What will be covered in our lessons?

As is the case with many of these questions, the answer is up to you! I aim to tailor lessons to the individual, and in doing so I take into account their ability, and what they hope to get out of their guitar/mandolin lessons. If you want to improve your flat-picking, we will focus on melody playing and learning tunes. If you specifically want to improve your righthand technique or get better at triplets, we will focus more on tunes with more challenging picking patterns, or with more triplets.



Do I have to have a lesson every week?

The frequency of our lessons is entirely up to you. We can have a lesson each week, once every two weeks, once a month, or you can book a block and space them out however you like.



What resources will be available?

PDF sheet music will be available for all of the tunes, chord charts/shapes that we cover, and these will be in standard notation and tab (if required). I will also put together recordings of the material we cover which will allow you to practice along between lessons. If our lessons take place on Zoom or Skype, you will be able to directly record our lessons for later viewing.



Why should I book a block?

There are two benefits to booking a block of lessons instead of a one-off lesson: 1. More time to plan Upon booking a block of lessons, we can discuss what you hope to cover over the course of the block. This means that I can compile a block's worth of tailored learning with your overall goal(s) in mind. 2. You save money! Block bookings are priced at a 15% discount, meaning you save £22.50 on a 6-week block, and £45.00 on a 12-week block.



Where do lessons take place?

I am currently based in Aberdeenshire, with plans to relocate to Glasgow in the future. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, in-person teaching is currently not permitted. One-on-one lessons will take place on Zoom instead.



Are there any prerequisites?

No, come as you are! I have experience in working with people of all ages and abilities, and whether you have never played before, or have been playing for years, we can work together. However, having knowledge of music theory (standard notation) over tab, and being an active music listener is preffered.



Online lessons? How does that work?

Online lessons aren't quite the same as learning in person, but other than the occasional bit of lag the approach is pretty much the same.



What styles do you teach?

I focus primarily on traditional music as it is the style that I am most experienced in - I studied a BMus in Traditional Music - but "traditional music" can mean a variety of things. I have experience playing traditional music from Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia, and America; these different types of traditional music have lots in common, but are also vastly different.