Frequently Asked Questions

Unfortunately I do not travel to students houses as I have everything I need for teaching set up in my purpose built studio. I am also very busy with teaching and have no time to travel. I do not know of any local professional teachers who would be prepared to travel to a students house.

I teach all popular styles of guitar playing such as Rock, Jazz, Metal, Blues, Pop, Classical, etc., and have many years of experience playing professionally in most styles. I have played in countless rock bands, soul bands, function bands, have played in theatres throughout the country, have recorded sessions and played many jazz festivals and clubs here and abroad. You name it, I have probably gigged it!

Yes, I do teach bass guitar.

I have taught professionally for the last 16 years both privately and to groups of all sizes. I have taught at many schools and colleges and given seminars on different aspects of guitar playing. I am a registered teacher with the Registry of Guitar Tutors and I examine for the London College of Music. I am also the author of the popular book ‘The Paul Hill Guitar Theory and Technique Book’ which is a revolutionary technique into teaching the theoretical aspects of the guitar.

I am a Fellow of the London College of Music – the highest diploma awarded by the London College of Music.

Just bring your guitar to the lesson as amps, leads and any teaching materials are set up in my studio.

Yes I do take on beginners. The teaching methods that I have developed over the years (the theoretical concepts are clearly outlined in my book ‘The Paul Hill Guitar Theory and Technique Book’) work for all levels of ability. Beginning guitarists advance quickly and the more advanced students that start lessons often wish that they had been shown the methods when they were learning early on.

Many of my students are actually full time guitar teachers themselves. I often take on students who are great players and have been playing for years or passed their grade eight exam or even diploma and are stuck in a rut.

Lessons are one hour long. How often a student comes for a lesson depends upon how much practice time they can put in between lessons. This is often depends on work commitments, school commitments, etc. It is pointless for a student to have weekly lessons if they have not had a chance to cover the content of the lessons in between. Some students have weekly lessons and some have lessons every now and again. The most common frequency of lessons is once per fortnight.

As teaching is my profession, I have to charge for the lesson if less than 24 hours notice is given. I am flexible on this if there is a genuine reason such as the student in question is seriously ill or has another valid reason otherwise the charge has to be made.

I occasionally teach students privately in pairs but one to one tuition is highly recommended. Even if two students are at the same playing level when they begin lessons, everyone advances at different rates and learns in different ways which results in slower progress for both students.

Yes. I do not however force exams onto students as I have my own teaching methods and students are often not interested in taking exams. I have been an examiner for the London College of Music for many years now and so have an excellent knowledge of what is required to pass the exams.

There is no right or wrong answer to this question and there are many different points of view on the subject. One teacher might say that there are no left handed pianos, saxophones, etc. and that left handed guitars are a gimmick. Many famous right handed guitar players are actually left handed in other activities. It is the left hand that does a lot of the work anyway when a right handed guitarist plays so why switch to left handed? Then there are left handed players who passionately argue these points and swear that they could never play a right handed guitar and that the left handed guitar feels natural to them.
I personally am right handed and when I try to play a left handed guitar, well lets just say that it’s not pleasant! I once taught a student who was left handed and started out on a right handed guitar. He then convinced himself about six months later that he would be a much better player on a left handed guitar and purchased one. He struggled for a while and eventually returned to the right handed guitar as he concluded that he was more advanced this way round.
My best advice is to try both out in your local music store to see which one feels best to you. If there is no definite preference, it might be a good idea to stick to the right handed model. this is because there is a much greater choice of right handed guitars and you will probably not have to invest as much money to obtain a good instrument. There is also the fact that if there is a guitar lying around one day that you want to play or if you attend a jam session and borrow someone’s guitar, the instrument is highly likely to be a right handed guitar.

Unfortunately I do not. Students sometimes pay for a block of lessons at a time although there is no reduction in cost.

Yes I do. A few years ago I was asked if I could provide gift vouchers for a lady who wanted to present her husband with them for Christmas. This has proven popular on many occasions as presents for birthdays, Christmas, etc.

Students should ideally practise their guitar everyday. This is obviously not always possible and the length of time available for practising is dependent on many factors. When I was younger, I spent a couple of years where I would practise for 10 to 12 hours everyday, sometimes even more. nowadays, I am so busy with teaching and gigging that I hardly get any time to practise. Little and often is better than a long practice session once a week. However much time a student gets to spend practising, it is important that the time is spent productively.