Information About Michael - Callander teacher

Personal Description:

Hi my name's Mike,

I'm a professional saxophonist living and working in Scotland. I have extensive experience as a session musician on lots of different albums, projects and singles with bands like Deacon Blue, Tom McGuire and The Brassholes, Corto Alto, Nimbus Sextet (on Acid Jazz). I've shared the stage and supported acts like Nile Rogers' Chic, Sister Sledge and Craig Charles' Funk and Soul show. With a BMus degree in Jazz Saxophone from the Royal Conservatoire I have deep knowledge of all corners of western music but focused most keenly on the jazz tradition including: improvisation, harmony, composition, arranging, scales, patterns, sight reading. I have a deep love of all genres of music from Pop to Metal to Jazz to EDM to Classical.

Tutoring Experience:

I've been teaching saxophone since I was 17 years old, so 15 years at this point. I've taught all levels and styles ranging from Classical to Pop to Jazz and everything in between.

Tutoring Approach:

My main focus is to make lessons enjoyable. I know from my own learning experience, enjoyment was and still is the thing that keeps me hooked. I try to make everything student lead, if your passion is EDM lets start from that angle, if you want to get stuck into Jazz lets do it! There are certain skills that are vital to being a well rounded musician, but I don't have a set formula for teaching them, I'll always relate those skills to genres and methods you find appealing. I'll create bespoke exercises for areas that you struggle with and I don't expect hours and hours of practice; everyone has their own lives to live and different reasons for wanting to learn an instrument.

Music can seem daunting to musicians of any level, the skill ceiling is infinite. My method of teaching, fundamentally, is to break apart concepts into their simplest forms and work on each component individually, before putting them back together. This makes everything feel way less overwhelming and gives a sense of achievement and progression along the way.

I'm happy to teach all ages from absolute beginners with 0 musical knowledge all the way up to professionals.