Information About Simon - Ilkley teacher -

(2 reviews)

Personal Description:

I am a sixty year old professional musician and teacher. As a performer, I direct a group which has been shortlisted for a Gramophone Award, broadcasts on the BBC, and gives concerts in this country and Europe. So as a musician, I recognise that first and foremost what we do is about giving pleasure - to ourselves and through ourselves to other people. Apart from teaching and performing, I also direct workshops and write about music for a number of publications. Aside from music I'm a outdoor person - I completed the Scottish Munros 10 years ago, and my wife and I (and small dog) are more than half way through a second round. I also run marathons. Idle time is spent cooking and watching rugby (a passion I picked up when I lived in New Zealand for five years after university).

Tutoring Experience:

I began teaching piano straight after university (where I majored in performance). In New Zealand I taught privately, in schools, and for the Wellington School of Music. When I returned to live in the UK in 1990 I have taught privately in Worcester, and at the Elgar School of Music. I moved to Ilkley in 1999, and since then have taught privately from home (on a gorgeous Steinway grand). I teach children from aspirational beginners to diploma. Although I'm based in Ilkley, pupils travel to me from Leeds and beyond. I feel I should say that my pupils often win prizes at local competitions and get high marks in exams… but I'm far more interested in whether pupils are fulfilling their own talents - at whatever level that is.

Tutoring Approach:

The first thing I should say is that I love teaching. This is significant, because if I don't enjoy teaching someone, then chances are they're not enjoying it either, and then we've got a problem! One thing I'm proud of in this respect is that pupils I've taught as children often remain friends when they become adults. On a practical level, from the very earliest stages I teach pupils how to teach themselves: I don't just give them off-pat answers. I want them to realise that teasing out the music from the notes written on the page is a fantastic challenge. As a performer I'm a classical musician, but I enjoy teaching how to improvise around notes written on a page. I also teach musical theory - both informally as part of piano lessons, and formally when pupils need to pass ABRSM exams or need help for school work. With children, at a young age I do stress that the greater the involvement of parents in practice, the greater the success of the pupil will be.