Royal Academy of Music graduate offering music theory and general musicianship lessons to any age

Learn more about Simon

• When did you first develop a passion for music and your favourite instrument?

  Having played the violin since I was 5, I was always aware of music as something important in my life. I knew it would always be there for me, and I thank my teachers and parents for starting me so young on an instrument. It was around the age of 13 that I started to take my playing more seriously at the Junior Royal Academy of Music and it went from there. As for piano, I always loved playing since I started at the age of 9. I was drawn to its apparent complexity and with knowledge of music from my violin playing, I was quick to fall in love with the piano too, and quick to get straight to Chopin, whose music I love playing to this day. The passion for music only grows the more you play an instrument without ever stopping, so that is how it went for me. However, part of the passion for music is the passion for playing, for playing is the medium through which the music is expressed. The two things are perhaps inextricably linked for musicians.

• Is there a particular type music or artist that you listen to on a loop without it driving you crazy?

  Occasionally! Not so much with Classical music as it is like a painting in an art gallery; you walk round and see it, and spend time with it, and move on. You don't keep going to the same room. I feel Classical music to be framed like a work of art, and I have the intuitive need to preserve it like that. Therefore I prefer to commit my whole self to the listening of the music, and once it is over, that is it. The experience is enough, the music deserves its own reverence. It is about the relationship one has with the music. That is why live concerts are so wonderful, as they can only be experienced once. The music has its own place in time and space as does everything else on the planet, instead of being something that can be replayed until the meaning is somewhat lost. Having said that(!) I have been known to listen to the 2nd movement of Poulenc's Violin Sonata FP.119 on a loop as I sleep! It is so ethereal and otherworldly.

• Explain to us the most difficult or riveting course you could personally give to a student of music.

  I believe the study of violin is one of the most all-encompassing experiences one can have as part of one's life. It is where I have dedicated most of my studies and my teaching career, and it is something that lasts a lifetime. Every time you touch the instrument things are different. There is never a dull moment, nor a day you don't learn something. When learning an instrument, there is a language to be understood, physical and mental habits to form, and many hours of practice to be done! When I studied, I felt that the 1 hour violin lesson that I had each week was the hour I left my every day life, and truly delved into what felt like personal development and discovery. Music is just an expression of what we are after all, so seen in this way, the study of an instrument is merely uncovering human emotion, intention and desires through a particular medium.

• What do you think is the most complicated instrument to master and why?

  As outlined above, I believe the violin is! To master the violin requires mastery of the bow. The bow creates the sound, and gives the player 100% control over the sound. Unlike percussive instruments (including the piano), string players are able to sustain any given note for any length of time, as well as perform huge arrays of articulation, with all sorts of different tones. Moreover, the string players have to adapt to many formations and undertake leadership roles in orchestral sections and chamber groups, often with the most tricky parts in the orchestra (especially the violins!). The violin still needs to be compared to the other string instruments to be understood as the most complex instrument to master. The violin is the highest pitch, with the biggest risk of sound quality errors, and the biggest need for pristine bow technique. This is why it is harder, and points to the fact that the bow is actually the hardest part of it. The topic of tone production on the violin is so complex that none of the masters and great violin teachers agree on how to achieve a brilliant tone, let alone what that is! Violinists can also practise for almost any amount of time unlike woodwind and brass players, whose lips give way after a few hours. Therefore the huge practice time needed is testament to the complexity and extent to which the violin is the hardest instrument to fully or partly master.

• What are your keys to success?

  - Having a routine, or someone to help you with your routine
  - Being patient to the learning process and to your teacher's method. Follow them wherever they take you even if it isn't always easy or straightforward
  - Being hard-working and organised with your time and within your mind, planning how to practice and sticking to it. New ideas and circumstances will pop up, but having a plan to stick to still needs to be in place; the chaos is within the order
  - Being respectful to your teacher as well as humble the music itself. There is always more to learn from your teacher and always more to discover and rethink from the score itself.
  - Keep your conviction strong, things don't always feel comfortable, easy, satisfying, useful, but we mustn't give up, whether in a rehearsal, lesson, or individual practice. Remember past effort, believe you are wonderful, as much as possible

• Name three musicians you dream of meeting in your favourite bar in the early hours of the morning. Explain why.

  Mozart. He sounded cheeky! JS Bach, what a genius...and Brahms, one of my favourite composers, and someone I imagine getting along with.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to music or your days at music school.

  At 83, Pablo Casals was asked why he was still practising 4 or 5 hours a day. He replied "Because I think I am making progress."

• What are the little touches that make you a Superprof in music?

  I simply treat my pupils' progress as the priority. I have experience teaching across all ages, and seek to teach each player from where they are wherever that is and take them higher. I enter pupils into grades, concerts and competitions regularly, and I help them on their journey of playing that sees it become a hobby or career.