All Change At Leeds Harmonica HQ

Starting from October my availability for giving harmonica lessons will be massively reduced. Currently I’m working the day job only part-time, topping up my income with harmonica lessons and just about scraping by (some month’s better than others).

Today I accepted a full-time position with increased responsibilities, but also obviously, increased salary. That’s great news for me personally as it’ll provide a measure of stability I haven’t had for years, and it’ll give me more scope for buying harps and other gear. The bad news, of course, is that I won’t be nearly as available as I am now.

In fact, at the moment it’s looking a lot like between October and new year availability will be almost nil. That’s because I’ve got to balance the new job with existing commitments to some adult education work I’m doing. Come January I’ll be in a much better position to start committing to some lessons, but availability will still be limited. It may be that I just earmark one evening or weekend afternoon to giving lessons, but that’s all speculation at the moment. I’ll just have to see how it goes.

I’d love to squeeze in as many lessons as possible between now and October. If you’re already working with me, or if you need help with a certain technique, or if there’s an area of your playing you want to develop or get some advice on, drop me a line now.

If you’re a beginner harmonica player, perhaps it’s not the best time to start with me as I won’t be able to commit to being with you long term.

I’d like to thank everyone who has ever taken a chance on me, especially if you were around in the early days when I was still getting my head round the idea of teaching and gave some very ropey sessions.

Something I discovered very early on is that you really need to have confidence in your own skills and knowledge in order before you try teaching others, because your weaknesses will become painfully obvious right away. In that respect I’ve learned something from everyone I’ve ever worked with, and for that I thank you.

But I’m not disappearing completely. I’ll still try and post on the site and make the odd video – especially during the next month. But after that things will go quiet for a while. Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter. Please stay in touch! I’d love to hear how your skills are developing.