A question I am often asked is ‘How long does it take to learn to play the guitar?’ That is a very difficult question to answer. My intention is to succeed in taking a pupil to a reasonably high standard within a 2 year period. Playing the guitar can be very addictive. My pupils tend to stay with me long after they have reached the goals I intended them to reach.

The age range is currently between 9 years and 62 years, both male and female. I don’t take on any pupils under the age of 9 years as their hands tend to be too small to reach the notes on the guitar.

One very important educational point here is that children who learn to read music tends to do better at school than those that can’t read music. The reason being that when you are reading music you have to read every single dot to be able to play the piece of music you are reading. Their attention span is totally focused, and if that is applied to their work in the classroom, then they will naturally achieve more. In addition, being able to read music is like learning a new language. Music is the only international language. You can open up a piece of music anywhere in the world, and a musician will be able to play it.

When the 6 books have been completed it is now time to approach rhythm guitar, which is learning to play the chords. The pupil will now be aware of all the notes that make up a chord and be able to name them. This is a specific part of the course and I use the Rhythm Guitar Playing Books by Chaz Hart. These are excellent and I highly recommend them. By using these books the pupil can become very proficient at rhythm guitar playing. By the knowledge gained from my 6 book course the pupil can look at a piece of music and be able to work

out the rhythm pattern by looking at the note values on the melody line, without prior knowledge to this piece of music.

I hope I have explained my teaching method to you. This is a well structured course, and I have a very high percentage success rate.

Learning to play the guitar is also meant to be fun and a very enjoyable experience. I charge £12.50 for a half hour lesson, or £25 for a one hour lesson.

Please note that I do not restrict my teaching schedule to term time. I teach continuously throughout the year. I teach between 9.00am and 8.00pm each day and from 9.00am to 1.00pm on Saturday mornings.