Information About William - Bath teacher

Personal Description:

Hi, my name is Will.

I’m a teacher, musician, and composer based just outside of Bath in NE Somerset.

Between 2013 and 2020, I primarily worked as a touring musician and assistant Musical Director with Cirque Du Soleil. Due to the pandemic, I had to put life as a touring musician behind me and set up my small home studio in a little cottage just outside Bath with my wife and our small studio cat, Hypatia. I now spend my time working from home as a studio musician and composing orchestral music for TV and Film, while my wife works as a freelance editor and writer. Hypatia generally helps me out in the studio (jumping onto my piano while I’m recording and knocking things over), catches bees from outside, and generally keeps us sane.

I graduated from Sussex University with a bachelor's degree in music and in 2019 I successfully completed two courses with Berklee collage of music in the USA for Orchestration and 20th Century Classical Composition.

Tutoring Experience:

I've had the opportunity to teach frequently throughout my career. I currently work as a tutor with 'The Guitar Academy' in Bath. Over the last 8 or so years I've taught primeraly on a one to one basis however, during my studies at university I took an extra curricular course in teaching where we taught music classes of 30+ students at our local secondary school. Teaching is uniquely rewarding and offers me something that I have never experienced in any other discipline: the moment a student’s eyes light up as they start to understand and integrate a new musical idea or concept. Moments like these are what make this job worthwhile.

Tutoring Approach:

I like to think teaching as something like a collaborative project where we are working together to reach a goal. I try to tailor my lessons depending on each students goals, musical preferences and expectations. I like to keep everything as practical as possible. Theory should always be in context with its practical application on the instrument.

The main challenge with regards to teaching children, in my opinion, is keeping them engaged whilst very gently bringing in the necessary discipline. This is particularly hard at the beginning. Music, if taught correctly, is the perfect combination of being a discipline and being incredibly fun. Serious Play. Getting this balance right is crucial to a child’s long-term success in playing an instrument.