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Concert Hall

Students' Hall Of Fame

Celebrating Progress and Success!

Lee Performance 25/04/2024

Skills and Guitar Concepts Shown in Lee's Showreel

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  • Counting long rests/pauses

  • Steady timing between each strum

  • Syncopation/off-beat strumming 

  • Performing to a backing track

  • Changing strumming patterns seamlessly

  • Performing with dynamics

  • Smooth chord-chord transitions

  • Strumming pattern consistency

Lee's Guitar Journey​

 

At the time of recording, Lee had been taking lessons with me for just under a year; in that time, although he already had some open chords under his belt, he now perfects performances to a backing track with drums, bass, secondary guitar and vocals. All these different elements going on at the same time can make it very tricky to keep musical timing really accurate - until you put in the hours, just like Lee has! This particular skill that Lee has been working on over the year has allowed him to pick up other songs and play them to a busy backing track with perfect timing and chord changes, even just in the space of 1-2 lessons. This was the case with a track that we are working on at present (June 2024), titled Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Lee has also been incorporating muted strums up to tempo on the track titled 'Horse With No Name' by America and playing barre chords in a track titled 'America' by Simon and Garfunkel.​

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Alex' Guitar Journey​

 

Alex began taking lessons with me in November 2021 and we started from scratch! The very first song we tackled was Brain Stew by Green Day, where Alex mastered their first few powerchords. These are key to creating a foundation in Rock-style guitar playing. Since then, Alex kept up a consistent practice routine and is now perfecting guitar solos from the likes of Paramore and Metallica. Alex has consistently applied good techniques and ways of practising, as they tackled and mastered many songs outside of lesson time, such as I Wanna Be Your Slave by Måneskin. 

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Skills and Guitar Concepts Shown in Alex' Show Reel

  • Alternate picking

  • Half-step bends

  • Performing to a guitar backing track

  • Vibrato

  • Barre Chords + Open Chords

  • Smooth chord-chord and Chord-Solo transitions

  • Sensible choices of strumming patterns

Alex' Performance 24/01/2024

Skills and Bass Concepts Shown in Yago's Show Reel

  • Fingerstyle Technique

  • Rhythmic Concepts - Syncopation

  • Performing to a bass backing track

  • Efficient use of fretting hand on the neck

  • Slides 

  • Rhythmic Concepts - Playing On Upbeats

  • Bass licks played with a consistent and clear sound

Yago's Bass Journey​

 

At only 7 years old, Yago started taking electric bass lessons with me as of September 2021 and we began from the very beginning, learning fingerstyle technique - this style uses the fingertips to pick the strings. As a result of Yago's consistent work over the years, he demonstrates accurate timing and can perform bass lines and licks in a clear, consistent and effortless way. In the video, Yago performs "Tacones Rojos" by Sebastián Yatra and a snippet of "Peaches" by Justin Bieber. A beautiful surprise for me was seeing Yago perform with stage presence in his video, which is something that is very difficult to do especially on a student's first ever recording experience.

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Yago's Performance 15/11/2023

Skills and Bass Concepts Shown in Tavish's Show Reel

  • Fingerstyle Technique

  • Rhythmic Concepts - Syncopation

  • Performing to a bass backing track

  • Accurate movement with large fret jumps

  • Slides 

  • Ghost notes

  • Bass licks played with a consistent and clear sound

Tavish's Bass Journey​

 

Tavish is one of my very few students who was self-taught on bass for about a year and previously had other formal musical training. In the space of just under a year, Tavish has been building his speed and achieving perfect note clarity at a truly impressive pace. In the video, he gives an effortless performance of "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" by Radiohead, regardless of the recording environment.
Tavish is definitely one of my most dedicated students, and his results show it! Our lessons started with groovy yet steady, finger-picking bass lines to now focusing on very upbeat, fast bass lines that incorporate many techniques in one song. 

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Tavish's Performance 08/01/2024

Sam's Performance 22/08/2023

Skills and Guitar Concepts Shown in Sam's Show Reel​

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  • Powerchords

  • Alternate Picking

  • Performing to a Metronome

  • Performing to a Guitar Backing Track

  • Left/Right Hand Muting Techniques

  • Seamless Chord Changes

  • Arpeggiated (Broken) Chords

  • Unison Bends 

  • Lead Guitar Riffs

  • Performing Staccato (Short) Notes

  • Accurate Timing Of Strumming Patterns

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Sam's Guitar Journey

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Sam started learning guitar with me from scratch, and has now been taking lessons for a year and a half. As a result of Sam's consistent lesson attendance and productive practise sessions, I am delighted to share his progress so far. Sam practises for 15-30 minutes a day, to give you an idea of what could be achieved in about a year. To summarise, Sam's journey began from learning good practice when using a guitar plectrum to playing guitar solos and complex rhythms. In his show reel, he performs parts of "All My Life" and "The Pretender", by Foo Fighters. Both pieces are approximately equivalent to Grade 3-4. To emphasise Sam's progress, it typically takes a year per grade in the school curriculum. â€‹

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Keep an eye out on this page as more student performance videos will be added soon!

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