Whether you're a young beginner, or a more experienced player looking to further your skill, I would love to hear from you.
Phone: 07549 693719
Email: ben.goodrum@hotmail.co.uk
Email: ben.goodrum@hotmail.co.uk
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What We Can Do In Lessons:
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Testimonials:
My 7 year old daughter has been having lessons with Ben for almost a year. He has tailored the lessons to make them fun and personal. Such has been her enthusiasm that her older brother has also started lessons with Ben. He very much enjoys learning to play modern tunes alongside his more formal practice. Lessons are varied and in no way staid; they feel it is like learning from an older brother. Ben's youth, passion and skill are a winning combination. Lucy, parent, Cheltenham Ben’s enthusiasm and imagination has helped me to rediscover my pleasure in playing the piano and given me the confidence to try new ways of playing. He’s never judgmental and always starts from where his pupils are, so that I feel in charge of my own progress. We have great discussions about music, education, inspiration and creativity which feed into the way I practise and help to remind me why I’m still wanting to learn in later life. It’s great to be taught by someone with so much sensitivity and freshness of vision. Jenny, retired lecturer, Cirencester More.. |
"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge" Albert Einstein
My Method
The way I learn and teach has been revolutionised over the past couple of years since I’ve been learning with Charlotte Tomlinson, author of ‘Music From The Inside Out’, in Oxford. The lessons are all about building on the thing that makes you want to play piano in the first place, finding that place where it all springs from. If you’re not feeling inspired by what you’re doing, let's find out why, change it, explore it in a way that interests you. You will remember the things that you feel something about. I have found approaching learning this way to be very effective.
There is also a balance in the lessons between structure and freedom. Too much structure and you get bored, too much freedom and you’re lost. A jazz musician knows the structure of harmony inside out but uses that as a springboard into the freedom of his improvising. Without that rooted harmonic knowledge, his music would be lost and uninformed. Without being free, his playing becomes stagnant and uninteresting. I aim to keep a good balance of the two in my lessons for both are needed for fulfilment in expression.
The way I learn and teach has been revolutionised over the past couple of years since I’ve been learning with Charlotte Tomlinson, author of ‘Music From The Inside Out’, in Oxford. The lessons are all about building on the thing that makes you want to play piano in the first place, finding that place where it all springs from. If you’re not feeling inspired by what you’re doing, let's find out why, change it, explore it in a way that interests you. You will remember the things that you feel something about. I have found approaching learning this way to be very effective.
There is also a balance in the lessons between structure and freedom. Too much structure and you get bored, too much freedom and you’re lost. A jazz musician knows the structure of harmony inside out but uses that as a springboard into the freedom of his improvising. Without that rooted harmonic knowledge, his music would be lost and uninformed. Without being free, his playing becomes stagnant and uninteresting. I aim to keep a good balance of the two in my lessons for both are needed for fulfilment in expression.
Below are some links to articles on how other teachers and researchers around the world have applied this teaching philosophy.
