Make music and learn to teach
Peter Worley is a qualified and experienced guitar teacher, composer, and singer-songwriter. He teaches guitar (multiple styles) at any level, as well as beginner banjo, ukulele and piano. In his parallel career, Peter is a world-renowned educator and author in pedagogy. He offers a unique player-to-teacher conversion course, as well as music teacher CPD. Peter gives lessons in Sydenham SE26 (London) and online.
What I can do for you
I teach the guitar at any level, including styles as diverse as classical, rock, metal and blues, jazz and fingerstyle acoustic. I teach beginners Ukulele, Banjo and piano. I also teach improvisation, composition, arranging, transcribing and music theory (for theory exams or just for songwriting and composing).
I also offer a programme for teaching players how to teach or teachers how to take their teaching to the next level through better questioning, as well as helping them prepare for an instrumental teaching Diploma.
I also offer a programme for teaching players how to teach or teachers how to take their teaching to the next level through better questioning, as well as helping them prepare for an instrumental teaching Diploma.
Guitar
Banjo
Ukulele
Piano
How I am different from other music teachers
Over many years of teaching, playing and studying, I have developed an approach that prioritises musicianship, enjoyment and music-making over exams, scales and dry exercises, even when preparing students for grade exams, which I have done many times over the past 30 years of teaching, with a high rate of success.
As a qualified instrumental teacher, experienced gigging musician and long-term songwriter with songs on Spotify, I blend formal, curriculum-based teaching with improvisation, composition and I never let the students forget that it is all in service of actually playing music alone or with others for the pleasure of doing so. This stays with the students their whole lives whatever they may or may not end up doing with their skills, professionally.
I am not just a guitarist who shows others how I play or how to play well-known
songs and riffs. Not only am I a teacher, in the pedagogical sense of the word, I have
developed a world-renowned and critically-acclaimed ‘pedagogy of questioning’
through facilitating philosophy in classrooms for over 20 years (you can see the fruits
of this labour in my book on Questioning in the classroom). However, this
unique approach to questioning-to-teach was in fact begun in my music teaching
even before I started doing philosophy teaching and I have applied the approach in
my music teaching ever since.
As a qualified instrumental teacher, experienced gigging musician and long-term songwriter with songs on Spotify, I blend formal, curriculum-based teaching with improvisation, composition and I never let the students forget that it is all in service of actually playing music alone or with others for the pleasure of doing so. This stays with the students their whole lives whatever they may or may not end up doing with their skills, professionally.
I am not just a guitarist who shows others how I play or how to play well-known
songs and riffs. Not only am I a teacher, in the pedagogical sense of the word, I have
developed a world-renowned and critically-acclaimed ‘pedagogy of questioning’
through facilitating philosophy in classrooms for over 20 years (you can see the fruits
of this labour in my book on Questioning in the classroom). However, this
unique approach to questioning-to-teach was in fact begun in my music teaching
even before I started doing philosophy teaching and I have applied the approach in
my music teaching ever since.
Music teacher training in questioning
I am available to deliver CPD for music teachers, music services or music (and
other) staff in schools in how to question better to teach. Covering what I have
written about in my books, articles and academic papers about questioning that I
have researched, written, published and practised in classrooms and music rooms
for over 20 years, it will include:
other) staff in schools in how to question better to teach. Covering what I have
written about in my books, articles and academic papers about questioning that I
have researched, written, published and practised in classrooms and music rooms
for over 20 years, it will include:
- Mindset training
- Question types
- How to use different question types and approaches
- Questioning strategies
- Questioning delivery
- Building student’s own questioning and enquiry skills
Player-to-teacher conversion course
There is a famous adage known to most musicians and music teachers: “Those who
can, do; those who can’t, teach”. This is, of course, a false dichotomy: playing and
teaching are two quite different – though related – things and just because one may
be able to do one of them it doesn’t mean that one can do both; but it also doesn’t
mean that they can’t! So, whatever your level as a player, you can learn to teach as
well, or maybe, even better.
It is quite common, especially among guitarists, to be able to play well and think that,
in order to make some regular income, they can start teaching, as if teaching simply
springs forth naturally from being able to play. It does not. In most – if not all – cases,
one needs to learn to teach one’s instrument just like one learnt to play it. In a similar
way that being able to put one’s fingers in the right place is not the same as
rendering a musical phrase (ability), being able to make a musical phrase is not the
same as b) knowing how one does it (knowledge) and c) being able to explain and
show how it is done (communication and demonstration). Neither do any of these
elements include how to make someone feel comfortable, encouraged, inspired and
supported.
