Information About Neil - North Shields teacher

Personal Description:

Hi, my name is Neil. I have 18 years of experience as a professional guitar and bass player. As a professional guitarist and bassist I have played in a variety of musical settings including function bands, big bands, jazz ensembles, blues and funk bands, and as a soloist. The venues in which I have performed range from small clubs/pubs to festivals. I have studied music performance and music teaching to masters level at university.

Tutoring Experience:

I have 14 years teaching experience. Over the course of this time as a private Guitar/Bass tutor, I have gained invaluable experience in teaching all levels of student (beginner to advanced) and a wide range of ages (8-68). My teaching has and continues to cover a wide range of styles, but my specialist teaching lies in Jazz and Blues. I have taught both in one-one and group scenarios and have experience helping students towards obtaining Rock School and Trinity grades, music theory grades, auditions, and professional performances.

Tutoring Approach:

My primary aim as a teacher is to tailor my lessons to your personal learning goals, as an individual and as a group in group sessions. I want to help you learn what you want to learn, and become the musician you want to become! I teach the technical aspects of music and instrument technique, but focus as much on having you enjoy the process of learning. If you enjoy the process then you will always want to keep playing, exploring, and improving. I am enthusiastic in exploring improvisation, should it line up with your musical goal. I believe encouraging improvisation helps with being able to express yourself more imaginatively and freely on your instrument, having your own voice. I also work on building self-directed learning skills, such as how to practice, maximizing practice time, and how to teach yourself songs. This is so that you have total autonomy of your musical journey, and what you can achieve. I like to use various teaching tools including Youtube, Sibelius, Logic, IReal Pro, and Guitar-pro. Learning how to use these tools allows an interactive element to sessions, and gives you the opportunity to work on group playing when playing with others is not possible.