Henry is a grade 8 pianist, and the band he plays in (‘Barbara’) have toured with Paul Weller, The Divine Comedy and Haircut One Hundred.
Learning the piano can be approached in different ways: you might decide that you want to learn to read music, ie the notes on the stave, perhaps because you want to take the examinations and achieve the grades, but alternatively you may want to learn the names and the shapes of the chords instead so that you can play your favourite pop and rock songs (and perhaps even write your own…). Both these approaches have their benefits, and I am very comfortable with either. The important thing is to tailor the lessons to suit the way the student wants to learn, and that’s why I will always make a point of discussing these different approaches with the student – or the student’s parent(s) – before we start.
