Joseph Griffiths
About
Hi, my name is Joe and I'm a guitar and ukulele teacher based in Manchester, England. I graduated with an honors degree at the Royal Northern College of Music on the BMus (Hons) Popular Music degree.
In addition to teaching, I provide work as a live and studio musician having recorded in a variety of Manchester-based studios and also performing in a variety of bands and ensembles, regularly playing guitar in function bands for weddings and corporate events, traveling all over the country.
A few key moments in my music career so far would be: playing guitar in the `Manchester Christmas Lights Switch On’ to over 20,000 people, performing on radio for BBC Live Lounge twice and also playing guitar in the show `Frank Wildhorn and Friends` with the Manchester Camerata Orchestra at `Manchester`s Palace Theatre`.
"Joe is a perfect example of what a young guitarist should strive to be: creative, flexible and driven. Every time I hear him he gets better and better, and will be a real force to be reckoned with in the future." - Callum Dewar (Bassist/Guitarist/Session Musician/Composer/Teacher)
"I feel that Joe has already achieved an impressive level of musicianship and performance skills." - Johnny Heyes (Guitarist/Session Musician/Teacher)
I have been teaching guitar and ukulele since 2016 and have taught students from age 5 to 70 years old.
I teach a large variety of genres but I specialize mostly in rock, pop, blues and funk styles. However if you have an interest in a particular style of music then this can definitely be discussed. If you are working towards grades then this is also something I do provide. Beginners are completely welcome, so do not worry if you have never played an instrument before!
The first lesson will be a chance to have a talk about what made you interested in learning guitar and taking lessons, the type of music that you like to listen to and your goals going forward.
My way of teaching depends on your ability, age and what you personally want to achieve out of lessons. The style of music and the bands/songs you like to listen to are used as a focal point to teach different techniques, chord progressions, improvisation, music theory and application of theory onto the guitar.
Another area I teach is songwriting, using both music theory and a more creative style approach to create your very own songs!
2:1 BMus Honours Degree - Royal Northern College of Music (Popular Music)
Grade 5 Music Theory
See below for a brief overview of topics I teach for each instrument.
Guitar:
. Learning Songs
. Open Chords
. Bar Chords
. Strumming Technique
. Picking Technique
. Fingerpicking Technique
. Right and Left Hand Technique
. Proper Muting Technique
. Metronome Practise and Importance of Playing in Time
. Riff Based Songs
. Playing Along With Backing Tracks of Songs
. Notes on the Fretboard
. Scales
. Advanced Chords (7th Chords,Extended Chords ect...)
. Improvisation
. Improvising Over Chord Changes
. Ear Training
. Songwriting
. Recording using DAW's (Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase ect...)
Ukulele:
. Learning Songs and Playing with Recordings
. Open Chords
. Bar Chords
. Strumming Technique
. Picking Technique
. Fingerpicking Technique
. Right and Left Hand Technique
. Proper Muting Technique
. Metronome Practise and Importance of Playing in Time
. Notes on the Fretboard
. Advanced Chords (7th Chords,Extended Chords ect...)
. Ear Training
. Songwriting
Music Theory:
. Notes
. Intervals
. Harmony/Chord Theory
. Major Keys/Scales
. Chords in a Major Key
. Chords Outside of the Key
. Relative Minor Keys
. Extended Chords/Advanced Harmony
. Secondary Dominants
. Modes