pitfalls and save you hours of practise time. Playing clear and precise sounding chords leads to playing clear and precise songs. With just a few chords you are able to play hundreds of popular songs. Think of them as colours the more colours you have the better picture you could paint.
Sight Reading
I do teach music reading, and have some very simple methods of remembering what all those lines and dots are for. From my experience as a guitar teacher I have found people often struggle with the rhythm when learning how to read music. I remember my head spinning, when I was at school in music lessons with all those dots and lines. There just had to be an easier way. I have again come up with some very simple ways to address this. The majority of my students score very high in exams when it comes to the music reading section of the exam. You do not have to read music to play guitar. We can also work from tablature, a very simple form of writing down guitar music and also chord charts.
Technical Exercises
As part of the Trinity College Rock & Pop exam syllabus there is a section called Sesion Skills. This is all about scales and chords. Scales are the building blocks to music theory. Also as guitarists we use scales for building riffs and solos. The more scales you know the better solos you can construct. I also use other Technical Exercises outside of the Trinity syllabus in order to help achieve other aspects of your playing like co-ordination exercises. To help with getting the right hand and the left hand working together. There are hundreds of exercises I teach to improve every aspect of your guitar playing, and therefore improve you as a guitar player.
Improvisation
Learn how to solo like a professional guitar player. There are many people who come to have guitar lessons with me who know all about scales and the theory about improvisation, but cannot put it all together. I get questions like “Which notes do I play?”. I’ll help by teaching you the tricks and techniques of the trade. I will have you soloing like a professional, using advanced guitar techniques in no time.
Audition Preparation
If you feel you are ready to join a band I can help you to nail that audition. We can make sure the pieces you are learning for the audition are note-perfect. I have years of experience of playing in bands and have auditioned for bands and have auditioned people for bands. Find out what bands are looking for in a guitarist, and where to look to join a band that suits what you want to do as a guitar player. I can also help in getting those first gigs. I cover all aspects of playing in a band from promotion to studio work and beyond.
String Changing and General Maintenance
I will teach you how to look after your guitar and change the strings so you can keep your guitar in tip top condition. I also sell strings to students at a discounted rate. If however you feel unsure about changing strings I will change them for you during a guitar lesson. If you don’t want to take up your guitar lesson time. I will change them at a convenient time for a small fee.
