Information About Tony - Newham teacher

Personal Description:

always had a curiosity about music and sound from my very early years. i thought at the age of 16 i had better do something about it and had the nerve to ask a local ex-pop star to teach me. he gave me a couple of lessons on guitar and from then on the world was my oyster. i realised that i could write my own music and play/annoy anyone foolish enough to listen. after a while they seemed to enjoy it as i was often asked to play for this gathering and that occasion. i also put much thought into the technicalities of the keyboard after getting a job at the local music/piano shop and bugged the salesman to get me playing some cool modern pop stuff (he is still my best buddy.) eventually bought a cheap piano for my bedroom and largely taught myself a substantial amount on that instrument. in my twenties i played in various bands on guitar, bass and keyboards and wrote lots of music and many songs. this writing continues today. i am now a teacher of guitar in five different schools in my home borough of Newham, east london.

Tutoring Experience:

i taught guitar in my spare time for free to youngsters and quickly realised that i needed to do this professionally. i joined the newham based ECAM (every child a musician) programme in 2012 and now teach guitar to students in years 5 and 6. i cover 5 different schools regularly and have tutored in 4 more covering for absent tutors on a variety of instruments. this is still my first year of providing professional tuition.

Tutoring Approach:

my approach to tuition focuses on getting the student to play recognisable music virtually from the off. this makes learning a pleasurable experience, and a rewarding one, for both student and tutor. we explore rhythm and tone, dynamics and tempo and slowly the student can develop technique. i feel it is important not to bore the students or burden them with musical notation at too early a stage. if i can get the student playing songs and making relevant and noticable progress then they are less likely to give up when the subject of simple notation is broached. all of my learning in music was done without notation and though i can now read, i believe it can be a barrier to the need to just play and enjoy playing and that one can be a great musician without ever learning the dots.