About James
After graduating from Reading University with a 1st Class Honours degree, James enrolled full time at the world-renowned Musicians Institute in London to study guitar with some of the leading instructors in the country. On completion of the diploma course in 1996, he was given the highest merit of a platinum award. This incredible opportunity further fuelled his passion for mastering the instrument and developing compelling live performance skills.
Since then James has developed an extensive level of experience as a guitar teacher in a number of different styles. He has taught lessons both privately on a one to one basis as well as in several schools across Berkshire.
James has developed a teaching style which is both relaxed, fun and engaging as well as motivating and focused. He encourages a pace which maximises results whilst being appropriate to the temperament and needs of each individual. He is particularly proud of his honed ability to read very accurately where each student is at, meet them there and then find the best path to progress.
He enjoys teaching both children and adults, and all ages in between! Each age bracket brings different challenges and a variety of approaches, which James particularly enjoys. He is always happy to source music which inspires his students and often transcribes songs himself to ensure that the student really is playing what they dreamed of!
In the lessons the focus is split between the musical goals of the student and the broader musical skills that they need to attain to become a well-rounded musician and progress to the next goal. With younger children, the focus is very much on inspiring them to learn the basic skills in a safe and encouraging environment to allow them to really grow and flourish as young musicians, and confident young people!
James takes a relaxed approach to grades; they are useful as a structure and some flourish from this approach, for others they do not wish to have the pressure of taking exams, and in this case, James carefully tailors the repertoire to make sure that progression is still obvious. Another alternative is to prepare the exam material but not to actually take the exam. Any of these strategies are absolutely fine as long as the student can see their progression and take a sense of pride in what they are achieving.