If you have ever been moved by music, or you have ever listened to it, then you have the ability to learn it.
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“What I didn’t expect was that it would become the beginning of a much deeper understanding of how music actually works.”
Gabriella, guitar and songwriting
Where people are when they find me
You're a complete beginner, and you want to be guided and inspired to learn and love music in a way that's fun, challenging, rewarding and creatively freeing.
You learn by following your intuition, and you've hit a wall in your progress.
You're a great sight reader. You've had some formal lessons at some stage, maybe done a few grades. If someone took the sheet away you would freeze. You understand the music one note at a time, and you know you need a deeper understanding of the structure to express more fully.
All your songs sound the same.
You're a professional producer who wants to communicate better with musicians, and to have a language for what your ears already know.
You're a bedroom producer who wants to get ideas into the track as soon as you have them, so you never lose the flow.
How I teach
Music theory seems to be a difficult topic, and one that a lot of people have misconceptions about. The best way I can describe it is this. Learning without theory is like having a warehouse where every piece of musical information, every melody and every chord, sits in one giant unorganised pile on the floor. Every time you want to find something, you have to search through the whole pile.
Theory is simply the act of putting up shelves, and sorting all those musical bits into boxes you can actually search.
People often think of theory as a set of rules. Most of those so called rules would be better described as expectations. You don't have to meet them. But the more you understand them, the more you can choose to meet them or subvert them. They are devices for telling your story better, and faster.
Lesson plans
Four twelve week lesson plans, each built for a different kind of musician, with the option to pay in monthly instalments. If you don't see the right course, or you aren't sure which is the right path, then book a call.
And if you're like me and you want a full, well rounded skill set for the music industry, we can discuss which plan is best to start with and build a bespoke pathway through the material, so everything is connected and each part builds on the last.
You're starting from scratch. We'll have a call to talk about your goals, and from there I'll collaborate with you and help you navigate your way through the musical landscape.
Taking music apart and putting it back together differently. We'll use the keyboard as a tool for understanding how it all works, because it's the clearest place to see it. I play guitar and bass too, so I can teach through those as well, but the keyboard always gets involved at some point.
You want to communicate better with the musicians you work with, and to have a language for what your ears already know. Or you're working alone, and you want to get ideas into the track as soon as you have them so you never lose the flow. We'll build the vocabulary for both.
Learn to speak the language of music fluently. Get what you hear in your head out through your instrument without stopping to work it out first, build your confidence, and leave writer's block behind.
“As a classically trained musician I wanted to branch out and increase my musical language in multiple directions. He is particularly skilled at building bridges between different musical styles.”
Shelley, professional French horn player
Gift a lesson
You can buy a lesson for someone else. Email me and you'll receive a card and a personalised link, so they can book a lesson at a time that suits them. guyteaches@gmail.com
Who's teaching you
I'm a composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist based in Brighton.
I have been working in music for twenty years, and I still do a bit of everything. I tour and record with other artists, and I have a jazz bar residency. I have music directed a series of immersive shows, scored a film for David Shrigley, been part of projects played on BBC Radio 1 and 6, and spent four years as head sound engineer in a live venue, which taught me more about what connects in music than anything else has. I teach a framework I put together called the Musical Theory of Relativity, and have given masterclasses on it at studios, colleges and universities. I have been teaching privately since 2020. I came to most of this on my own, working backwards from music I loved, and that is still how I teach. It is the part of the job I enjoy most.
When I was young I saw colours when I heard music.
Years later, when I started studying theory properly, I realised those colours were related to each other in much the same way the theory said the notes were. That was what sparked my interest, and I have been studying it ever since.
Understanding music has taken me to musical heights I never thought were possible, and it is the reason I can pick up new instruments quickly. An instrument is only a tool for expressing the music that is already inside you.
I would not call myself a cellist, but I spent three years playing cello so I could understand how to write for strings. I recorded with it and played in an ensemble. That is usually how it goes. I learn enough of an instrument to say what I mean on it.
Student testimonials
Twenty minutes, no cost. You'll get a straight answer about whether I can help and which plan makes sense.
Book a free 20 minute call