Information About John - Fleetwood teacher

Personal Description:

I studied music at university, my special subjects being composition and performance. Since leaving university in 1973 I have worked as a gigging musician, with bands, duos and solo. Although I have a primarily classical background, this gives me experience of all styles of music.

Tutoring Experience:

I began taking on private students in the 1980s. Shortly after that, I also became a teacher at a new Yamaha Music School, in Bradford. My piano teaching has continued since then, except for an eleven year hiatus, when I lived in Tenerife. More recently, in the late 2000s, I taught in a couple of primary schools. (For this, I had to obtain a CRB certificate.) In my time, I have taken students from complete beginner to ABRSM Grade 8.

Tutoring Approach:

I tend to have a loose structure to lessons. Usually, the student will be working on a piece of music, whether it be for an exam or just for fun. I'll kick off by hearing a performance to check on progress. Then, we have to address the thorny subject of "technical stuff" - i.e. scales, etc. The dreaded sight reading must be covered, too. For complete beginners, I tend to use the Yamaha method, which I was taught when I became one of their teachers. The prime objective for lesson one is to get the student to play a few simple tunes. The bottom line is, whatever the skill level, to make the lesson enjoyable and fun.