Guitar lessons in Leeds

Whether you’re picking up the guitar for the first time or aiming to refine your skills at an advanced level, my lessons are designed to help you progress with confidence. I work with students from beginner through to grade 8 and beyond — including advanced teens at Leeds Junior Conservatoire and adult learners looking to reach professional standards. While I specialise in helping children and teenagers develop their musical skills — from early stages through to expert performance — my lessons are open to learners of all ages and abilities. Whether you’re aiming for graded exams, band performance, or personal growth, I’ll tailor the lessons to your goals and experience level. I teach freelance within schools such as Robert Ogden (National Autistic Society) and frequently run ensembles on behalf of Rock School UK. I also run guitar skills and ensemble groups at Leeds Junior Conservatoire. I also teach guitar online, meaning I can work with people all around the world. Feel free to get in touch wherever you are. My teaching space is fully equipped to give beginners the tools they need to learn with confidence. With professional amplifiers, spare guitars, recording equipment, and access to Logic Pro X, students not only learn to play but also get the chance to explore music in creative ways. For younger learners, this might mean playing their first simple songs. For teenagers, it could mean experimenting with recording or learning how the guitar fits into a band. Either way, the aim is the same: to make lessons enjoyable while ensuring steady, visible progress. I want my students to enjoy their lessons and discover the joy of playing music. For beginners, confidence is everything, and with the right support, young people quickly see what they’re capable of. Whether they want to take grades, play their favourite songs, or simply explore music for fun, I help them achieve their goals at their own pace. Every child starts at a different point. Some may have never picked up a guitar before, while others might already know a few chords. The first thing we’ll establish is what your child wants to achieve and how they learn best. Although guitar is my main instrument, I also play drums, bass, piano, and sing. This wider experience helps me show students how the guitar fits into music as a whole, which establishes a firm understanding of composition in beginners. I teach guitar privately from The Chapel in Leeds, a beautifully converted church that serves as a creative hub for musicians and artists across the city. It’s an inspiring, welcoming space that makes learning enjoyable from the very first lesson. Conveniently located, it’s easy to reach from Meanwood, Moortown, Headingley, Weetwood, Kirkstall, West Park, Chapel Allerton and the wider Leeds area. For families further afield, I also offer online lessons, making it possible for students across the UK and beyond to learn with me from home. “My daughter has loved having electric guitar lessons with Huw over the past two years. He is a fabulous teacher; he is patient, extremely knowledgeable and his lessons are always so well planned and structured. He is clearly very passionate about music and this is evident in his lessons and teaching style. With Huw’s support and guidance, my daughter was delighted to achieve her Grade 8 in electric guitar with a Distinction, at age 14! Thank you so much Huw.” Samantha (Parent)

