Nico Tomkins - Guitar Lessons

In person in South East London & on Zoom. Est. 2009

Nico Tomkins smiling with a guitar on a street cornerI’m offering guitar lessons in-person, at my Catford teaching studio in SE6 (less than 10 mins walk from Catford station) or on Zoom. Lessons for children, teenagers & adults of all ages.

Beginners, intermediate, advanced & pro students all welcome.  Styles covered include rock, jazz, pop, indie, folk, blues, funk, classical,  reggae & soul.  Accompanying yourself while singing is a specialism too.  A highly experienced guitar teacher & guitarist, I offer tailor-made courses or grades 1-8 can be covered.  All lessons are followed up with materials & practice suggestions in Google Drive.

Tuition is offered 7 days per week, daytimes & evenings, normally on a weekly or fortnightly basis. Learn on electric, acoustic or classical guitars.  Right & left handers welcome & I’ve a clear DBS check.  My teaching studio is in easy reach from Bellingham, Brockley, Catford, Crofton Park, Forest Hill, Hither Green, Honor Oak Park, Ladywell, Lewisham, Lower Sydenham & many other parts of London.

An RGT registered tutor RGT Registry of Guitar Tutors

All ages, all levels, many styles
Nico & a student in a Zoom lesson

For all ages, levels, styles and guitars.  Lessons have a relaxed but focused approach giving you the confidence to progress steadily with materials tailor-made to your own tastes.  All lessons are followed up with materials in Google Drive & an email or voicemail providing the lesson summary & practice suggestions.

Beginners  the earliest stages of the guitar can be challenging, so clear information & inspiring lessons will help you through.  Many of the study areas below are covered at a beginner’s level.  Lessons are very useful at this stage to help you get the basics of good technique down.  If you can commit to around 30 mins daily practice you’ll be really chuffed with your progress.

For intermediate, advanced & professional students  according to your tastes, chose from over 200 songs/pieces that I’ve transcribed.  When these are songs  they’re complete with strumming or fingerpicking rather than just chords & lyrics.  Progress using personally written materials on improvising, song-writing, scales & harmony, lead & rhythm guitar & great ways of applying theory.  Study areas include:

  • all the lovely detail on strumming, fingerpicking & flatpicking
  • help with preparation for open mics, blues & jazz jams. auditions & gigs, giving you the essential experience of performing live
  • specialised help on accompanying yourself while singing
  • work on rhythms with notation & counting to develop rhythmic confidence & to aid communication with other musicians
  • connecting what you’re actually hearing & imagining to your writing & improvising
  • chord theory, allowing you to play, understand & memorise a large range of chords & songs
  • using scale & chord theory to open up your soloing &/or melodic writing
  • many ways to practice without a guitar in your hands (for busy people!)
  • how to transpose songs into keys which suit your or your singer’s voice
  • learning to improvise simultaneous rhythm & lead playing without the crutch of backing tracks (think Hendrix & John Scofield live in trios)
  • getting the most from your equipment & effects
  • suggestions to help you connect & collaborate with other musicians, singers & producers

Pairs lessons

You may have a friend you want to study with?  Learning with fellow students allows you to get into playing live with other people & can be a great motivating factor.  It can also help to spread the cost.

Please call 07962 401 017 for further details or  contact

Kids' Guitar Lessons

Age 7 & upwards
Contact Nico

Individual, pairs or small group lessons from age 6 upwards. The lessons are focused & fun & will stimulate your child’s natural musicality.  Kids experience a real sense of achievement & heightened confidence through learning guitar.  I’ve a clear DBS check for you to view.

Children can take grade exams from 1 to 8, all exam boards & styles covered.  Or they can study with custom-designed materials without the exam framework being present. With over 10 years experience of teaching children I’ve transcribed much child-centred music. Think Harry Potter, The Simpsons & many more.  Learning guitar will also more generally improve your children’s concentration levels, patience & physical dexterity.  Some kids even start teaching their siblings & charging them!