I offer a course for those who are players but not (yet!) teachers but who have the
professionalism and humility to recognise that they need some guidance and
knowledge in order to teach well enough to offer the service of teaching to students
in good faith.
This course will furnish the future teacher with training in the teaching of the
following:
Don’t just play, become a teacher; don’t just teach, become a pedagogue and think
about how one teaches and how to teach better! And remember: when you approach
teaching properly, with honesty, humility and dedication, no one learns more than the
teacher themselves!
The course can be done in-person in Sydenham SE26 (London) or online.
can, do; those who can’t, teach”. This is, of course, a false dichotomy: playing and
teaching are two quite different – though related – things and just because one may
be able to do one of them it doesn’t mean that one can do both; but it also doesn’t
mean that they can’t! So, whatever your level as a player, you can learn to teach as
well, or maybe, even better.
It is quite common, especially among guitarists, to be able to play well and think that,
in order to make some regular income, they can start teaching, as if teaching simply
springs forth naturally from being able to play. It does not. In most – if not all – cases,
one needs to learn to teach one’s instrument just like one learnt to play it. In a similar
way that being able to put one’s fingers in the right place is not the same as
rendering a musical phrase (ability), being able to make a musical phrase is not the
same as b) knowing how one does it (knowledge) and c) being able to explain and
show how it is done (communication and demonstration). Neither do any of these
elements include how to make someone feel comfortable, encouraged, inspired and
supported.
I offer a course for those who are players but not (yet!) teachers but who have the
professionalism and humility to recognise that they need some guidance and
knowledge in order to teach well enough to offer the service of teaching to students
in good faith.
This course will furnish the future teacher with training in the teaching of the
following:
- Music reading (and whether and when this is necessary)
- Music theory
- Music history
- Aural and oral skills
- Sight reading
- Musical interpretation and music elements (e.g. tone, tempo, legato, part-playing, phrasing, dynamics and colours, articulation, vibrato etc.)
- Composition
- Technique and exercises
- Teaching different ages of student
- How to use a syllabus/curriculum
- How to guide students through exams (e.g. grades, GCSE and A level music, diplomas)
- How to prepare oneself for formal qualifications (grades and post-grade) while running a studio
- How to question effectively
- How to plan
- How to practice
- How to inspire
- How to include everything you need into as little as one 30 min lesson/week
- Working to deadlines
- Understanding the teaching/coaching distinction
- How to do admin (keep records, enter students for exams, write reports, keep accounts etc.)
- How to accompany
- How to encourage and support
- How to work with students with special needs
- How to teach different styles with different techniques (i.e. classical, rock, pop, jazz, folk etc.)
- How to teach groups
- How to teach bands (playing different instruments)
- How to prepare for job interviews/auditions
- Preparing for performances
- How to pace and set difficulty
- How to arrange pieces for teaching
- Using software and technological devices
- Working with your own limits and knowing them!
Don’t just play, become a teacher; don’t just teach, become a pedagogue and think
about how one teaches and how to teach better! And remember: when you approach
teaching properly, with honesty, humility and dedication, no one learns more than the
teacher themselves!
The course can be done in-person in Sydenham SE26 (London) or online.
Testimonials
Prices
- £45/ 60 minutes
Individual lessons. 5% discount if paid for 10 lessons upfront. - £30/ 30 minutes
Individual lessons. 5% discount if paid for 10 lessons upfront. - £60/ 60 minutes
Group lessons (2-4 children), price per group. 5% discount if paid for 10 lessons upfront.
- £50/ 60 minutes
Individual teacher training (any, in-person or online) - £450/ 10 hours
Player-to-teacher conversion course (if fully paid in advance; otherwise per-hour rate of £50 applies), per individual. Contact me to discuss pricing if you are interested in a group (2+ people) course.
About Peter Worley
I started playing the guitar as a teen, travelling to London each week for lessons from Shaun Baxter in rock/metal techniques at The Guitar Institute (now The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, or ICMP)). At 17, I moved to London to study a Diploma in popular music at what is now Brunel University in partnership with The Guitar Institute (ICMP) being taught by Shaun Baxter, Alan Limbrick, Ian Scott, Roger Rettig among others and I have run a private music studio ever since teaching students of all ages and abilities in both classical and contemporary styles of guitar.
