Music
I've had a violin under my chin for over twenty years and I've been behind a kit for fifteen. Orchestras, European tours, world music concerts, a jazz group. The best part of all of it is still watching someone else find their sound.
Technique, tone and expression, built up patiently. I was taught by the lead violinist of the Liverpool Philharmonic, so I know what proper grounding looks like — and I also know how much tension usually comes with it. We'll leave that part out.
Kit playing, hand drums and orchestral percussion — I played with the Brighton Percussion Ensemble and spent years learning what makes a group lock together. I'll teach you how to sit in the middle of one without panicking.
Notation, harmony, and the logic sitting underneath whatever you're playing. Take it alongside an instrument, or entirely on its own if theory is the thing that's been quietly bothering you.
On stage
I spent ten years in orchestras, touring Europe along the way. These days I put together world music concerts as a solo artist — Indian classical, flamenco, folk, whatever the programme calls for — and I co-lead a jazz group.
I think it matters for teaching. Everything I'll ask you to do, I've had to do myself: under pressure, in front of people, on a night when it really wasn't going well.
However you learn best
Working through a grade syllabus? I'll take you through it properly. Got an orchestra part you're dreading before Thursday's rehearsal? Bring it along, we'll pull it apart.
But I'm an intuitive player at heart, and I really believe in training your ear so you can pick a tune up just by listening to it. Improvising, world music, folk — if it takes your fancy, it's fair game.
Co-leading the jazz group.
Who I teach
No two of my lessons look alike. The pace changes and the goals change. The pleasure doesn't.
Small hands, short attention spans, enormous enthusiasm. With my youngest students I build lessons out of games, silly noises and very short wins — one good note, a whole bar, a tune their family actually recognises.
Nobody gets told off for squeaking. Squeaking is part of it.
Plenty of my students come to music late. Some pick up an instrument for the very first time in retirement; others are returning to one they put down forty years ago and never stopped thinking about.
There's no age at which this stops being possible. I promise.
Online music lessons
A laptop or tablet, your instrument, and somewhere you don't mind making a noise. Headphones help. A fancy microphone doesn't.
More than you'd think. Bow arm, grip, posture, stick height — it all reads clearly on camera once we've found a sensible angle, and I'll help you set that up in our first lesson.
Send me a recording of the bit that won't behave and I'll come back with something to try. Usually quicker than waiting a whole week.
Possible when I'm nearby — I move between England and Bilbao. Say where you are on the booking form and I'll tell you what's realistic.
Your turn
Beginner, returner, or somewhere in the middle — drop me a note and I'll suggest where we start.
Book a music lesson