Sam Evans

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.