The jigsaw guitar course appeals immediately to young children through its use of easily understandable symbolism, simple methodologies like using the rhythm of words in a nursery rhyme to play a rhythm on guitar. It also engages physical games to develop a felt association with things like the speed of music. Whilst this course makes it easy and fun for young children to get a foothold in learning the guitar, it will also teach them the essential and foundational techniques for both hands as well as basic music reading. As such it will open the door for their continuing study and enjoyment of the instrument.
This is a superb method for engaging very young children. The book we follow, comes with backing tracks for your child to play along with. These tracks help to bring the melodies alive and also give children the experience of playing along with other musicians.
The Jigsaw Guitar Children’s book was developed by Luke Dunlea using a Hungarian musical methodology called Kodaly. This course is so effective that the Royal Academy of Music adopted it for use with their weekend children’s guitar courses at the academy premises in London. One of the key ideas behind it is that there is no point approaching musical studies with a very young child from a theoretical perspective. Not only do young children have no real frame of reference by which to understand music theory, it also makes the process intellectual and boring and can stifle their early experiences of music and in some cases put them off for life. This book avoids that pitfall by being immediately accessible to the youngest children, although some basic English reading skills are required to get the most from it.
For my beginners’ guitar course, I use a mixture of the best material I have discovered in 2 decades as a teacher – a fantastic book with backing tracks written by my colleague and friend Mark Rose. When you start learning guitar, the melodies you play generally have to be very basic in nature. At the same time things need to be interesting and engaging to encourage and maintain the desire to keep learning and progress. Mark Rose’s book, Play Guitar, is the perfect accompaniment on this journey into developing a solid basic guitar technique with both hands, and also covering all the basic skills in music reading that a beginner needs. The book brings the melodies you play to life in an entertaining way due to the superb quality backing tracks that accompany each of the enclosed short 65 pieces. These backing tracks include styles such as Brass Band Music, Classical, Arabic, Reggae, Rock, Pop, Disco, modern Dance music, Jazz and many others.
I supplement this book with other well-known melodies that we can perform together in duet. This course is a lot of fun and by the end of it you would be able to give an entertaining concert to friends or family. You would have gained the most important techniques with both hands and the skills you need in music reading to go to the next level. I also give an introduction to other methods and styles as we finish the course, such as how TABS work (a simplified reading method used in rock and other styles), and how to understand chords and chord charts to play popular songs. By the end of this course, you would be ready to move forward into whatever style you wish to pursue, OR into grade studies which is what I recommend to people who are dedicated to develop their skills as a guitarist.
The Classical Guitar is a truly beautiful instrument which today has a range of repertoire way beyond what you would expect by hearing the word ‘classical’. In my ‘classical’ guitar studies I have come across beautiful renditions of popular songs and film themes, rock music, blues, jazz, ragtime and fingerpicking, as well as music from all the periods of Western Art Music such as Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th Century and Contemporary music. I have experience of teaching Classical Guitar with the most respected providers of Classical Guitar qualifications which are ABRSM, Trinity College London and the London College of Music.
I currently recommend using the Trinity College syllabus due to the range of options that they offer. As well as choosing from a wide range of repertoire, they publish grade books for every level. There is the choice of doing an in-person exam or doing a digital exam by filming a performance. You also have the choice between just learning pieces, or learning pieces with either scales or technical exercises, or going for a more rounded approach incorporating more traditional elements like sight reading tests, aural tests, musical knowledge tests or improvisation.
Grade studies can be frowned upon by some students and, yes, of course there are great musicians that didn’t do grades or particularly formal studies. However, make no mistake that the best musicians out there, even the famous ones, have really put time and effort into their art. One way or another these musicians have studied either by their own initiative or by seeking experienced musicians to learn from. In my 20 years’ experience as a teacher, the students who don’t want to do grades generally learn less and achieve less than the ones that do. Ultimately there is no substitute for working and putting in the time if you want to be good at something. As a teacher I dedicate my time to students that want to dedicate their time to getting good at the guitar. That’s what I am here for. I also think that guitar is more fun when you are good at it because it opens the door to the music that you love by giving you the skills that you need to play it.
People often get mistaken about music in the sense that they just see it as fun. Don’t get me wrong. I love music and it is fun. However, the long-term fun comes from getting good at it. The time eventually comes when you want to get good at something if you are serious about it. See it another way: Who would you bet on for winning a fight between someone who went to Karate lessons for fun, and someone that went to Karate lessons until they got their Black Belt. The answer is obvious. If you want to become a black belt guitarist then the best thing you can do is get your grades.
After a lifetime spent in and around music and musicians, I have experience of performing on TV, to celebrities, for celebrities and in Theatres. I have been working with covers bands and originals bands, songwriting, studying music to the university and professional levels, composing, arranging, providing corporate entertainment, wedding entertainment, teaching in the public and private sectors, working for and with agencies, and qualifying with and teaching the syllabi of ABRSM, Trinity College London, London college of Music and Rockschool.
Through such experience I have a good understanding of the requirements of the real-world working environment and the skills and portfolio required to be successful in the musical and performing arts. If you are at a crossroads in your study or work journey, or if you are just looking for support and guidance in achieving a career or study goal then a one-off consultancy session could really help you.
The internet has been a real boon to the education sector, however sometimes it is hard to find exactly what you need, especially when you don’t know the basics. In a short course of a few lessons, I can show you how to understand chord charts and strumming techniques, how to make sense of TAB charts, and how to use Google and Youtube to connect with good teachers and resources so that you gain the skills to play along with your favourite songs.
If you are a singer songwriter and want to use the guitar to accompany yourself, I can give you a solid grounding in how to do that with Strumming techniques, a thorough understanding of guitar chords, how the guitar works as a transposing instrument (playing in different keys) and also teach you fingerstyle techniques to make your accompaniments more interesting.
If you are going for a grade 5 Music Theory qualification and need support to understand any aspect of the syllabus then I can help.
Five or more lessons
30 minutes £30 per lesson
45 minutes £40 per lesson
60 minutes £50 per lesson
One-off lessons
30 minutes £40
45 minutes £50
60 minutes £60
All payments for lessons made in advance.
Minimum 24 hours’ notice of cancellation, or the full lesson fee applies.
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