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Dylan Cobb
Online lessonsExpert Guitar, Piano, Songwriting and Theory Tutor
Hi! I am a professional musician and tutor based in South East London, always excited to share my enthusiasm with students of all ages. Whether you are just beginning your musical journey; trying to fulfil virtuosic ambitions; preparing for grade exams (ABRSM, Trinity, RGT, Rock School); or eager to try your hand at songwriting/composing music of your own—I will tailor a course of tuition to help you realise your goals in a fun, relaxed environment.
I have an extensive background in both classical and contemporary popular music, having studied at Trinity College of Music and the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, and my teaching style brings together the best of both musical worlds, along with a keen sensitivity to the nuances of different genres and artists. Whatever kind of music you’re excited about being able to play, I can make it happen!
Feel free to contact me with any questions you have, or to schedule a lesson. I’m happy to help you if you need assistance choosing a guitar or piano that fits your needs and budget.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
GUITAR
Beginner Guitarists
I believe it’s important to help beginners acquire a foundational knowledge of chord shapes and basic guitar techniques as quickly as possible so they can start playing music and learning songs immediately. By focusing on building repertoire instead of technical exercises during these early stages, students will find it easier to remain enthusiastic, and new techniques and ideas can be introduced gradually through real music.
They will also learn how to practice efficiently, so they can continue to see progress in their playing even when practice time is limited.
Repertoire
Right from the start, students will learn to play music they are passionate about; I always help students to select pieces/songs that will be both challenging and rewarding for them. They will also be given the opportunity to receive a grounding in various popular guitar styles—blues, rock, funk, R&B, country, jazz, fusion, reggae, folk etc.—becoming confident accompanists and soloists in a wide variety of musical contexts.
Fretboard Knowledge
As they progress, students will learn more chord and scale patterns, enabling them to read charts and opening the door to improvising with confidence. They will also learn about the CAGED system, and how to use it to mentally organise the fretboard so as to accommodate their growing vocabulary of patterns. In addition, they will learn how to read standard notation, and how to identify intervals, chord types and progressions by ear and on paper, facilitating faster song-learning and more accurate recall as they begin to recognise familiar sounds and shapes everywhere.
Guitar Technique
Aside from making sure they develop clean technique when fretting notes, muting and picking strings—and that they don’t acquire any habits that might lead to long-term injury—guitar techniques will be explored extensively as the student advances. They will learn: alternate, economy and sweep picking, pickslant and string-escape strategies, crosspicking, fingerstyle guitar, hybrid picking, legato, string-bending and vibrato, as well as extended techniques such as right-hand and two-handed tapping, playing slide guitar, artificial harmonics, waterfall harmonics and more.
PIANO
Beginners
New pianists will be introduced to their instrument and written music in an easy, step-by-step progression so they become comfortable reading note names, rhythms, accidentals, key signatures, time signatures, clefs etc. over time—while also learning to play fun tunes along the way! From the start, they will be taught how to position themselves at the piano to encourage good posture, and how to use their fingers, hands and wrists in a way that provides control over the instrument without generating unnecessary tension or risking injury over time.
They will also learn how to structure their practice time, especially those preparing for grade exams where each section of the exam requires dedicated practice.
Repertoire
I help all my students to select pieces they will enjoy playing, while also being challenged so they continue to grow as pianists. In addition, they will be encouraged to develop fluent sight-reading skills and to explore a wide variety of musical styles.
Technique and Theory
Whilst technical exercises and music theory have a bit of a bad reputation as enthusiasm-killers, it doesn’t have to be that way! They form an essential part of general musicianship for pianists, and students will discover they can be fun and easy to digest when taught correctly!
SONGWRITING, COMPOSITION AND THEORY
Many musicians find themselves trying to write lyrics, or songs or instrumental pieces of their own after learning an instrument for some time. Very often they start to find musical ideas coming to them, but don’t know how to develop these ideas, or how to structure an entire piece of music.
I believe the best way to learn the crafts of both songwriting and composition, while also nurturing individual creativity, is a combination of learning about form and compositional techniques, analysing existing masterpieces to find out what makes them so special, and good old-fashioned learning-by-doing! Some of the topics students will have the opportunity to cover:
Lyric Writing
Songwriting students will learn strategies for brainstorming and organising lyrical ideas; finding interesting rhymes; alternative types of rhymes; creating worksheets; the role of different song sections as it relates to lyric-writing; meter and rhyme schemes; prosody and the connection between lyrics, melodic shape and rhythm.
Melody
What makes a melody easily-singable; what the various types of conventional melodic figuration are (passing-tones, neighboring tones, suspensions, anticipations, eschapee, appoggiatura, cambiata); syncopation and its role in popular melody-writing; riff-writing and building solos.
Harmony and Counterpoint
A full course on functional harmony, modal harmony, and basic substitutions; chromaticism and chromatic techniques; species counterpoint, and prolongational techniques; four-part writing procedures; advanced countrapuntal techniques such as imitation, shifting counterpoint, canonic and fugal techniques.
Form
The relationship between harmony, counterpoint and form; song form; the components of songs (verse, chorus, refrain, bridge/transition, intro, outro, hook etc.); conventional theme types (periods, sentences, hybrids, ternary themes etc.) and their common deviations; large-scale forms (sonata, rondo etc.); how the needs for variety and comprehensibility work to organise all music.
I’m also able to teach students about arranging, recording and production, and they will have the opportunity to record their songs in my studio if they wish.
