Tuition
It's never too late to learn the guitar and whether you start early or young with the right foundation you'll be playing for the rest of your life. Whatever your age - you'll have no excuse to ever be bored again.
Getting started
We’ll start off with an introductory call (either a phone call, whattsapp or zoom) to discuss what you want to get out of the process. I’ll want to understand what level you’re at (have you picked up a guitar before and, if so, where are you in terms of ability). What do you hope to achieve? What’s your goal? Obviously you won’t be paying for the introductory call - it’s just to see whether you want to ahead with lessons and for me to understand where you are.
From there we can discuss how I can help you to achieve your goal. How often would you like to have lessons? Some students prefer a weekly lesson whilst others find a fortnightly lesson is more suitable. It may be that you have a shorter weekly lesson or a longer fortnightly session; it’s really up to you. We will settle on a format that works best for your personality and circumstances.
Face to face or online lessons
You have the option for face to face or online. In my experience a face to face lesson works better as communication and demonstration are a bit easier but it’s not a deal breaker and online lessons do work and work well. Pick whatever suits you.
For face to face lessons I teach from the office in our garden in Urmston; just near Davyhulme Park Golf Club off Moorside road). I live with my partner and my daughter who is 8. You might see a cute dog and cat wandering around in the garden (or putting their noses up against the door) but they won’t be getting involved in the lesson (unless you want them to).
Your current ability
I teach everyone from total beginners who have never picked up a guitar before, through to those who know the basic chords but are looking to develop their playing through to students who want to improve their improvisational skills and ability to play with other musicians. I have a thorough understanding of theory and can help you with learning scales, how to solo and how to improvise. Being able to meet musicians who you’ve never met before, ask what key it’s in and immediately start playing is a genuine pleasure and opens up new avenues of communication and enjoyment. I can help you to start speaking this language.
Pace of learning
This really depends on you, your circumstances, motivation and how much time you’re able to give to practising. It’s something we will discuss in the initial consultation but really it’ll just be a case of getting stuck in and seeing what works and what doesn’t. We can do what we want in terms of whether we slow the pace down or speed it up.
Styles
I primarily teach pop, rock, blues, country and traditional folk styles. I also specialise in acoustic finger style and have started taking bookings for weddings as a solo instrumentalist. I started out as an acoustic player (despite growing up obsessed with classic 60s, 70s and 80s rock and metal) and for much of my 20s and 30s I only played acoustic; with an emphasis on playing Irish solo fingerstyle pieces and finger picking. If you’re interested in this style I can help you to learn this. It’s a really satisfying way of playing when there are no other musicians around and really is a field in which you never stop exploring.
My experience
I started playing guitar when I was 15 when my dad bought me a cheap and (with hindsight) largely unplayable acoustic. I played it obsessively throughout my teenage years and beyond then sold it in my 20s to a shop in Manchester ('You've played that for 10 years and not given up?!'). I've been playing in bands since my 20s and am still playing now having just turned 50. Please see my band website below for lots of live videos.
https://www.treshombresuk.com/
I have also put a few live videos on the My Playing page of this website where you can see me happily noodling away. With a bit of time and effort you'll be happily noodling too! I have also provided examples of my fingerstyle guitar playing as well. Hopefully these videos demonstrate that I know what I'm doing!
Here's an example:
Let's talk about theory
Some people hear the T word and immediately break into a cold sweat (or just run for the exit). I like to think of music theory as really just a bag of keys that unlock the doors to understanding how music works. The good news is that you can actually hop round the back and nip in through the window - you don’t actually need ANY theory to start playing or even to get to a professional standard of ability. James Hatfield of Metallica doesn’t even know the names of the notes on his guitar and never bothered with any theory, and he’s done alright.
Having said all that NOBODY ever became a worse musician by learning more about how music works. It’s TOTALLY up to you.
Let’s take the example of learning to play in time. Rhythm is a fundamental building block of music and, if you want to get anywhere on your instrument (certainly to play with other musicians), at some point you’ll have to deal with it. Now, we can take the simple approach to rhythm and just learn to play in time, or we can go the extra mile and add a little bit of theory to help you understand it better and to help stand you in good stead for further down the road. It’s TOTALLY up to you.
On the subject of theory I will teach you as much or as little as you want. It’s perfectly possible to not study any theory and attain a high level of musicianship; though you may find it limits the kind of things you can do. For e.g. if you want to learn to solo and improvise you are going to need a bit of theory, but it’s not as much as you might think and if you learn a couple of basic scales this will serve you well. If you’re the kind of student who wants to be the best that they can be on the instrument then I will suggest us looking at some theory at some point.
But first - let's just get you playing!
There are no shortcuts (not really)
When I started playing guitar I learned from books and listening to records. This approach has its advantages and its drawbacks. I would have become a much better player much more quickly if I'd had a proper teacher at the beginning, but it also taught me to play by ear and to develop my listening skills, which has been invaluable. Now we have the internet with all the great, good and terrible things that come with it. You tube can be a wonderful thing and there are many great educators who have their own channels. It is of course entirely possible for you to sign up to one of these and progress at your own pace; relying on your own self-motivation and willingness to study. What you won't get with that is the experience of being in the room with a teacher who is totally focussed on you and your playing, who can see what you're doing, can correct any errors, can stop and talk in real time, demonstrate ideas and techniques and answer your questions - that's what I can give you that an online resource can't; that and, crucially, I will help inspire and motivate you to get better faster.
So yes, You Tube can be a wonderful thing. However, whenever you hear someone promise magical results for minimal effort - "Learn 100 songs in 4 minutes", "Learn guitar in 3 easy steps", "learn to solo in 17 seconds" - I would strongly advise you to disregard what they're saying and navigate to another channel.
Because they're lying.
Like anything worthwhile in life, learning an instrument takes time and effort. There are no shortcuts to this - not real ones - there are things that you can do to speed up the process; to learn and practise more efficiently - but the only way you'll get better is to practise. The good news is that practise can and should be fun and doesn't have to involve running scales up and down the neck for half an hour whilst looking at the clock wondering when it will all end. I will help you to make practise fun and I absolutely guarantee that if you put in 5 mins a day concentrated practise you will improve. If you put in 10 you will improve quicker. If you put in 15 mins a day you will get better faster still etc. :But I don't have the time to practise" I hear you say. Well, how much time you spend scrolling on your phone each day? You've got the time!