Why I Became a Tutor

When I purchased my first saxophone in1982 I was seventeen and had never even held a sax before. I taught myself the basics and had a couple of lessons, which was all I could afford at the time. I couldn't read music at this point and so I played by ear, listening to records and repeating what I had heard. Over the next 20 years I played in many different bands, but I was always aware that my lack of musical education was hindering my progress. Finally at the age of 39 I started having lessons with a local professional and with his help I learnt how to sight read.  This opened up a whole new world to me, for which I am ever in his debt.

With my tutor's encouragement and help I developed a fascination for improvisation. It soon became clear to me that improvising was a highly structured art that required a whole new level of understanding on my part. My tutor suggested that I should consider a degree in music: to prepare for this I then studied with a jazz educator from the Trinity College of Music in London. A year later I started studying jazz at Middlesex University and over the next 3 years I studied under some of the best players/educators in the country.

Having started my musical education quite late in life, I have an acute awareness of the need to fully understand the basics of one subject, before attempting another. When I am teaching an absolute beginner I do not make the assumption that everyone can absorb new infomation in the same manner and at the same rate. Each student is very much an individual and what works for one person might not work for another. I believe in finding several  different approaches to explain a specific topic, for instance the major scale is often best introduced with the aid of a piano.  The student is then able to see the intervals of tones and semitones, whereas on the saxophone there are no visual aids.  The piano is paramount in understanding scale and chord structures.  I use it constantly to develop and increase my own knowledge and understanding: we are all on the learning path and one lifetime is simply not enough to reach its end.

The learning process will always be taxing if new infomation is to be absorbed, but a student should feel able to cope and stress should be dealt with by encouragement and adaptabilty on the part of the tutor. This is why I became a tutor, because I believe everybody can learn how to play music, but not eveyone will learn in the same way. Each person's goals will be different and a tutor needs to  be adaptable. If you just want to play the blues or maybe learn your favorite pop songs, that's fine, but if you want to learn how to improvise then it is important to learn each step and stage in a structured, organised manner. It is the tutor's responsibility to make this process enjoyable and rewarding.