42 Gilbert Rd, Preston VIC 3072, Australia
Guitar Lessons | Artist development, Aural Lessons, Ensemble Coaching, Theory Lessons, Composition Lessons, Jazz Improvisation Lessons, VCE Music Exam Preparation
Bio
Over 35 years international and domestic experience as a musician and educator. Currently teaching Ensembles, Principal Study and Guitar Masterclasses at Melbourne Polytechnic and the Victorian College of the Arts.
Winner of the 2014 International Music Awards (IMA) Vox Populi category for the album ‘Dirty Math’
Invitation to perform at the 2006 New York Fretless Guitar Festival
Karl Sczuka Prize for Radiophonic Composition (Co-recipient) for Skeleton in the Closet
Working with Children Check
Teaching Info
Lessons can be tailored to student needs with a strong emphasis on fundamentals to create a solid foundation for musical growth.
Traditional and contemporary techniques are covered including; Finger-style, legato, sweep picking, alternate-picking, two-handed tapping and their application to a variety of genres and melodic materials.
Student Comments
Nathan
Tom consistently demonstrated his abilities to teach a variety of musical ideas and concepts without ever forgetting to tutor it in a way that uniquely identifies the individual being taught. He shows confidence in being able to quickly assess the student and tune the lesson accordingly. I always felt ready for whatever was to come at me whenever I’d finish a lesson and was inspired to continue playing/learning way after the lesson concluded.
Fantastic teacher and an all round great person. Thanks Tom.
Hamish
Tom is not only a wonderfully enthusiastic, creative and skilled guitar teacher, but a mentor and true source of musical inspiration. He listened to what I wanted to get out of my lessons, consistently provided constructive feedback and was always very patient and encouraging, especially at the early stages of my playing. Tom not only has great theoretical knowledge and technical ability, but also a real love for all genres and styles of music (which I can say has also influenced my own musical tastes for the better). I always found lessons to be highly enjoyable; there was always something interesting that Tom would show me or teach me when I wasn’t sure what I wanted to learn next. There is no one I could recommend more highly as a guitar teacher than I could recommend Tom, and he is responsible for a great deal of my progress as a guitarist.
Josh
A genuine music teacher and life mentor.
Paul
Lessons with Tom were a great experience as I had the freedom to develop my own musical voice and playing style without the expectation of adhering to a standard formal playing style such as traditional jazz. Tom also presents a holistic approach to improvisation and playing that will broaden your versatility and technicality in order to diversify your playing skills.
Matt R
Lessons with Tom are great! He’s an absolute wealth of knowledge; no topic was out of reach. Improvisation was a topic where I was able to really learn a lot from Tom. He was able to give an answer for every question I had, no matter what style of music and no matter how out there the question was! If you’re after a great teacher and an amazing musician, then I’d highly recommend lessons with Tom!