Category Archives: Lessons

Lessons update and new music release

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Hello, everybody!

It’s been a while since I posted anything here. The last couple of months have kept me relatively busy – with kids going back to school after the summer, I’ve had an influx of new pupils, both beginners and more experienced players. Evening lesson spaces are filling up – I’ve still got a few slots left, so if you’re interested in starting lessons, I’m sure we’ll be able to arrange something. I still have spaces available on Saturdays, too.

In addition to more teaching, I’ve also been composing. It’s been a while since I last released any music – my most recent was my EP about six weeks ago. After the relative simplicity of that EP, I wanted to go in the other direction and work on something much more musically complex. It took longer to write due to the complexity, but now I’m happy to present the results of that work in my latest video!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qpL05jBguuk%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

This piece, Inexorable Force, is my attempt to capture chaos in musical form without going completely abstract. For the average listener, there are still plenty of hooks, as I’ve gone by the adage of making anything that supposed to be clever also be catchy. For the theory loving musicians, I think there’s a lot of interest.

The main riff in this piece came about by a small challenge I set myself – to write a rhythm in 5/4 time that doesn’t split up the quavers into 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 groupings. I ended up going for 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 and started to think of the time signature as being 10/8. Then I was curious about adding one more beat into the next bar to add to the feeling of chaos. I built on this and ended up using frequent time signature changes, irregular numbers of bars for some phrases, plenty of chromaticism, and some quartal harmony for further strangeness. I’m really happy with the final result!

I’ll be releasing the track on Bandcamp as soon as I get the notation finished.

Lessons update 31.03.22

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Hello, everybody.

I haven’t posted here for more than a month, so I’d like to give an update on why that was how things are going.

At the end of last year I spent three months living in Kyiv, Ukraine. My wife (who is Ukrainian) and I got married during that time. Once my visa free 90 days were up, I came back to the UK, got a visa, and went back to Ukraine with the intent of staying there for longer. I was teaching my pupils from England remotely during that time, via Skype and Zoom.

One week after I received my temporary residency permission, the Russian military invaded and started the horrific war that has caused so much, death, destruction, and disruption to peoples’ lives. My wife and I were displaced by the war – it took us about a month to make it from Kyiv to Sheffield, via Poland and Germany. Obviously during that time I wasn’t teaching at all and outside of updating my current pupils, didn’t think of updating this website.

Now that I’m in Sheffield again, I’m restarting face to face lessons as well as continuing with online lessons for those that prefer them. I’ll be happy to take on new pupils – anyone interested can get in touch the usual way through the contact form. I’m glad to be teaching after the forced break and glad to be able to continue making music.

Lesson status and album release

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Hello, everybody! Since my previous update at the end of last year, not much has changed on the lessons front. All of my lessons are still currently being given online using Skype and Zoom. I understand that potential new pupils might be sceptical about starting with e teacher this way, so my usual offer of an hour of free tuition still stands.

Over the last year and a half I’ve learnt a lot about ways to support online learning – I’ve recorded more audio and video examples for my pupils than in the entirety of my career so far! Good lesson notes, both from me and my pupils have proven more important than ever and I’ve had to refine my use of language and how I explain concepts. I feel that I’m better equipped as a teacher than ever. If anyone is thinking about starting lessons online with me but isn’t entirely convinced about them being online, I’m open to an additional hour of free tuition on top of the usual one that I offer.

I other news, I’ve spent the best part of 10 months writing and recording a solo piano album. Over the years I’ve had a tendency to begin compositions before finding another interesting idea and moving on to that. As such, I’ve had quite a few pieces of music left unfinished for a long time. The oldest piece on this album actually began life in 2013! As I’ve had fewer lessons to teach during the pandemic, I decided to take a project through to completion. The result is my new album, Let the Journey Begin!

My biggest inspiration for the album comes from old video game soundtracks – in particular, old JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. With older games, the lack of graphical power and disc space meant that facial expressions and voice acting for characters were limited, and thus the music had to carry the emotional weight of the scene and tell the story. These qualities are what I’ve tried to emulate with my writing.

My album is available to purchase on Bandcamp (click the link to be taken to my Bandcamp page). For the princely sum of £6, you’ll receive not only the audio, but also sheet music for every track. If you feel that my music is worth your money, this is a great way to support me.

If you prefer to stream music, you can listen on Spotify or on YouTube.

The cover artwork for my album was done by the wonderful Shannon Leslie. She works in traditional media and I highly recommend checking out her website: https://www.shannonleslieart.com/

Current status of lessons as of 31.08.20

Hello everybody. It’s been a while since I last posted any news and that’s because, up until the COVID-19 pandemic, lessons were running regularly.

Since the government declared lockdown back in April, I switched over to teaching online with the pupils I already had and didn’t take any new pupils. While I do believe online lessons are effective, I feel that it’s a lot easier to demonstrate concepts to a beginner in person.

That said, I’m now offering lessons to new pupils (with the first hour free, as usual). There are a few requirements I have:

  • Pupils must already have a piano or keyboard. I know there are some beginners who prefer to try a lesson before committing to the cost of buying an instrument, which is fine for in person lessons, but won’t work online.
  • Pupils must be able to set up a webcam/laptop/tablet/phone at one end of the instrument so that it’s possible to see the length of the keyboard plus your hands, arms and torso. This view will probably leave your head outside of the camera, which is a little strange, especially when talking, but necessary for each of us to see what’s being demonstrated or practised and general posture.
  • For kids (especially those who are beginners), I require that a parent or guardian is in the room with them for at least the first few lessons and is willing to learn alongside them. Some kids can be very shy coming along for lessons in person and I imagine that that goes double for online lessons. If the parent/guardian wants to continue learning alongside them for longer than the first few lessons, that’s fine by me.

As I mentioned previously, the first hour will be free. I offer this for in person lessons to make sure that pupils are absolutely happy with me as a teacher before they begin paying; for online lessons it’s also to make sure that pupils get a chance to decide whether online lessons are for them and to sort out any technical issues that may arise.

Finally, since it’s always a leap starting lessons with someone new, I plan to create and upload some tutorial videos aimed at beginners so people can get an idea of what my teaching is like.

Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Lessons starting up again

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Hello all,

I’m now back from the first segment of my Feldenkrais training in Chiemsee, full of new ideas about learning, and eager to start teaching again. Expect some more posts about learning on my blog shortly.

Lessons are at the usual times for current pupils unless we arranged differently beforehand.

New pupils feel free to enquire about your free initial lesson. I’m now offering an hour free, rather than half an hour as before, because I think it allows pupil and teacher to get to know each other better, and allows the pupil to judge more accurately what length of lesson would be best for them.

For all pupils, old or new, remember that for every friend you refer to me for regular lessons you can get an hour’s free tuition. Check out the new offers page regularly for the most up to date offers.

Nick