About Me
I have been playing guitar for over 40 years, and teaching it for over 20.
I am an official tutor with the Registry of Guitar Tutors , Top Tutors Agency Finchley, and the London Music
Centre. For those parents who are concerned, I have an enhanced CRB disclosure available for
inspection, with no recorded entries. I have also attended the Musicians Union
workshop on Child Protection.
I think of myself as eclectic, teaching all styles: pop, rock, electric, acoustic, classical. I am not a specialist jazz player, but
can take someone interested in jazz to an intermediate level. He or she would then be free to move on to an advanced jazz
teacher.
I specialise in fingerpicking styles: classical, folk, ragtime, jazz chord/melody. Famous tunes I can play
are: Classical Gas, Cavatina (theme from the Deer Hunter), the Entertainer, Anji.
I also specialise in music theory including Associated Board grade 5, which is the essential requirement for classical
musicians wishing to progress beyond grade 5 on their instrument, and jazz. I may be able to help, depending on your knowledge and needs, with song-writing and composition.
I can teach you how to read music. Many non-classical guitarists avoid this, preferring to use tablature. I am equally
comfortable with both methods, and will teach you whichever way you prefer.
My Background
I am mainly self-taught in pop and rock, although I have attended various workshops and
courses given by, amongst others, John Mizzarolli and Hussein Boon.
In the 1970s I attended Coventry School of Music, and had private classical guitar lessons
with Brian Whitehouse, Professor of guitar and lute at Birmingham School of Music.
I have studied Jazz Harmony and Composition at the City Literary Institute in London,
with Amit Sen (film composer).