Skip to main content

Information About Andy - Stoke-on-Trent teacher

References

This is how 2 referees rated Andy:

Reliability

Trustworthiness

Professionalism

Badges

Instruments Taught

Guitar

Hourly Fee
Beginner £20.00
Expert £25.00

Map Location

Personal Description:

I first started studying Classical Guitar at the age of fifteen, beginning my studies with Edgard Zaldua, Professor of Guitar at Harrow public school, and his twin brother, Jairo Zaldua, who first introduced me to what was to become a lifelong interest in South American music, and I played the first of many public concerts after just two years of tuition. Edgard Zaldua is a Colombian guitarist, born in Bogota, who studied at the Royal Conservatoire in Madrid under Regino Sainz de la Maza, the famous guitarist who performed the premiere of the Concierto de Aranjuez in 1940, and to whom it was dedicated.

I then became the first guitarist to study music at Keele University in the UK, under the guidance of Professor Peter Dickinson who encouraged my interest in 20th century South American composers, particularly the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and the Venezuelan guitarist and composer, Antonio Lauro. Without any facilities for guitar tuition at Keele at that time, I travelled to the School of Music in Birmingham for tuition from Professor Brian Whitehouse, and played many concerts in and around Birmingham, as well as at Keele as part of my studies.

As well as many venues over the years in the UK, I have played concerts in Paris, Hannover, Berlin, Vitebsk in Belarus, and in the Madeiran towns of Calheta and Funchal.

In 2004 I was very privileged to meet the great international Classical guitarist Maestro Alirio Diaz, pupil and friend to Andres Segovia, who worked closely with Villa-Lobos and Lauro. Despite the barrier of language, we managed to communicate through music very well.

Having suffered from a degenerative eye disease all my life, I am now registered blind, with very limited vision, but I do not allow this to interfere with my performing and teaching.

Tutoring Experience:

I have been teaching classical guitar for more than 40 years now. I began at one of the Grammar schools that I attended as a pupil, because there was no-one there to teach the instrument, and although still only 17, I was playing concerts and enjoyed the responsibility of teaching students. This of course developed as I went through Teacher Training College, and University, but I still remember those early, immature attempts at teaching. A number of my pupils at that time have told me that they went on to study in more depth, which fills me with pride.

Tutoring Approach:

My approach to music tuition is very simple. I believe that music should be enjoyable, even when the fingers are sore, and there seems no end in sight! I always aim to get my students playing a piece of music within just a few lessons. That to me is far more important than playing and practising scales, and even learning music notation. I played my first public concert without knowing a note of music, learning the music from my teacher's fingers.

Tutor Resources: (free to download)

Please login or register to download tutor resources.

Native Language: English (British)
Availability: Weekends / Weekdays (all times)
References Available: Yes (✔ On File)

Qualifications:

  • Keele (1981) - Distinction (Bachelors) (✔ On File)
  • Keele (1980) - BA(Hons) (Bachelors) (✔ On File)

Tags: Stoke-on-Trent Guitar teacher, Stoke-on-Trent Beginner Guitar teacher, Stoke-on-Trent Expert Guitar teacher