I grew up listening to my dad’s eclectic collection of music containing anything from Black Sabbath, George Duke, Thin Lizzy, Steely Dan, Charles Mingus and many more. Dave Gilmour/Pink Floyd was a huge influence on me wanting to become a guitar player. I was bought my first guitar at age 10 and loved it! I have 12 years of gigging experience in various different styles including jazz, rock, metal, funk and soul. Metal was my first experience of live performance. We won several battles of the band competitions, at 15 years old we won £1000 in a local competition to fund our E.P. At 16 years old we went on to win “Battle for Bloodstock/ Metal to the Masses” at Manchester’s Grand Central. We gigged regularly as “The Threat” at festivals and gigs before attending Leeds College of Music to further progress as musicians. Starting a new project (Slow Loris) with the new skills we acquired from university, we successfully applied for endorsement from “Jazz North” who got us incredible gigs (Vels Trio at Sage Gateshead & many more), support and opportunities to fund our E.P. I studied Jazz for three years and I am proficient in improvisation. My strengths are harmony, advanced rhythms and opening up the fretboard. I will enable you to hone skills in reading notation, approaches to composition, theory and implementing it on the guitar. I can help you formulate structured and efficient approaches to practice to maximise your time. I am very passionate about music and I am keen to share my knowledge and experience to help my students. I am largely self-taught (excluding university) so I can relate to struggling through the challenges of learning an instrument without tuition. All abilities welcome! If it’s fundamentals for beginners such as; open voiced triads, string pitches or even how to hold a pick correctly. If you\’re a more experienced player perhaps; complex rhythms, odd time signatures, re-harmonisation and improvisation. Also, I have been doing high-end weddings and corporate events with “The Rebel Sounds” since graduation and gig most weekends playing in a wide variety of styles. I have 4 year’s worth of experience teaching privately and managed to build from one or two a week to 15 regular students. I have students ranging in ability and age from 11 years – 40+. Every student’s needs are different and tailored. For some, we cover basic fundamentals; (open triads, note names, basic technique, major scale, pentatonic scale and common chord progressions). Others are proficient players and we work on more advanced topics; improvisational techniques, transcriptions, outlining chord changes, chromaticism. Job satisfaction and seeing students progress is by far the most enjoyable aspect of teaching, my goal is to make lessons challenging but most importantly enjoyable! Lessons will be focused on a balance of theory, performance and practicality on the instrument, not just books and academic drudgery. Music Qualifications & Achievements: Leeds College of Music 2014 – 20172:1 Bachelor of Arts Degree (Jazz) ABRSMDistinction Grade 5 Theory 2013 RSLGrade 6 Distinction 2012 Sheena Simon College of Further Education 2011 – 2013DDM Edexcel BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma I have gigged all over the UK, I’ve played Manchester Academy, Bloodstock Festival, London underground (Camden), Manchester Jazz Festival, Sage Gateshead, Marsden and Lancaster Jazz festival and many more with my own projects. I have done gigs all over the UK and Europe with The Rebel Sounds including a four-week residency at Anthony’s bar St. Anton Salzburg Austria. We have two albums as “Slow Loris” on Spotify, most recently “Sounds Hoof” which were very proud of and “Tickling is Torture”. “The Threat” has the E.P Tectonic movement that came out 10 years ago. It can be found on Soundcloud & Youtube.

Qualifications: BA Hons Popular Music Studies, PGCE Secondary Music

Early days: Believe it or not, guitar is not my first instrument. I started off on classical piano aged 3 and violin aged 6, passed auditions and exams, played in school orchestras who won competitions and even performed on national TV! However, when I was 10 or 11, all it took was one listen to Linkin Park’s What I’ve Done and watching Green Day music videos on YouTube that got me started on the electric guitar. I love the guitar because it is one of the most versatile instruments that covers a lot of musical genres that I enjoy. Starting from mainstream Pop/Rock, growing into heavy metal, then going back to old-school Jazz & Blues, I have played or continue to play these styles. I also enjoy listening to (and occasionally dabbling in) Funk & Soul, R&B, and neo-soul. Full-time music studies: I came to Leeds in 2015 to study music full-time for six years: two on the Pop Diploma, three on the Jazz degree, and one on the Masters. I fell in love with Jazz after being introduced by my teachers and fellow coursemates to the likes of Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins going all crazy and bebop on a simple 12-bar blues progression, and Miles Davis’ 1959 Kind of Blue album. Thinking back, it was the wide ranging sounds and sub-genres within jazz (bossa nova, fusion etc) that fascinated me. Up until then I was exploring guitar virtuosos like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Guthrie Govan, having previously been hooked to mainstream pop/rock which were proving a little too commercial and mundane. Jazz provided a way out of that and, to say the least, I was very interested and curious about this art. Full-time teaching: Fast forward to graduation, I simply turned what I loved doing everyday into my working career. I feel very at home and confident in running my private tuition business thanks to prior experience teaching part-time in schools and music centres during my studies which featured different settings, atmospheres and environments. My students have ranged from as young as aged 7 (year 2-3 in primary schools) to aged 70+, from complete beginners who haven’t yet touched a guitar before to advanced players who were accepted onto music degree courses and successfully auditioned into professional session bands in the music industry. On the playing front, I have led my own groups, hosted jam sessions, been a dep for other projects (an industry term for stepping in and covering for other guitarists, usually at short notice!), hired as a player in pit bands backing musical theatre shows, and provided live music entertainment at functions and corporate events.

