Information About Olie - Lambeth teacher

Personal Description:

*Teaching Skype lessons at a reduced rate!*
*Lots of availability Thursdays & Fridays during the day as of March 2020
*Teaching peripatetic drums and percussion in two schools in Knightsbridge and Hackney

I have a 2:1 Bmus in Performance & Production from LCCM. The skills I have learned from my degree are as follows:
-I am a competent reader, able to sight read music for musical theatre, jazz and latin arrangements
-I have an in depth knowledge of a wide range of styles: Jazz, Latin, Funk, Orchestral, Rock, German oompah music!
-I gig regularly, in all of the styles above, I am often called at short notice to dep gigs when the main drummer can't make it.
-My ears have improved greatly by going to jazz jams, attending lots of gigs, seeing how the pros do it!
-My university was more like an academy, meaning it was 95% practical, in my final year I was in every day 9am-9pm, rehearsing or doing individual practice, the improvement in my playing would not have been equalled had I done a more academic degree.
-My ability to work in a team and just communicate with other people has greatly improved. In my final year I was asked by a lot of my peers to play for their recitals, I was overwhelmed with work but managed to pull through, and as a result I have created a good reputation for myself and a long list of musical contacts, something very valuable.
-I have grade 5 music theory, putting it to practical use by writing music for string quartet, jazz combos and salsa bands. I have also created backing tracks for my own original music.
-Using electronic sounds within a normal acoustic set-up is something i do regularly now. I often have a metronome in my ears on live gigs, and have to play specific electronic sounds in time through a Roland SPDSX, this gives me the ability to replicate specific sounds from studio versions of tracks.

I come from a family where music is extremely important. At school, my first band was a rock covers band where my brother played bass. We played regularly in pubs in Dorset, (you may have heard of the Teddy Rocks festival, we played in the very first festival and have played with my band Last Resort ever since). My first teacher was keen for me to learn how to read music, meaning I could play in school orchestras for musicals. I have 2 Grade 8 distinctions, one from Rockshool and one from Trinity Guildhall, I did the rockschool one first and then thought it best to add the Trinity one! The rock band i was in still plays, we have an EP online and continue to write original music.
Having just finished uni, I am keen to start my musical career ASAP, I want to stay in London, because it has the best music scene in Europe!!
My teaching has reading and listening at it's heart. The best thing I have done since coming to London is open my ears to all the styles I didn't like, listen over and over, until they started to grow on me! Music is a cultural and historical lesson as well, it's interesting to see where the popular styles of today came from! Reading will just make you more employable as all the session, musical theatre and holiday camp drummers will tell you! I use software such as Noteflight which allows me to playback scores, making sight reading an easier and more enjoyable process, and meaning I can share scores with students via email. Each student is also given a video recording of what we studied in the lesson, which is a very valuable resource, something they can take away from each lesson, and makes remembering what we learned much easier!

I look forward to answering any queries you may have and hope to teach you very soon!

Tutoring Experience:

3 years private tuition and peripatetic teaching in 2 schools.

Tutoring Approach:

Student led, academic or by ear.

All reviews from other online profiles: **Removed By Admin**

This was my first ever drum lesson and Olie got me playing along to a song within 10 minutes. Later learning a simple groove and generally playing on a kit with some ease, considering it was my first time. Patient and easy to get along with, I really enjoyed my lesson. Cheers Olie!

20th December, 2019

Olie is fantastic - he understands what my son likes and what he needs to challenge him. He also suggests a range of things for practise between sessions. My son likes him and is always inspired and enthusiastic after lessons with Olie.

16th November, 2019

Olie is a fantastic tutor - he is very good at knowing when to challenge my son while encouraging him, and he engages with his interests and suggests pieces to engage with them, while also widening his understanding and repertoire.
I can't recommend him highly enough.

16th November, 2019

Olie is an excellent tutor. He tailored my lessons to the music style I like and introduced me to different types of drumming. Would definitely recommend!

15th October, 2019

Great tutor, Olie has totally tailored the lessons to what I wanted to get out of them! Would recommend

31st August, 2019

I had a fantastic first lesson with Olie! I was drumming to an entire song by the end of the session, which I had not expected upon signing up as a beginner! He’s a lovely guy, really easy to get along with and very encouraging! Great teacher! Can’t wait for the second lesson!

12th July, 2019

Olie is a great teacher! I thouroughly enjoyed our first lesson and will definitely be doing more! Highly recommend booking him as a tutor.

23rd February, 2019

My 6 years old son loves his drum lesson with Olie and looks forward to it every week. Olie is friendly, great fun, knowledgeable and a patient teacher. His lessons are effective, motivating and very enjoyable.

5th December, 2018

I have been having drum lessons with Olie for several months and really enjoy them. He is a very patient and supportive teacher and makes the effort to find songs for me to learn that he thinks I will like. He is very engaging and happy to share his knowledge and experience. If you would like to learn the drums in a relaxed and non judgemental environment I would certainly recommend Olie as your teacher! He also makes a great cup of tea!

Vivienne's review on 29 Mar, 2020

I was Olie's tutor on the BMus Music course at the London Centre for Creative Media.

I taught Olie for 3 years and was his one to one tutor in his third year.

Olie was a committed student and worked well on his own as well as great communication skills with other people in ensemble situations.

He is highly motivated and would make an excellent tutor.

Richard

I have known Ollie for two years having been his tutor and module leader in Music Performance during the 2nd and 3rd year of his degree course at LCCM in London.
During this time I found him to have excellent social skills, to be conscientious worker and good team player.
Ollie was at all times engaged and a pleasure to teach. I found his work to be of a very high standard standard.
I have no hesitation in recommending Ollie to you and can see no reason why he shouldn’t do extremely well in his chosen field.
Sincerely
Silas Maitland (Music Performance module leader LCCM London)

Silas