Guitar Lessons

I’ve been receiving lessons from Alasdair for the past 12 months now. For anyone looking to learn the guitar from scratch (as I did) or as an improver I can’t recommend Alasdair highly enough. He is friendly and very supportive but what impressed me most was his ability to identify techniques to help me overcome particular stumbling blocks I may have encountered along the way which unlocked my learning and moved me along on my improvement curve. Alasdair offers support outside of the tuition time with learning materials online specific to me. He is extremely talented and will without question help you on your path to learning to play the guitar. Thank you Alasdair.

Our eldest son Alex has been having guitar lessons from Alasdair for a few years now, he has been brilliant. Aside from the fact that Alex has improved immeasurably, Alasdair’s encouraging approach and the way that he makes it enjoyable has been fantastic. More recently he has also started giving Alex bass guitar lessons. Can’t recommend any more highly.

As an adult learner who previously had a few false starts in picking up the guitar, I couldn’t be happier than to recommend Alasdair. I have found him to be a most patient, knowledgeable teacher who really cares about my progression on the instrument. He has always been able to answer my questions, and is always able to give demonstrations of any techniques, in the context of any musical genre. I always look forward to our lessons as an opportunity not only to increase my own proficiency, but also to absorb Alasdair’s obvious enthusiasm for music in general. I wish that I had started lessons with him years ago!

The moment Alasdair walked in and asked my son what music he liked, we knew we’d hit on a gem! Alasdair has a lovely relaxed manner with Julian and this enables Julian to relax and meet his full potential. Alasdair works with the music that inspires Julian. Alasdair is a fabulous musician but easily imparts his knowledge and I’m sure Julian is a better guitar player because of this. Julian has come on leaps and bounds and Alasdair has played a huge part in this. Julian loves his guitar lessons and actually wants to practise. I can’t recommend Alasdair enough.

Alasdair has been my guitar teacher every week for nearly 4 years now. He communicates clearly, encourages when necessary, sticks to the brief, and backs up the lessons with additional support. As a result, an old passion has been rekindled and my guitar playing has come on in leaps and bounds. He is an excellent teacher and I can thoroughly recommend him.

Our 16 year old son has progressed hugely over the past few years with Alasdair’s excellent teaching and guidance, both in terms of his playing ability and his growing confidence. Alasdair’s boundless encouragement, enthusiasm and patience has allowed our son to progress beyond any of his or our expectations and he has gone from being reserved and unwilling to play anywhere other than his bedroom into someone who has now performed numerous times in front of sizeable audiences and who is now enrolled onto a music performance course at college. Alasdair’s technical ability and holistic approach to teaching mean that we would have no hesitation in recommending him to others.

Alasdair is an excellent teacher. He is calm, disciplined and very polite and sociable. His explanations provide clear help in understanding all aspects of the guitar. I started learning the bass guitar with no previous experience and I am now starting Grade 4 after 2 years. I would have no problem in recommending him.

Alasdair has been my tutor for a year, now. He is patient, knowledgeable and very good at his job. Each lesson I gain more insight and he allows my lessons to develop according to my needs and interests. As I’m not new to guitar, this is extremely useful. I highly recommend him.

I have been having lessons with Alasdair for about two years now. In that time I have made great progress. He identified the best way for me to learn and sets me challenges to help my practice. Alasdair is very knowledgeable and encouraging and my lesson is always fun. I have no hesitation in recommending Alasdair if you are looking for a guitar teacher.

I had always wanted to play the guitar but never made the time/opportunity in my youth. When my son decided (sadly) to give up lessons, I grabbed the opportunity to switch the slot he had to learn myself with Alasdair. He reassured me that he has other adult learners from beginners to more advanced levels. We started off learning in a traditional style so it polished my music reading up (this was my choice) then when I wanted to start strumming along to some basic popular songs, Alasdair provided simplified versions of a musical score to really get me engaged with enjoying my practice, while still progressing technically. I would say I am still beginner level but that is down to me juggling it in as a busy, working mum. However, Alasdair has been both supportive and flexible to enable me to keep going 🙂

My 12 year-old son is learning to play guitar. Alasdair is very patient and encouraging in his approach to teaching. His passion for music definitely shines through! I asked my son if he would recommend Alasdair to a friend who wanted to learn guitar, he said: “Yes, because he has a good personality and he explains things well.”