I am an open-minded guitar teacher working and gigging around the Leeds with over 10 years playing experience. This spans from gigging nationally and internationally, to recording in studios, to playing in orchestras and large ensembles. I hope to pass on this knowledge to you. You may have never touched a guitar before or perhaps you have a good understanding of the instrument, it doesn’t matter. I can adapt the lesson to fit your needs. My attitude towards teaching is to make sure you are getting as much satisfaction out of the guitar as you can. Music is about enjoyment and we should not lose sight of that. For this reason, I will try to tailor your lesson to fit what you want to get out of the guitar. That could be focusing on technical exercises, reading music, understanding theory and training your ear. Or it could be focused on building up repertoire and playing the music you like to play. I am more than happy to transcribe music of your choice and work through the practical challenges of the music you love. I hope that in future you will be able to apply your understanding of the guitar to any style or genre of your choice. Learn to read and write music, study a wide range of music including Rock, Pop, Jazz and more, understand theory and composition, approach improvisation in different ways, learn effective guitar technique including scales, arpeggios and chords on the fretboard. Learn to play the music you love and have fun! Music Qualifications & Achievements: BA (Hons) Music Performance, First instrument: Guitar ABRSM Grade 6 Piano ABRSM Grade 5 Theory Music GCSE and A Level Further experience and achievements include: Guitarist and contributing composer in 7 piece band Tete de Pois, winners of help musicians funding 2018 First guitarist in the Leeds College of Music Contemporary Jazz Orchestra 2017 Leading my own quartet playing original music as well as other jazz outfits

I'm Chris, and I've been teaching guitar lessons in Leeds since 2014. When I first started teaching, my students saw guitar practice as "more homework". 11 years later, and my lessons are very different. Instead of lessons being about 'fixing mistakes' that were picked up at home, students have more time to finish learning their music in the lesson. After their lesson, they can go home feeling a sense of achievement, rather than feeling lost or confused. We use interactive play-along tools in lessons, which is much more engaging than learning from a book. They can choose their favourite songs from a huge collection of modern hits & classic tunes. I teach my students the most effective practise methods, so they can start learning songs independently - without needing to be spoon fed by their teacher. All of this together means that students make faster progress on average, and find it easier to practise on their own at home. Learning guitar doesn't need to feel like homework. It can be easy, with the right approach. You don't even need a guitar to get started - we have spare instruments to learn on in lessons. Our studio space has a free car park, air conditioning, coffee shops nearby, and plenty of space for students. Get in touch to book a free trial lesson today!

Qualifications: Masters Degree in Music from Leeds Conservatoire, BA Degree in Popular Music from Leeds Conservatoire

I have been playing the guitar for over 14 years. I have over 10 years of live performance experience playing in many function/wedding bands covering all types of genres from pop, country, and rock. I also played guitar in Leeds based punk band Abrasive Wheels which allowed me to play at some of the UK’s best venues/arenas. I am also in the process of receiving my grade 8 practical through Trinity College London. I am a traveling guitar teacher, I currently don’t have a space to teach from so I want to make it easier and more comfortable for students to learn in the comfort of their own home. Music Qualifications & Achievements: BA (Hons) in Music Grade 8 DBS checked Touring musician with 15 years experience

Qualifications: BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma In Music (Triple Grade Distinction), - RSL Level 3 Certificate in Graded Examination in Popular Music Performance Grade 8 Bass (Distinction), DBS, BA [HONS] Music & Sound

Professional guitar teacher with over 9 years teaching experience plus working as a professional fingerstyle folk musician. My speciality is in folk-guitar, alternate tunings and finger-style playing. I also teach entry level students, I work in schools and have a fully up to date enhanced dbs certificate.

Qualifications: Electronic Organ Grade 8

Qualifications: BA (hons) Contemporary and Popular Music - University of Newcastle, Grade 8 Electric Guitar - Rockschool, Grade 8 Piano - ABRSM