Piano lessons in Thames Ditton
We start with a piece of music you actually love, and work out what it takes to play it. That is the whole method. Children and adults, first notes through to Grade 8 and beyond — and the technique arrives because the tune asked for it.
Who these lessons are for
- Children from around six, when hands are big enough and attention long enough to enjoy it.
- Adults starting from nothing — comfortably the fastest-growing half of my teaching.
- Returners who stopped at Grade 3 as a teenager and have regretted it ever since.
- Students working towards ABRSM or Trinity exams, at any grade.
What a lesson looks like
Lessons are half an hour, forty-five minutes or an hour. Half an hour suits younger beginners; most adults find an hour goes surprisingly quickly. The first lesson is largely me asking what you want to play — and I mean the actual song, not a genre. Something is behind every decision to take lessons, and it is almost never "grade three." Then we take that piece apart and put it back together, and the scales, the reading and the theory come in as the tools it turns out to need. Learnt that way round they stick, because you have a reason for them.
Levels and exams
Complete beginner to Grade 8, and on to diploma repertoire for anyone who wants it. I prepare students for both ABRSM and Trinity — they suit different players, and I am happy to talk through which fits before you commit. Exams are entirely optional: plenty of my students never sit one and play beautifully. And if you would rather make music up than only play what is written, I teach improvisation and composition too — as a way in for people who find reading slow, as the thing some students actually came for, and, for Trinity candidates, as an exam option most teachers do not offer.
In Tom’s words
The piano is where I keep going back to Bach. Not because it is good for you — though it is — but because the Two-Part Inventions and the Well-Tempered Clavier are where you can hear a mind working, one line arguing with another, and there is nothing else quite like the moment a student stops reading two staves and starts hearing two voices. That said, I have taught far more Beatles than Bach, and I have never once thought that was a waste. Both traditions teach the same thing: that a good tune and a good bass line are the same idea from two ends.
What it costs
Prices are being confirmed — please ask and Tom will tell you straight away.
Common questions
Do I need a piano before I start?
Not a real one, no — but you do need something with weighted, full-size keys you can practise on between lessons. An unweighted keyboard builds the wrong hand, and sixty-one keys will run out sooner than you expect. I am glad to advise before you buy anything.
How old should a child be to start?
Around six for most children, though it depends far more on the child than the birthday. What matters is whether they can sit and concentrate for twenty minutes and whether they want to be there.
Am I too old to learn?
No. Adults learn differently from children — usually faster on the understanding and slower on the physical habits — and they practise because they chose to be there. It is a genuinely good age to start.
How much practice do you expect?
Twenty minutes on five days beats two hours on a Sunday, every time. For a young beginner, ten focused minutes a day is plenty.
Do I have to take grade exams?
Not at all. They are useful if you want structure and a deadline, and pointless if they turn playing into a chore. It is your decision and I will give you an honest view either way.
A free tool that helps
Interval Ear Trainer — the aural half of every grade exam, and the thing most candidates leave latest. Free, no signup, works on a phone.
To print: Piano manuscript paper — blank grand-staff paper, six systems to the page (PDF, A4). All the blank paper.
Worth reading next
Ready to start?
Tell Tom what you would like to play and roughly where you are, and he will come back to you with times.
Get in touch