Tuition

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Lesson Structure

Guitar tuition is delivered through a variety of courses by a fully qualified tutor, lecturer and professional player throughout Central Scotland.

Robin offers a first class tuition service from his  home studio in Bo’ness from Beginner to Advanced. Lessons are offered both face-to-face and online via Zoom.

Students travel from all over Scotland including Bo’ness, Linlithgow, Stirling, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Falkirk, Orkney, further south and even abroad! 

The online lessons have been extremely successful with many students opting for a mix of both online and face-to-face lessons.  The success of online tuition has meant that students throughout Scotland and the entire UK can enjoy lessons from their own homes, dorm rooms… basically anywhere with WiFi!

Many touring artists and performers have been in touch regarding Guitar Tuition in the past!

Beginners and adult beginners are very welcome with lessons varying in length from 1/2 hour to 1 hour for pupils from 10 yrs upwards and remember – one is never too old to learn!

Lessons are delivered on a one to one basis in a friendly supportive environment with every student receiving an individual Guitar Tuition Programme.

Lessons range from individual, blocks of four weeks, to extensive courses of study.

All styles are covered, including:
Rock, Metal, Jazz, Blues, Funk, Shred, Fusion, Classical, Country and Acoustic.

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Course Structure

Robin’s course is divided into fifteen stages.

All the material is incorporated within:
Beginner Book1
Intermediate Book 1
Intermediate Book 2
Advanced

Stage one covers the basic elements including string names, working with the right and left hands, getting a sound and basic chords.

By stage five and six pupils are working with songs and styles, reading notation and working with exam pieces. 

Robin has extensive collections of pieces and transcriptions through a variety of styles.

The Advanced stages: ten to fifteen deal with advanced techniques, specialist lessons, style analysis and extensive insights into influential players.

The course lasts as long as the students continue to attend and enjoy lessons.

Additional Books include:

Guitar Handbook 1,2
Reading notation Books 1,2
Jazz chords 1,2
Jazz Handbook
Sweep Picking
Funk Guitar
Rhythm Exercises

Specialist Lesson Topics

Blues Techniques

Major and minor pentatonic, blues scales, 1 IV V progressions, string bending, Vibrato, improvisation, call and response, box positions, shuffle lick, turnarounds, slide, acoustic blues, phrasing and repetition, blues articulations, getting the correct tones, jamming

Blues Player style analysis with transcriptions  – Bonamassa,  Carlton,  Clapton, Collins, Ford, Green, Guy,  Johnson, BB King, A King, F King,  Mayer, Noy, Shephard, Scofield,  SRV,

Rock Techniques

Picking techniques, Legato, tapping, harmonics, power chords, damping, rhythm playing and strumming, building licks and runs, melodic patterns, gear choice,  modes, arpeggios , string skipping , playing set solos, technical development, intervals and  intervallic lines, sweep picking, working with jam tracks and metronome

Rock Player style analysis with transcriptions  – Beck, Dimebag, Gilmour, Gilbert, Govan, Hammett, Hendrix, Howe, Johnston, Kotzen, Lane,  Malmsteen, Morrello, Page, Petrucci,  Rhoads, Satriani, Slash, Timmonds, Vai, Van Halen,

Rock Styles and Pop – Acoustic, Blues Rock, Classic Rock, Heavy Metal, Indie, Funk, Progressive, Shred

Jazz Techniques

11 V progressions, chord tones, arpeggios , chord comping, enclosure, inside/outside playing, modes, modal harmony, minor 11 V progressions, jazz counting and swing, approach notes, chromatic harmony, chromatic lines

Altered harmony, diminished and altered scales, bebop scales, jazz articulation, developing lines, and ideas, melodic techniques, passing notes, jazz standards, drop voicing chords, open and closed chord voiceings, melodic patterns and sequences, chord extension and substitution, turnarounds, 11 VI 11 V, guide tones, progressions, Triadic improvisation, quartal harmony, solo Jazz guitar walking bass lines transcription

Jazz player style analysis with transcriptions – Abercrombie, Benson, Burrell, Christian, Farlow,  Gambale, Hall, Henderson, Holdsworth, Martino, Metheny, Montgomery, Farlow, Pass, Raney, Reinhardt, Rosenwinkel, Schofield, Stern, Mark Lettieri

Jazz styles – Swing, Jazz Blues, Bebop, Cool, Gypsy, Fusion, Hard Bop, Latin, Modal, Jazz Funk, Progressive, Smooth,

Country Techniques

Flatpicking, Hybrid picking, banjo rolls, Travis picking, major and minor pentatonics, country scales, wide range positions, string bends, double string bends, pedal steel licks, 3rds and 6ths, Nashville chord system and caged system scales, double stops, Bluegrass, Dixie Swing, Rockabilly, chicken pickin’

Country Player Style Analysis with transcriptions from:
Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Brent Mason, Guthrie Trapp, Albert Lee, Jerry Donahue, Brad Paisley, Jimmy Bryant, Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Keith Urban, Roy Clarke, Hank Garland, Merle Travis, Vince Gil, Greg Koch, Danny Gatton,

Acoustic Techniques

Techniques including:
P,i,m,a, right and left hand technique, modern acoustic percussive techniques, open string voicings, altered tunings, graded pieces from acoustic and classical repertoires

Acoustic Guitar Styles
Classical, Blues, Country, Folk, Celtic (Scottish and Irish), Pop and Rock.

Theory

Music notation systems, Key signatures, Scale construction, scale formulas, Major and minor Pentatonics, Modes, altered scales, diatonic triads and chord construction, roman numbering system, major and minor harmony, functional Harmony, extended harmony, altered and chromatic harmony,

Analysis of melody and harmony

Cycle of 5ths, intervals, chord progressions and harmonic movement

time signatures, units of rhythm, compound and simple time, rhythm patterns, sub-divisions, irregular rhythm groupings

Improvisation

Grooves and jamming, stylistic features and articulation, scales and arpeggios,

Pentatonics and blues scales, Major Modes, chromatics

Patterns and melodic sequences, phrasing, question –answer, melodic design and melodic tools,

Chord tones, Enclosures and approach notes, tension and resolution,

Chord extensions and substitutions, Chord progressions 11 V sequences,

Melodic minor modes, chromatic scales and outside playing.

Building a solo and structure, shape and pace, Phrasing, rhythmical devices and techniques,

Diatonic and chromatic changes, contrafact, internalizing chord progressions,

Transcribing and analysis, creativity versus analysis, using backing tracks

Other lesson topics

Effective rehearsal techniques, including:

  • Transcription
  • Working with the looper and backing tracks
  • Developing improvisational techniques
  • Developing tone
  • Theory
  • Ear Training
  • Music software and Technology

Developing reading techniques, including:

  • Technique
  • How to practice
  • Performance techniques
  • Preparation for auditions
  • Player and style analysis

Tuition Fees

£12 per ½ hr

£24/1hr

4 week block – £45

Discount for sibling bookings