Online Lessons via Zoom

To enquire about online lessons and workshops please message me using the 'Contact Form' on the 'Contact' page of this website.

Private Teaching Practice

Beginners and learners up to Grade 2 standard can share a 30 minute lesson with a friend if they wish. Grade 3-5 students are recommended to have a 30 minute individual lesson. Grade 5+ are recommended to have a 45 minute to 1 hour lesson.

To make an enquiry about lessons please use the contact form on the tab above.

I teach privately from my home studio in Aspley Guise, near Woburn, on the Bedfordshire/Buckinghamshire border, and only 5 minutes drive from Junction 13 of the M1. Online lessons are also available, and I ask students to send me a video of them playing in advance of the lesson, and to indicate what they are aiming to achieve. Occasional lessons also take place in London at The Music Studios, 29 Marylebone Lane, London, W1U 2NQ.

My Teaching Philosophy

• Learning should be fun and students should leave their lesson motivated to practice and improve.

• We are learning to play the music more than we are learning to play the instrument. Instrumental technique permits us to play with confidence and expression.

• Practice should be goal-oriented. Students should leave their lesson understanding what they will be working to achieve and how they will go about it. Teachers must give students the tools to work independently. Technology can act as a powerful aid in helping students to maximise their practice time.

• Students should develop heightened awareness of what they are doing physically and what they feel, through understanding sensory feedback, and how this affects the sounds they make.

• Students should develop heightened awareness of what they hear, and learn how to act to improve and finesse the sounds they produce.

• Students should be learning how to think, problem solve, and make decisions for themselves. They should not always be reliant on the teacher. They should be developing the ability to work autonomously, and take responsibility for consulting the teacher about problems or misunderstandings that they encounter between lessons.

• Students need to know how they want to sound. They should be developing musical imagination and an inner ear, so that they have a clear idea of what are are trying to produce

• Music is a social endeavour. Students should be encouraged to play in ensembles, which will help to develop a range of skills, including: social skills, negotiation, concentration, following both verbal and non-verbal instruction, and the ability to react and interact creatively with others.

• As students advance, they should combine the ability to learn-through-doing, and also to learn through thinking, reasoning, dialogue, and analysis. This helps students to become reflective practitioners, as illustrated below.

• Teaching should be informed by academic research, with teachers constantly developing their skills and practice for the benefit of theory students.