Teaching

Chris teaches guitar lessons at home and via Zoom/FaceTime – email to enquire.

Primarily a jazz guitarist Chris is a versatile musician and brings expertise into his teaching approach from years of performing and recording in genres including jazz, rock, pop and classical. Over the course of a great deal of teaching and of study he has developed and refined a structured method that really helps the student to address the important issues in their playing, with a tailored practice routine, taking account of the student’s personal style and preferences – and addressing improvisation, technique, approaches to comping, exercises for improving rhythm/time-feel, harmony and theory (such as techniques for internalising and using melodic and harmonic minor, harmonic major and diminished harmony), methods to improve sight-reading, approaches to interpreting a chart, transcription, playing in different genres, how to function in different types of ensemble, approaches to composition. 
It also takes a holistic view, encompassing techniques for addressing physical and mental tension and nerves associated with practice and/or performance, and methods for instilling long-term healthy approaches to playing, which can have a very positive effect musically, as well as guarding against injury and reducing tension/stress. 

ABRSM, Trinity Guildhall, Rockschool grades can be worked towards on request.

He was appointed Professor of Jazz Guitar at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2017. He teaches one-to-one guitar lessons to undergraduate and postgraduate jazz guitar students there, and leads a combo; coaching a jazz small group. Also he has taught various classes such as ICPK, in which students do transcription and analysis, a dissertation and various other academic tasks, as well as studying improvisation. Chris had previously been employed externally there regularly since 2009. He has regularly since 2009 appeared as the guitar specialist on the panel for auditions and for adjudicating, including the undergraduate and postgraduate jazz final recitals.

Chris was employed by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama to adjudicate their jazz recitals in June 2019.

Chris was employed to adjudicate the Guitar prize at the City of London School in 2012 and 2018.

Chris has been on the faculty at Colchester Institute on their degree course in popular music since 2011 teaching one-to-one guitar lessons.

Chris was on the faculty of the Suffolk Jazz School in 2019. He gave a guitar workshop as part of the Ipswich Jazz Festival 2018; also a contemporary jazz guitar masterclass at the brand new Roth Academy in Guildford, and a guitar masterclass on Mike Outram’s online guitar academy Electric Campfire. Chris was guitar tutor for the Michael Garrick Jazz Academy for several consecutive years. He has also taught in many music workshops with Jacqui Dankworth, with the Dave O’Higgins Band, as the guitarist in NYJO, and for Essex Music Services.

Chris is guitar tutor at Devonshire House School, Hampstead, London (2007 to present).

He previously was guitar tutor at Thomas’s Preparatory School Clapham, London (2002-7).

Chris has worked for numerous other colleges on an occasional or one-off basis, including the Royal Academy of Music, Middlesex University, the Academy of Contemporary Music and the London Centre of Contemporary Music amongst others.

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