My Background, Teaching Methods and Philosophy

I've been playing for 24 years, gigging for 21 and teaching for the last 10.  I have been a member of Warwick's Hangover Blues Band since 1994 which has taken me from Lands End to the Orkney Islands, and from the Castlebar Blues Festival on the West Coast of Ireland to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. The music we play is mainly Rhythm & Blues, touching on Jazz and Country in places. I have also played with rock, soul, punk and indie outfits over the years.

My business/teaching philosophy is simple.  My product is your fast improvement.

Since starting teaching as a novice part timer, I have worked on and developed methods aimed at pinpointing weaknesses quickly, and addressing them in the most efficient ways.  What I used to hope to achieve in months can now be dealt with in weeks (if not days in certain cases).

The basic method is to strengthen from the foundations, attacking problems from as many different angles as necessary to achieve progress, which can be clearly shown through various methods.  Whatever the style/level of playing, the same principles apply to the methods of practice required to create improvement, and if these are not being followed, progress will be slow at best and possibly non- existent.

The most satisfying results can come as much from those who consider themselves to be the least able for whatever reason, as from those who stand out from the pack.  Sometimes my job is helping students who think they can, to understand that actually they can’t, but more often it is proving to students who think they can’t, that actually, they can.  As my own keenest student, I have come to realise that each of these misconceptions applied to my own development as a player in a number of different areas, matters which of course have now been addressed.

I view guitar playing and musicianship in general not as a talent, but as a skill.  Certainly some will have more natural inclination than others to do the right things but nonetheless, playing any piece of guitar music correctly is nothing more than following a strictly defined set of mechanical movements which can be trained into any willing candidate.  Why the greatest players will elicit something above the norm when executing those same movements is a subject for debate, but one in which I would favour the explanation of superior mechanical technique rather than some God given gift.  Areas in which I would take the other point of view are the “skills” of singing and songwriting, in which natural talent beats trained expertise every time.