I also worked for the Lewisham Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) teaching general musicianship to classes of students all playing different instruments and of varying ages as well as teaching the guitarists and leading the guitar ensemble and rock band, taking the young guitarists in orchestral performances at the Barbican, on one occasion, in a world premiere performance. I began working for the Lewisham Music Service in 2001, eventually to become its Key Guitar Tutor, overseeing and mentoring all the guitar teachers for Lewisham. I have taught at prestigious independent schools including Dulwich College and James Allens’ Girls’ School as their peripatetic guitar teacher. In addition to a GCSE and A level in music and a Diploma in Popular Music, I also have grade 8 in classical guitar and an LTCL in instrumental teaching, both from Trinity.
I have performed in many tribute bands, playing music by Duran Duran, Wham and George Michael, Madness and Madonna as well performing as a singer-songwriter in my own right and in a band called The Fans, for which I wrote the songs, performed guitar, sung lead and backing vocals and produced a catalogue of music that can be heard on Spotify (under Pete Booke) and from my Soundcloud account.
I have published two books of classical guitar arrangements of English Folk Songs and British Christmas Carols for the renowned publisher Mel Bay.
I also worked for the Lewisham Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) teaching general musicianship to classes of students all playing different instruments and of varying ages as well as teaching the guitarists and leading the guitar ensemble and rock band, taking the young guitarists in orchestral performances at the Barbican, on one occasion, in a world premiere performance. I began working for the Lewisham Music Service in 2001, eventually to become its Key Guitar Tutor, overseeing and mentoring all the guitar teachers for Lewisham. I have taught at prestigious independent schools including Dulwich College and James Allens’ Girls’ School as their peripatetic guitar teacher. In addition to a GCSE and A level in music and a Diploma in Popular Music, I also have grade 8 in classical guitar and an LTCL in instrumental teaching, both from Trinity.
I have performed in many tribute bands, playing music by Duran Duran, Wham and George Michael, Madness and Madonna as well performing as a singer-songwriter in my own right and in a band called The Fans, for which I wrote the songs, performed guitar, sung lead and backing vocals and produced a catalogue of music that can be heard on Spotify (under Pete Booke) and from my Soundcloud account.
I have published two books of classical guitar arrangements of English Folk Songs and British Christmas Carols for the renowned publisher Mel Bay.
My Music
I am a composer, arranger and songwriter. I compose for the guitar and piano having compiled a book of guitar compositions called Short Stories for Classical Guitar (which includes Ariel and The Ithaca Suite – see below); I have also transcribed and arranged many pieces for the guitar by artists as wide-ranging as The Kinks, The Beatles, Tears for Fears, Radiohead, Bach and Bartok.
A collection of solo piano preludes, Isolation Preludes, written during lockdown while suffering from Long Covid, can be purchased as a PDF. They are not too difficult and some of which have become favourites at In Treble music school in Belize.
The brilliant Russian guitarist Vladimir Gapontsev has performed, live, and recorded some of my compositions for guitar including Ariel and the entire Ithaca Suite, based on some of the episodes from Homer’s Odyssey. Both of which can be heard from my Soundcloud account.
I have put together an album of music in a folk-rock style called Songs Without Words that is available on Soundcloud and will be released on Spotify (the title track of which has already been released!).
I am able to teach composing, arranging and transcribing including how to use the well-known notation software, Sibelius, and how to write musical notation by hand.
A collection of solo piano preludes, Isolation Preludes, written during lockdown while suffering from Long Covid, can be purchased as a PDF. They are not too difficult and some of which have become favourites at In Treble music school in Belize.
The brilliant Russian guitarist Vladimir Gapontsev has performed, live, and recorded some of my compositions for guitar including Ariel and the entire Ithaca Suite, based on some of the episodes from Homer’s Odyssey. Both of which can be heard from my Soundcloud account.
I have put together an album of music in a folk-rock style called Songs Without Words that is available on Soundcloud and will be released on Spotify (the title track of which has already been released!).
I am able to teach composing, arranging and transcribing including how to use the well-known notation software, Sibelius, and how to write musical notation by hand.
"The songwriting is really solid"
Steven Rekas (Mel Bay):
"I listened to Ithaca Suite and was very impressed with the range of melodies, textures and meters. It’s a good piece.
I am now listening to Songs Without Words and equally impressed, in a slightly different way. Your production values are very high; I appreciate the structure and diversity of the songs and the vocal harmonies too. The songwriting is really solid."
"I listened to Ithaca Suite and was very impressed with the range of melodies, textures and meters. It’s a good piece.
I am now listening to Songs Without Words and equally impressed, in a slightly different way. Your production values are very high; I appreciate the structure and diversity of the songs and the vocal harmonies too. The songwriting is really solid."
