Information About Ricky - Tooting teacher

Personal Description:

My name is Ricky and I am a full time musician living in London for the past 11 years. I studied for my Music Degree at Kingston University from 2009-2012, and have been teaching guitar privately and performing regularly in London and abroad ever since. I have been fortunate enough to have been able to perform with my band (Eddy Smith & The 507) at prestigious venues and festivals in that time such as The 100 Club, The Troubadour, Isle of Wight Festival, SXSW Festival (Austin, TX), and many others.

I have been performing as a member of the house band for the Piano Works venues (Farringdon & Leicester Square) for the past five years. Whilst working there I have been able to play with some of the best musicians in London and the UK, and have learnt so much from this experience (almost like a second degree!). I have developed a huge repertoire of music during this time, and have seen my listening skills, improvisational ability, and ensemble performance knowledge increase exponentially.

Other than music, I am a keen sports fan (playing and watching), enjoy a bit of DIY here and there, and love reading and movies.

Tutoring Experience:

I have been teaching Electric and Acoustic guitar both privately and in the classroom for the past 8 years. I am fully DBS (formerly CRB) checked, and hold my own Public Liability Insurance certificate.

I have been teaching the Rockschool Guitar Syllabus extensively in my career, and have a 100% pass success rate at Merit or above. I have also recently started using the Trinity courses.

As well teaching grades I have had plenty of students just wanting to learn casually for fun, and using my performing experience and repertoire I have been able to put together my own personalised curriculum for these students to suit their own preferred styles and choices.

I have also tutored several of my students through their GCSE Music exams, seeing improvements on their expected grades each time.

Tutoring Approach:

My approach to tuition is exacltly the same as my own personal approach to music: we are all in it to have fun first and foremost. Whether teaching grades, casually, or GCSE tuition I will always try and link the teaching to something that they enjoy and appreciate. I feel this always increases the practice time for the student as they are not just studying but having fun at the same time.

In a lot of my performance opportunities I tend to have to play by ear with an emphasis on improvisation and listening, and I try to make sure all my students are well versed in these aspects in our time together. I feel this seriously improves the independence of the student and allows them to make strides by themselves.