A Day in The Life of a Guitar Teacher

Being a private guitar teacher in Aberdeen takes discipline, a creative USP and lots of patience.

Many traditional teachers still use pen and paper and resort to books for material. At Fresh Music Aberdeen we do things a little differently.

A typical day usually begins with setting up the studio for the day - switching on all of the machines which includes monitors, piano, drum kit, plugging in the guitars and switching on the computers.

The studio at Fresh Music Aberdeen is kitted out with LED lights, atmospheric downlights and LED signs to make it look as good as it can for students arriving.

Guitar lessons here are conducted using the latest technology so it's important to check that everything is logged on and working before people arrive. The students read their music and play along to the interactive music videos on a 37" 4K monitor, they are plugged in to the virtual amp simulators and at the click of a button can record what they're learning.

As well as making sure that the studio looks incredible it's important to be prepared with resources and material that can be used if required. That usually means writing songs (we call it transcribing in the "biz"). This means listening to a song and working out what the chords and lead parts are and presenting that professionally in sheet music form. The music is then recorded out as a video so the students can read and follow the track easily. Videos are then uploaded to Fresh Music Aberdeen's YouTube channel. Currently there are over 1000 videos to be watched and played there. Students will also have access to these videos in their own online folders where they can access their music anywhere, at anytime.

Once songs are written time is spent editing and producing tracks that students are currently working on. This could be original material or covers of existing songs. Students have the opportunity to upload their tracks to Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer etc. and Fresh Music will do that for them. Some students are also in the process of having their tracks pressed to vinyl so they can have a physical copy of their own recordings.

Responding to new student enquiries is also a daily task. Fresh Music Aberdeen teaches over 75 students on a weekly basis. Finding space can be tricky but when there is a will there is a way. To offer the highest quality lessons in the city Fresh limits how many students are taught here a day - currently 20 max. This ensures the tutor doesn't exhaust himself and is able to provide the best service to all who come here.

The rest of the day is usually spent teaching, vibing with students, laughing and exploring new ideas and songs with all who come. It's a lot of hard work but the end result is seeing students return week in week out because the enjoy the atmosphere, they are impressed with the setup and they feel encouraged to better their playing at a pace that suits them.

Be a part of what Fresh Music Aberdeen is doing - leading the way in technological driven lessons and providing lessons like no other guitar teacher locally or further afield!