Peripatetic TeacherR.McCabe
With over 15 years’ experience instructing pupils on Electric, Classical, Acoustic and Bass guitar Ritchie has helped hundreds of young people develop their skills, character and confidence through music.
Enjoyment is at the heart of everything and he offers a lot of choice in his tuition. This can mean letting pupils request what songs they want to learn or following grades (Ritchie use the RSL syllabuses for popular music and Trinity Guildhall for classical) or students can delve into his catalogue of modern songs (50’s-present) to develop their playing. Ritchie believes a combination of all three of the above and a friendly, comfortable, relaxed atmosphere in lessons really gets the best from a young person.
In 2006 Ritchie graduated from the London College of Music with a BMus in popular music performance and since then, alongside teaching, he has toured theatres, venues and festivals all over the UK and Europe. His favourite gigs have been Alexandra Palace, the MEN arena, Cork Jazz festival, Isle of Wight festival, the 100 club and the Edinburgh Fringe.
Ritchie encourages pupils to explore a wide range of styles; Rock, Pop, Blues, Funk, Reggae, Metal, Folk, Jazz, Classical… And also had the privilege of discovering new styles through pupils, working together to see these styles can fit onto a guitar, allowing them to develop their own unique covers.
Personally, Ritchie grew up listening to 90’s indie and acoustic singer songwriters, my two favourite artists being Radiohead & Willie Mason. The way they express themselves so freely in their music had Ritchie hooked for decades!