Matthew Passingham

I teach guitar lessons in primary schools, to private students and for the Hertfordshire county music service. I am able to teach a wide range of genres including pop, rock, classical, jazz, funk, blues, folk, singer songwriter type music etc.

My lessons have a varied approach and include lots of different activities, including playing with a plectrum, plucking the strings with the fingers, strumming chords, learning to clap and strum rhythms, strumming along with songs, learning the notes on the fretboard, playing with a backing track, playing duets with me, learning to read music and chord diagrams. I also explain important music theory concepts such as the notes used in western music, time signatures, how chords are constructed and scales & key signatures.

When teaching complete beginners with no prior experience, I generally start them off with one of two beginner guitar books and my own material covering chords and strumming which I provide at no extra cost. The beginner books I teach from are ‘First Class Guitar’ by Tatiana Stachek and the Hal Leonard Complete Guitar Method. First class guitar is an excellent book with lots of different activities including improvising music, by reading music notation, learning to clap rhythms and playing solo pieces. My favourite feature of the book is that almost every page in the book has duets for the student to play with myself. This means that the pupils are learning how to play in time with another musician from the very beginning, it also makes the pieces sound very musical from the start and makes lessons very enjoyable for both pupil and teacher. The Hal Leonard Complete Guitar Method is also an excellent book for learning guitar, it teaches how to play guitar using a plectrum and through using the fingers. It also introduces chords and scales. Every piece has chords accompanying it giving plenty of opportunity for the teacher and pupil to play together, which is something I try and maximise in my lessons. The book also comes with backing tracks which can be downloaded from the Hal Leonard website which are an excellent practice tool.

When teaching pupils who have prior experience before starting lessons with me, or are at intermediate/advanced levels I ask the pupils, ‘What style of music/guitar do you really like and want to learn’ and use their answer to guide our lessons. Anyone learning any musical instrument should always learn the music they really like and that speaks to them. In my lessons with intermediate and advanced students I help them learn what songs or pieces they want to learn and also teach them about relevant music theory, techniques or skills. I am a classical and electric guitarist who focuses on learning classical, jazz and funk guitar. I enjoy a wide range of music, and came to jazz, classical & funk from rock and pop, and I feel this enables me to teach a wide variety of musical genres.

Through my experience of teaching guitar I have developed patience when teaching and an understanding that different pupils all learn different things at different rates, and that no two students follow exactly the same path when learning the guitar. I have developed good verbal communication skills through explaining concepts and developed skills at teaching through demonstrating techniques.

I am DBS checked and have my own safeguarding policy.