Reviews

a selection from 27 five-star Google reviews

Nico's a thoughtful and experienced teacher who's methods have really helped me to get over some difficulty humps in my playing that I've been struggling with for years. He's got broad tastes & a deep knowedge of music, and he's friendly & accommodating to boot. Highly recommended!                                               Ben W. - Dec. 2023            Hear Ben's compositions & soloing - https://bwgreen.bandcamp.com/

Fantastic teacher – knowledgable, patient, tailors the material to your interests so you're always engaged & being stretched. Amazing player too! Highly recommended.  R.H. July 2024

I've had lessons with Nico for about a year now, as a largely self-taught guitarist of around 15 years. I can comfortably say I haven't seen so much progress in my playing & writing vocabulary in all that time as while under the tutelage of Nico. A great teacher that moulds really well to all interests & styles and has a lot to teach even to more experienced students. We've covered a lot of ground, whether it be dexterity, tightening up playing or using Nico’s jazz knowledge to open up creative possibilities (in jazz or, in my case more genre bending fusions). Would highly recommend if you want to carve out a distinctive style in contrast to more pentatonic bluesy players - although he can deffo teach this, too!

Sam Honey, guitarist with Potato, Nov. 2023          Hands Fold by Potato - https://open.spotify.com/track/2BR2iDusbswQl5aIDnZTPo?si=1803859782474d29

I’m a self-taught guitarist & never had lessons before, I’ve had lessons with him for less than a year now & I can see major improvements in my playing.  Nico is a great teacher, someone who spends time understanding your needs & tailoring the lesson plan accordingly. His teaching style is very effective enabling me to improve my guitar skills at my own pace, the lessons are well structured, and the learning material provided is very useful & to the point for a fast learning approach. Highly recommended!    Matteo Saltalippi, March 2024

I’ve been having guitar lessons with Nico for 6 months & I’ve seen a huge improvement in my skills. He is always extremely prepared for lessons & a very attentive & encouraging teacher. I can highly recommend!                           Gina Ruysen, Feb 2024

Nico is a thoughtful & talented teacher, who tailors his lessons to each students needs. I’ve found the topics we cover around musical theory & rhythm incredibly eye-opening & useful. They have helped me develop my understanding of music as well as improve my songwriting & all aspects of guitar playing technique.                  Tom Genower, Sept. 2022

I’ve been having jazz lessons with Nico for a year & a half now. In that time I’m pleased to say that I’ve progressed much further than I would’ve expected & much more efficiently than if I’d been working from books/YouTube. Nico’s an excellent teacher as he’ll pace the lessons to your individual needs, giving as much effort as you put in. Aditionally, Nico’s musicianship is evident & reflected in the lessons which are well balanced between all the aspects of guitar playing. At the start of each lesson, the previous lesson is recapped & you discuss your practice to have some useful feedback on your progress & areas for improvement. Then he’ll introduce & explore one or two new concepts to work on, or build on a previous topic to take it to a new level. After this time with Nico, I feel confident comping & improvising over a number of jazz standards.  I‘m really enjoying this new freedom on the guitar and generally in writing & creating music.                     Danny Ramasawmy, June 2020

Nico’s gentle teaching manner, and positive encouragement was exactly what our daughter needed to inspire her to pick up and starting playing & enjoying guitar playing.  Always flexible with diary changes & really took an interest in our daughters development as a guitarist. The lessons stretched her without at all her feeling pushed or under pressure, an amazing & very natural teacher – thank you Nico.       Sonia Kumar, Aug. 2021

I’ve been having lessons with Nico for over a year now & I have to say that he’s the best teacher I’ve had by far.  I think he really tries to understand what it is his students want from playing the guitar & tailors his approach accordingly. I feel like I’m finally learning the ‘right’ way. It’s not necessarily easy, it requires some hard work & thinking, but it’s what I need to do to get to where I want to be, which is getting comfortable playing blues and jazz in jam settings & genuinely improvising rather than playing rote learnt pieces & licks.  David Hughes, Oct. 2019

Nico is a great guitar teacher, very patient & understanding. His teaching style and techniques are very helpful in understanding what you are doing & also in doing it. He has a great disposition as a teacher & musician and I recommend him for guitar/music teaching.  Jeremy O’Sullivan, Jan. 2020

Nico has been teaching my children for just over two years. They have made great progress & always enjoy & look forward to their weekly lesson. He is passionate about music & not only is he excellent at teaching the technical aspects of playing the guitar, but he is also very good at encouraging the children to be creative & write their own songs. He is also very reliable & flexible in fitting round our busy schedules. I would highly recommend him.    Alexandra Roberts, Sept. 2019

