Information About David - Cranleigh teacher

Personal Description:

I'm a versatile pianist/ keyboard player and teacher. I started playing piano aged 5, and achieved grade 8 distinction aged 16. I then went on to study music at the University of Surrey, majoring in performance and accompanying, and took a diploma in piano performance from the ABRSM.
I now split my time between teaching, performing and arranging. Credits include Odyssey, Eban Brown, Christian Holder, Jason Gardiner, Peyton, Candy Girls, Q The Music theatre show, Dreamboats and Petticoats and many more.

Tutoring Experience:

I have 20 years of teaching experience, specialising in 1 to 1 lessons from beginners right through to diploma level.
I am classically trained but also love playing and teaching jazz and rock and pop keyboards - I taught on the keyboard degree course at the ACM for several years, as well as at Guildford County School and Surrey Arts.

Tutoring Approach:

I strongly believe that every student is unique and learns in different ways; my ethos is to create a tailored approach for every student to help them realise their potential and engage them with music that they really love playing. As a musical arranger I regularly create my own bespoke arrangements for my students to match their level and I help them understand the theory behind how pieces are written, which in turn helps them to make their own transcriptions.

Although I do teach from the ABRSM and Trinity graded syllabuses, I don't put pressure on my students to take exams; only if they decide that is the route they want to go down. It is perfectly possible, and often preferable, to work on a more holistic approach to music making and, with guidance, students can improve their ability enormously without ever taking exams.