| Music coach in Skipton | MA BA | specialising in voice | experienced touring artist |

Learn more about Alex

• When did you first develop a passion for music and your favourite instrument?

  I was brought up with music. I learned from a vast array of different people, from school music lessons to private tutors, local music initiatives, friends, family etc. It has been more like a language because it was a way of learning and communicating with myself and others that seemed more universal, even more so than my own voice, on piano this is. When I was 3, 4, 5 years old, I developed a love of singing when in choirs, with my family and while being driven somewhere. And then piano kicked in when I was 6. When I was 9, I began writing songs as a sort of diary and therapy. At that point my depth of connection and meta-reflection solidified my personal relationship with music. Of course, I wanted to try and play as much as possible, guitar, ukulele, mandolin, keyboards, anything that made sound, I wanted to try it. It became a sort of addiction that kept me on track ever since.

• Is there a particular type music or artist that you listen to on a loop without it driving you crazy?

  Film music & soundtracks - They are such a wonderful fusion of styles and genres and musical pedagogies. Composers tend to be very skilled in the language of music to create mood, visuality and emotion.

• Explain to us the most difficult or riveting course you could personally give to a student of music.

  When a student is approaching degree level or grade 8 upward, the level of performance and arrangement becomes far more advanced. The most rigorous course most commonly is development of one's musical identity; exploring their own authenticity and originality. I coach professional musicians to help them apply technique, musicality to develop their own voice with the music they are performing; Exploring how to weave production, tastefulness, context, technology, pedagogical background and their instrument into the music to form a coherent, fully formed musical identity.

• What do you think is the most complicated instrument to master and why?

  In my experience, music specialists commonly state that their instrument is the most complicated, but I think all instruments can be as complicated as you make them. However, for every instrument there is a constant variable that poses the same challenges which is the brain. I say the most complicated instrument is the brain.

• What are your keys to success?

  Enthusiasm, enjoyment and love, the relationship with music comes before anything academic such as grades etc. It's not how much you practice but HOW. you practice / quality, not quantity. Confidence, resilience and self knowledge are but a few of the flagship benefits of music study. Understanding that music is not one thing, and serves no one purpose, and even to a child, music may connect with them in a way least expected by their parents.

• Name three musicians you dream of meeting in your favourite bar in the early hours of the morning. Explain why.

  Well, I always dreamed of meeting Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin. When I was 16, I was playing a guitar in Leeds music shop Dawsons, playing 'Ramble On' by Led Zep and who walked in... Robert Plant! Nowadays, I'd like to meet Jacob Collier, just because he's a musical wizard.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to music or your days at music school.

  I won a regional music competition just prior to choosing my GCSE's, competing in the composition and performance categories of which I won both. Following that, I went to parents' evening prior to choosing GCSE's and the head of the music department (who obviously thought little of my pedagogical background) recommended in front of my parents that I do NOT take music GCSE as I was not at the required standard. My parents were furious, and I was very discouraged and consequently did not take music GCSE. However, two years later, my band The Tenmours opened the main stage of the local festival and now I am on a music masters course having completed a bachelor's degree of music.

• What are the little touches that make you a Superprof in music?

  I am a strong believer of a student-led teaching, individualistic approach. I believe that a dialectic cycle of learning between pupil and teacher, where both learn and then apply the learning to their own creative practice is where I can excel as a teacher. Not only am I a teacher but I work in the music industry and am myself a performing artist.