Owen Nicholson

I’m a musician and teacher living in South East London. I mainly play jazz, rock and alternative music but I can teach across all genres and styles. I've been playing for over 16 years and have learned from some amazing teachers. They've all informed me about my practice today and showed me many different ways to study the guitar and bass. In addition to instrumental learning I have also been producing music since I was 15 and am proficient in teaching on all DAWs including Logic Pro X and Ableton.

Another aspect of my teaching has been informed by my career as a live performer since I was 8 years old. I've played in venues such as the Jazz Cafe Camden, The British Library, 93 Feet East, Lost Nightclub, Portico Studios, and more across the country. I'm in many different bands and can advise on how to approach being a guitarist for live gigs. The bands I'm in have had their work featured in The Guardian, Pitchfork, Crack Magazine, Line of Best Fit and Rolling Stone.

I'm currently studying a Master's degree in Music Composition at Guildhall School of Music and this has opened up a whole world of practical skills I can pass on. The first rate teaching at this institution has taught me about electronic music production, orchestration, mixing and mastering, recording, music theory, the music industry and working as a creative.

Alongside my course, I work as a professional mixing engineer and can teach students how to get their tracks sounding polished and ready for release. I can also show them a lot of exercises to train the ear and listen for EQ and compression moves. My favourite part about mixing is to give things an interesting space using reverbs, delays, and modulation. This can give mixes a real sense of movement and makes the process more artistic and performance driven.

These different musical projects have involved recording in professional studios as part of a band and as a session musician in places such as Abbey Road, Young Space, and 160 Dalston Lane. I have a great deal of experience with recording and would love to pass on my knowledge. With me, students can learn microphone recording techniques, using outboard studio equipment, EQ and compression, gain staging, and mixing + mastering. With audio software I can easily teach these things online on zoom and mirror computers so we can broadcast the outputs of any DAW.

In terms of song writing and electronic music production I can show students how to produce music and build tracks. From making a beat to full-scale band arrangements. I have learned a lot about what works with song-writing and can give exercises to help build creative thinking when it comes to production.

With guitar, I'm comfortable teaching the grading system with ABRSM and also more than happy to go through any songs that students wish to learn, no matter the genre or difficulty.

My ethos for guitar is centred around building a good musical ear through transcribing licks and phrases, building good hand flexibility and strength using rhythm exercises and chord drills and thinking of the guitar in musical and abstract ways. It's important to play with your own style and I can help the student facilitate using expression and taste in their own work. My end goal is to equip the student with the means to find their own path in music and grow in confidence with each week.