I have been having guitar lessons for 6 years. He is really good at explaining how to learn new techniques. I have learnt loads of new songs – all different styles. He’s really encouraging and is very understanding when school takes more of my time. He’s very supportive and I find the benefits from my lessons are more than just learning the guitar.

Alasdair has been teaching my 7 year old son the guitar for a few months now and I have no hesitation in recommending him as a teacher. He is friendly, reliable, punctual and clearly a gifted musician and teacher – my son is shy and does not usually like extra-curricular activities, and yet he always looks forward to his weekly lesson with Alasdair. He has also progressed very quickly under his encouraging and well-directed tuition. The fact Alasdair is willing to come to our house is another massive plus point for me, as it means I do not need to drag my younger daughter out.

Alasdair has been teaching guitar to my ten year old once a week for about a year. During that time, the progress my son has made has been very impressive. Alasdair is a natural teacher, and is able to convey ideas and concepts in a way in which my son instantly understands. Most importantly, he instills an enthusiasm in the subject which means I rarely have to remind my son to practise. I would not hesitate to recommend Alasdair to any adult or child wanting guitar tuition.

Alasdair has been teaching my daughter guitar for 6 years. He is an excellent tutor and I would highly recommend him. He is professional and manages to keep enthusiasm and engagement high without pressure or stress. As a result my daughter is now an aspiring musician and has consistently looked forward to lessons across the years.

Alasdair is a brilliant guitar teacher. My daughter (13) looks forward to her lessons and is enthusiastic about practicing. She’s making great progress. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Alasdair.

I started guitar lessons with Alasdair just a few months ago and am already playing tunes that I thought were beyond my ability. Alasdair has a relaxed style of teaching but it is very effective at developing confidence, technique and repertoire. Initially, he asked me for a list of the stuff that I wanted to play and has broken this down into a series of lessons that has enabled me to develop my playing such that I can now play a number of the tracks on my list of favourites. His style of teaching suits me well, as I am not learning technique of the sake of it, I am learning tunes that I want to play and developing the necessary skills in the process. The lessons are really enjoyable and Alasdair follows up the the required tab and sample recordings using Dropbox. I would have no hesitation in recommending Alasdair to anyone wishing to learn to play the guitar – I have had a number of tutors over the years and I consider him to be the best by a significant margin.

Alasdair is a brilliant teacher, he is very calm and patient with my 7 year old son. My son’s making great progress. Would highly recommend.

I have tried a few guitar teachers, but Alasdair is the only one I have stuck with for more than a month or two. For me, Alasdair is particularly good at finding the right balance between letting me do my own thing, going off on tangents etc. but also adding a bit of discipline and structure. And Alasdair is good at helping me to find the right compromise, and also happy to tailor the lessons to my particular needs/interests. The fact that he comes to my house for lessons makes the lessons particularly convenient.

My 8yr old son was a complete beginner a just a few months ago and had never even picked up a guitar. He’s already on Book Two and it’s sounding like real music! He really looks forward to his lessons and Alasdair clearly sets out the practise required in between which is very manageable. I would thoroughly recommend Alasdair for children’s lessons. He’s committed and reliable.

Alasdair is my twelve year old son’s guitar teacher, who didn’t come to us on any recommendation. I didn’t know anyone who was having lessons, was new to the area and so found Alasdair on the internet. What a stroke of luck, he has been the best teacher we could have hoped for, he is so passionate, patient and talented. He has a great way of making the lessons and music interesting which makes Elliot want to play. I would recommend him to anyone wanting to learn how to play the guitar!