Felix Essex

For beginners, I will explain how there are two different ways of reading guitar music (1 - standard notation and 2 - tablature) and provide example exercises for both. We will choose which is more engaging for the student so that we can get the most out of the lesson time.

- If they choose to follow standard notation then we will go through more traditional pieces, honing in on music theory and focusing on right-hand fingerstyle techniques, I will take them through 'The Guitarists Way' series, which is a comprehensive starting point.
- If they would prefer a more contemporary and song-based approach using tab, I will take them through the 'Rockschool' series, which is also a great starting point.

My lessons will start with technical exercises to help us warm-up and remind us of the core foundations of music-making. As every player knows, playing through scales can be tedious so I always aim to show their practicality in the context of more useful applications such as improvisation in specific keys.

We will then go through the pieces where I will offer the student a chance to play through once by themselves. I will then make note of which bars could be improved and focus on the necessary elements such as timing, strumming pattern or right-hand technique. We will go through these until we are ready to bring it together for a more fluent performance. I will often play accompaniments to make the process as engaging as possible and to make getting to the end-goal an interactive experience.