Books by Peter Worley
Classical Guitar Tunes - English Folk Songs
This book presents 42 English folk songs arranged for the intermediate classic guitarist in standard notation with phrase and dynamic markings plus light fingering. The collection includes popular melodies like Sprig of Thyme, Seventeen Come Sunday, and Blow the Wind Southerly, but also lesser known but no less beautiful tunes like Cupid the Pretty Ploughboy, Dabbling in the Dew and Saucy Sailor. All the arrangements present the basic tune faithfully and simply before offering more elaborate and sophisticated variations suitable for concert performance. Without compromising their sophistication, these polyphonic arrangements are elegant and idiomatic to the guitar, all but devoid of excessive physical demands; even barré chords are kept to a minimum so the player can relax and focus on tone and interpretation. The primary objective of this collection is to draw attention to these deserving melodies, some of which are now rarely heard. Longtime fans of the genre will recognize a few songs once performed by folk-rock groups like Steeleye Span and The Fairport Convention, here presented anew for the solo classic guitar.
This book presents 42 English folk songs arranged for the intermediate classic guitarist in standard notation with phrase and dynamic markings plus light fingering. The collection includes popular melodies like Sprig of Thyme, Seventeen Come Sunday, and Blow the Wind Southerly, but also lesser known but no less beautiful tunes like Cupid the Pretty Ploughboy, Dabbling in the Dew and Saucy Sailor. All the arrangements present the basic tune faithfully and simply before offering more elaborate and sophisticated variations suitable for concert performance. Without compromising their sophistication, these polyphonic arrangements are elegant and idiomatic to the guitar, all but devoid of excessive physical demands; even barré chords are kept to a minimum so the player can relax and focus on tone and interpretation. The primary objective of this collection is to draw attention to these deserving melodies, some of which are now rarely heard. Longtime fans of the genre will recognize a few songs once performed by folk-rock groups like Steeleye Span and The Fairport Convention, here presented anew for the solo classic guitar.
"Good to play for pleasure, good for learning and consolidating rhythm, good for sight-reading"
“It’s an excellent collection - good to play for pleasure, good for learning and consolidating rhythm, good for sight-reading. Just marvelous. It should meet a lot of needs."
Gilbert Biberian
“These are very accessible arrangements of 42 English folk tunes, some of which are familiar and many others which deserve to be better known. They are all tuneful and have interesting harmonies and rhythms in arrangements which will be well within the reach of intermediate guitarists. These fine settings would be useful pieces for a teacher looking for supplementary material and also for the performer looking for unhackneyed repertoire. They are thoughtfully presented with good fingering and phrasing, with idiomatic guitar writing and interesting harmonies. Congratulations to Peter Worley for presenting this compendium of gems from a lesser-known tradition.”
Gerald Garcia
Gilbert Biberian
“These are very accessible arrangements of 42 English folk tunes, some of which are familiar and many others which deserve to be better known. They are all tuneful and have interesting harmonies and rhythms in arrangements which will be well within the reach of intermediate guitarists. These fine settings would be useful pieces for a teacher looking for supplementary material and also for the performer looking for unhackneyed repertoire. They are thoughtfully presented with good fingering and phrasing, with idiomatic guitar writing and interesting harmonies. Congratulations to Peter Worley for presenting this compendium of gems from a lesser-known tradition.”
Gerald Garcia
Christmas Music in the British Isles for Classic Guitar
This carefully researched anthology presents 42 Christmas carols from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales arranged for the intermediate classic guitarist in standard notation. Phrase and dynamic markings plus light fingering are provided. The collection includes popular carols such as "Away in a Manger", "Once in Royal David’s City" and "The Holly and the Ivy" plus fine lesser-known carols such as "Down in Yon Forest", "In Those Twelve Days" and "Ye Sons of Men, With Me Rejoice". All of the arrangements present the basic tune faithfully and simply before offering more elaborate and sophisticated variations suitable for holiday gigs and concert performance.
This carefully researched anthology presents 42 Christmas carols from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales arranged for the intermediate classic guitarist in standard notation. Phrase and dynamic markings plus light fingering are provided. The collection includes popular carols such as "Away in a Manger", "Once in Royal David’s City" and "The Holly and the Ivy" plus fine lesser-known carols such as "Down in Yon Forest", "In Those Twelve Days" and "Ye Sons of Men, With Me Rejoice". All of the arrangements present the basic tune faithfully and simply before offering more elaborate and sophisticated variations suitable for holiday gigs and concert performance.
Events
Songs Without Words by Pete Booke - Single release
Contact Peter Worley
peter@peterworley.uk