Nico has deep pedagogical skills, our daughter loves the lessons; we have known Nico for two years now, he is a great musician & a very pleasant person.      Artur Ference, Jan. 2017

Nico is great. There’s not judgement on how good you are when you first start. He’s really good at taking things at a pace that suits you & not making you feel rushed. I feel like my playing has improved more over the past year or so than it did for 5 before that. Best teacher I’ve had. Gutted I had to stop due to moving house. Definitely worth a go!       George Jardine, Sept. 2019

If you really want to learn to play the guitar, do it with Nico!! Having grown up playing music (violin & trombone) I’ve been lucky enough to learn with some great teachers – & I think Nico is one of the best. If you’re learning as an adult, or feel self-conscious, or worried about progress – he takes exactly the right student-centred approach to help you on your way to feeling great – and inspired – about the music you’re making. His passion for music, making music, and helping others make music is particularly evident & powerful – and I hope even one person reading this review takes the leap to getting lessons from him, to create their music-filled future. Sasha Fuller, Feb. 2018

After just clocking a year being taught by Nico, I can safely say he is one of the best music teachers I’ve ever had. Not only does he keep lessons & the learning itself interesting but he is willing to tailor your experience based on your own musical interests. Over the last year I have felt myself become more competent as a player & get passed a wall I thought I’d hit a long time ago – all thanks to Nico.            David Mosuro, Sept. 2016

I am learning the guitar at a later age than many but have really enjoyed it & have made steady progress. Nico has a relaxed approach & is good at spotting adjustments I can make to really improve. He offers great & wide music selections to suit me.                     Catherine Hawkins, Oct. 2017

Nico teaches my teenage daughter – as well as being very knowledgable, he is always positive & supportive & has encouraged her to try new things like singing & different styles of music.  She enjoys the lessons & he’s great at sending through ‘homeplay’ suggestions for her to try out in her own time. Yvonne Lewis, Nov. 2016

It is a real pleasure to be taught by Nico – over the past couple of years he has developed my chords & singing confidence, kept up the classical pieces & persuaded me to play in public. He is patient & flexible. His wide, eclectic tastes, and his own gigging experience means that whatever you are in to, he can help you achieve. I can’t recommend him highly enough!       Portia Ungley, Aug. 2015

Since having lessons with Nico I’ve really learnt how to appreciate music! The lessons have been really well balanced & have incorporated a varety of songs/techiniques & theory on developing a ‘musical ear’, something which I thought you were only born with & couldn’t learn. I can’t stess enough how important this has been for me for developing as a muscian & it has given me the confidence to perform in public. The problem I have now is that I can’t find the time to play as much as I want! Cheers from a motivated student.  Stefan Jade, July 2015

Nico Tomkins - Biog

Contact

I’ve over 18 years experience as a guitar teacher & a professional musician.

Listen here https://www.soundcloud.com/nico-tomkins

Watch here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NmNfqh5L3o

Amongst others I’ve worked with Parsley Sound, Eska (Mercury prize nominee ’15) Marcela Puppini (The Puppini Sisters) & the session musicians Dan Lipman (ex Bjork) Nick Ramm (ex-Cinematic Orchestra, Norman Distance) Tom Herbert (Beck, The Invisible) Oroh Angiama & Jonathan Shorten (songwriter with Joss Stone).  I’m currently writing & recording an album of my own compositions & also studying keyboards & production.

Qualifications  I’ve Grade 8 in Plectrum Guitar (Trinity-Guildhall), an A grade in ‘Advanced Jazz Guitar Improvisation’ (Berklee College of Music Online), Music A Level, Grade 5 classical guitar & I’ve a first class honours degree in English Literature from the University of Glasgow.

Prices

1-1 in-person at my Catford teaching studio, London SE6 on or Zoom

One hour – £45 (any time)

45 mins – £37 (for weekly daytime lessons ending by 6.30pm)

Pairs lessons

One hour – £60 (£30 each)

75 & 90 minute lessons also available

Phone for prices

Cancellations

Please give at least 24 hours notice, then no fee will be charged. If this is not received then you will need to please pay the full lesson’s charge

Get in touch!

Call Nico on 07962 401 017

Email: nico@londonguitarlessons.com

Or please complete the form below.  Your contact details will not be shared – we promise.

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