Ricardo St Hilaire

Ricardo has been a guitar player for over 20 years and has been sharing his knowledge of music and the guitar since 2014. He has a wide, diverse range of skills and expertise in music and music education in addition to his talent and clear love for guitar playing, equipping him to be an inspiring tutor for children and adults alike.

Ricardo started the acoustic guitar in his early years, before finding inspiration in his teens in the likes of Iron Maiden, Alter Bridge, Michael Jackson, Tenacious D and Metallica — leading him to the electric guitar which is his primary instrument. After a successful audition for the prestigious BIMM academies he enrolled in 2008 and graduated with a 2.1 in Professional Musicianship, adding to BIMM’s rich alumni of musicians, songwriters and teachers.

“Ricardo is an exciting and effusive guitar and music teacher who’s driven to engage young people with music and guide their artistic development. He is driven to make music creation and performance accessible for all ages, genders, identities and backgrounds for it to become a part of their own life stories. He has taught over 400 children – including all music lessons for Year6 to Year11 in one school, as well as guitar lessons to 100 students a week across Richmond and Ealing. Since COVID he has diversified to include online lessons as a way to impart his enthusiasm and passion for music with no locational limits. These include preparations for graded examinations. Ricardo trained as a classroom teacher at Reach Academy, Southwest London in 2022 where their rigorous in-house training program utilises many of the principles from Teach Like A Champion (D. Lemov et al). Other essential reading like “Why Don’t Students Like School?’ (D Willingham) and cognitive behavioural principles are at the forefront of their teacher-training and CPD.”

Qualifications:

BA Honours in Professional Musicianship, Qualified Teacher Status with SWTT, Rockschool Grade 6 Electric Guitar