Information About Tom - Shipston-on-stour teacher

Personal Description:

Im a professional musician and graduate from the Royal Northern College of Music. I work full time as a session player, teacher, producer and studio technician. I first started playing guitar at aged 6 due to having discovered my Mum’s Beatles vinyl collection that Christmas. When I hit secondary school, I started taking lessons with a local teacher and thus my love for music began. My primary playing styles are rock, blues, pop, and acoustic. I think learning from other people, including teachers, is one of the most important parts of learning any subject; utilising any resources available to you to further your learning is very important.

Tom is an exceptional musician. 
His sense of aural awareness in a learning, solo performance or ensemble situation Is awesome. His guitar technique is fluid and versatile enabling him to encompass many genres and pieces with speed and dexterity and his skill as a composer, keyboard playing and studio engineer is excellent. I can recommend Tom as an all round musician- and a great character who Is responsive and kind.

- Matt Platt
; Pro keyboard player for Bernie Marsden and Albert Lee /cellist/ teacher.

Tutoring Experience:

- Band leader at various schools; working with secondary school children in bands: 2014 - present

- One On One Guitar Tuition: 2014 - present

- Lymm Music School - 2018 - 2019

- Advanced DBS Checked

- Trinity and RockSchool Grades Offered

Tutoring Approach:

The most important thing when learning guitar is to be able to say lessons are fun, stimulating and motivating. If a lesson does not leave someone loving the guitar and wanting to go away and practice, then they haven't found the right teacher. I cover a wide variety of ranges and abilities. Because of this, what constitutes a fun, challenging and motivating lesson varies from person to person. I have learned through experience what works and what doesn't when teaching all experience levels. If you can leave a lesson saying you learnt something new, whilst having fun, that truly is what playing guitar is about.

The key to a new guitarists progression is to get them playing and jamming along to tunes right away. Rather than, spending ages doing scales, chords and music theory before ever play something resembling music, you really can find fun and playable songs that will leave you with a smile, even at the end of your first lesson.

Furthermore, I offer a no-stress environment. It's no problem if you're a casual player who just wants to come down every week and jam out your favourite tracks, or show me something you've been working on rather than have the pressure of passing grades.

For the intermediate and advanced players looking to take their playing to the next level, the greatest myth concerning guitar practice is that if you "keep doing it, you'll keep getting better". Most of us are confronted with the prospect at some point, that this is simply not the case. I learned this lesson the hard way, when I realised after a period of playing and "practising" lots, I was still staring at the same old problems, from the same viewpoint.

If you suspect you may be in this situation, here are the three principles of practice to help you smash through your barriers … SLOW IT DOWN! - Slow down what you you are trying to learn to a playable speed
BREAK IT DOWN! - Tackle it piece by piece and then assemble the puzzle
EXAGGERATE THE PROBLEM! - the most important of the three; if you can practice a piece and make it so you can play a harder variation (by playing it faster slower or differently) the original problem will not seem as big a challenge.

Chances are, if you're not involving at least one of these three in your practice routine, you aren't practising, you're playing, and the likelihood of it **Web Address Removed** improving you, is slim at best.

My bespoke intermediate and upwards music tuition Sylabus' are assured to improve your guitar playing and get you where you want to be.

I'll tend to focus on a single main topic per lesson, but often that will bring into play a number of other sub-topics (related songs/licks/techniques) to support the headline subject. I'll usually start by asking the student what they'd like to look at, and see where things go as we progress. Sometimes this can take us on a magical mystery tour to somewhere quite unexpected.

In every lesson with me, whether learning your first chords, or digging into a rock or jazz standard, you'll be learning how to practise effectively. With effective practice, there is no "stuck" any more, only problem-solving and progress. What's more, practice sessions should never feel like a dutiful slog, they should feel enjoyable, each one the next leg in a steadily progressing journey towards your chosen destination!
​
Most guitarists you know are not improving, and haven't been for a while. They may be learning new songs, but they're only learning them to the same level they've been at for some time, maybe for as long as 50 years! *Real* improvement is the Holy Grail, and it's available to anyone who understands how to practise well.