Information About Petros - Welling teacher -

(4 reviews)

Personal Description:

I am a professional musician and guitar tutor (DBS verified) based in London covering all styles but specialising in pop-rock, hard rock, funk and fusion.
I have solid experience working both with individual students and groups while I am highly organised, outcome-driven and motivated.
My core values as a teacher are enthusiasm, good communication, patience and passion for teaching and learning new things in music.
I aim to bring the best out of all of my students while every lesson is tailor-made to the individual’s ability and pace.

INFLUENCES:

My main influences include major international artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, Carlos Santana, Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Steve Lukather, Nile Rodgers, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore, Scott Henderson, Eric Johnson, Guthrie Govan and many more.

Tutoring Experience:

I have been working in the UK as a music tutor for the last 7 years teaching classes of all ages at JCM music school and currently at Marie De Bry Arts Academy covering different levels of students, from beginners and intermediate to the more advanced.

STUDIES:

I have graduated from BIMM London (2017) where I was awarded with a Music Bachelor Degree. Over this period in my career, I have attended lessons with some of the finest masters of the instrument like John Wheatcroft, Les Davidson, Jim Clark and have gained recognition following masterclasses with Nile Rodgers, Frank Gambale, Larry Carlton, Vinnie Moore, Mike Stern, Oz Noy, Adam Wakeman, Gerry Leonard, Duff McKagan, Yolanda Charles and Nick Mason among others.
Prior to that I was studying music and taking guitar lessons for another 8 years in my hometown Athens in Greece (Musical Praxis Conservatory & National Conservatory of Athens).

FURTHER EXPERIENCE

In my career as a musician I have set up several projects performing in a range of styles, including jazz standards and my own original compositions; I have also worked in other genres such as pop/rock, blues, soul, electronic and funk.

Tutoring Approach:

Here is a list of various lesson topics that my lessons include.
All the lesson plans listed below are designed to suit each individual student's preferences and needs for musical improvement, meeting University of West London tuition standards.

- Advanced Guitar Techniques

- Improvisation & Styles Tuning

- Timing & Comping

- Arrangement Techniques for Contemporary Styles

- Harmony, Theory, Sight Reading

- Ear Training

- Fine Tuning of Favourite Tunes

- Preparation for Exams


1st LESSON OUTPLAN

The first lesson with a student involves plenty of interaction in order to evaluate the student's skills and experience by asking a lot of questions about his/her knowledge of the instrument and relevant techniques, goals and musical preferences of the student.

Then I encourage the students to play even using two simple chords or fragments of a scale. Very often I give them basic backing tracks to start with while I ask them to play these chords or a scale in an open position in time with the track.
Therefore, they can experience how it is to interact with other instruments while I make sure they realise how important it is to be able to play with a pulse/rhythm.
I make sure they practise regularly by combining a routine for developing skills like technique, sight reading and rhythmic coherence following a metronome with music that they actually like and listen in their everyday life.
In the beginning I always ask them to make a long list of songs they like and then I put them into categories according to the difficulty level. Thus the students have the challenge to improve further and be able to perform what they want while they develop vital musical skills. From my experience this is usually a very effective motivation to make them practise regularly.

LESSON RESUME FOR BEGINNERS

In the beginners’ classes, students are going to learn the fundamentals of guitar (open chords, scales, picking techniques, finger-style), contemporary music theory and harmony. They will also learn the fundamentals of improvisation, essential comping patterns and establish ear training skills. Moreover, students will develop an understanding of how songs are structured in accordance with basic theory rules.

Preparation on this level is provided for:

- RGT Step Grades and Grade 1 & 2
- RSL Premiere/Debut Grade and Grade 1 & 2
- Trinity Grade 1 & 2
- Any other music exam upon request

LESSON RESUME FOR INTERMEDIATES

In these classes, students will learn how to develop their improvisation skills further by using a combination of arpeggios, scales, modes and rhythmic patterns in a stylistically appropriate way over a variety of genres such as blues, pop/rock, metal, funk, soul and jazz.

The development of timing and comping skills will be enhanced by using a greater variety of rhythm subdivisions and time signatures, a wide range of extended chords and picking techniques (hybrid picking, economy picking, Travis picking, etc).
Do not forget 90% of the time we play guitar is rhythm!
In addition, the students will further improve their sight reading, ear training, theory/harmony and songwriting skills.

These class classes are also tailored to prepare students for exams:

- RGT Grades 3, 4 & 5
- RSL Grades 3, 4 & 5
- Trinity Grade 3, 4 & 5
- Any other music exam upon request

LESSON RESUME FOR ADVANCED

In these lesson, students will learn how to actively engage with advanced guitar techniques and different musical concepts like chord tone enclosures, bebop scales, odd time signatures, negative harmony, polyrhythms, etc.
These classes have been particularly designed to help students develop an arsenal of techniques and skills which are necessary for mastering the instrument and following professional career as musicians.
During these lessons students can also learn how to arrange music for different musical instruments while developing advanced harmony knowledge and songwriting skills.
Furthermore, they will be trained to recognise extended chords and harmonic changes in tunes by developing their listening skills to the highest level through advanced ear training.
They will also be taught how to write their own music scores using examples of scores and lead sheets from acclaimed West End theatre shows in order to develop a great level of competitive skills in the relevant field of the music industry.

These class classes are also tailored to prepare students for exams:

- RGT Grades 6, 7 & 8
- RSL Grades 6, 7 & 8
- Trinity Grade 6, 7 & 8
- Any other music exam upon request

UCAS tariff points are awarded to students attaining this level of music qualifications (grades 6, 7 and 8), in both practical and theory subjects.
For Higher Education music courses in UK, practical music grades have always been an important factor in the application process.