Information About George - Coventry teacher -

(1 review)

Personal Description:

I'm a 25 year-old private tutor. I work in education full-time and am also doing at least 30 hours of live sound engineering per week across the West Midlands. I have played music since I was six years old when I got my first drum kit for my birthday. I picked up keys at seven, recorder/saxaphone at nine, guitar at ten and taught myself bass over the years with a fundamental knowledge of how a guitar works. I played in various cover bands before I moved to Coventry. At the end of my first year of university I started playing open mics as a singer-songwriter with my own material. At these open mics I met several people who would become band members for various projects (New Karma, Brass Hipflask, FreeSpirits, Massasauga) and also started running my own open mics. I recorded and released several tracks with these bands. I also volunteered as the social media manager for a local music venue. After the bands ceased operations, I attended access creative college to develop my skills as a live sound engineer and developed skills in-studio sound as well. I began managing bands (Tar-gits and Surrge) and am currently working on producing Tar-gits' latest singles. I did a six month placement with an EDM events company and gained an understanding of electronic music as well as that side of the industry. I currently record and produce a podcast about mixed martial arts while doing live sound for venues such as Glee Club, The Flapper, Deadwax and The Arches on weekends. When I have time, I still play music, but mostly now with a focus on developing skills to pass on to my students.

Tutoring Experience:

I have taught in a range of environments since I was 14. I studied maths at university and am still tutoring privately. I started training at an MMA gym when I moved to Coventry in 2016 and now coach twice a week. I work in a secondary school doing general cover full-time and used to work at a gymnastics club as a coach. I got my first school experience in pupil referral units with students who had behavioural needs.

I have been teaching music for a couple of years at this point and my music sessions are always the highlight of my day. My students have been amazingly receptive. Some of them have the desire to do grades and some do not, but all can be catered towards. I have been very fortunate to combine my experience in education with my love of music.

Tutoring Approach:

I have been told I have a very modern approach. I aim to engage a student with music they like to listen to while covering new skills. This isn't always possible, but when it isn't I do my best to introduce the student to a new artist/genre in an engaging way. I encourage students to seek out and listen to new music that they enjoy in their spare time. There is no point in them learning an instrument if they do not listen to and enjoy music that features said instrument. Grades can be an amazing thing and I absolutely support a STUDENT'S desire to take them. I aim however to provide a wholistic education on the music industry (an industry I work in full-time) through the lense of their instrument and their music tastes. We learn the necessary music theory, the physical skills often via a song, and then some industry knowledge such as how gigs work, music production, performance skills etc. I don't want my students to be able to play Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee without knowing how to get a good sound from their amp and how to set their pedals. I don't want them nailing Caravan without knowing how to set up and tune their drums. I see music students at colleges and shows regularly who don't think about anything exept the bare minimum to make noise. I want my students to be better working musicians with more passion for the culture than most adults.