Electric Guitar Lessons

The electric guitar is the sound of modern music. It can be played with a plectrum, with your fingers, or a mix of both — and I can teach you all of it.

My own stage and studio work lives mostly in the extreme-metal, jazz and world-music worlds, but in lessons I teach the lot: blues and rock ‘n’ roll, through rock, pop, indie, funk, reggae, the lot. We can write your own songs, learn your favourites, or work through pieces I’ve picked that address a specific technique. Your goals set the direction, we work as a team.

New to the guitar?

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to start on an acoustic. If electric guitar is your thing, get one and start rocking out — it’s actually easier on your fingers, thanks to the lower action, lighter strings and slimmer neck. We begin by warming up both hands so any style comes easily later, then move into basic chords and strumming, adding scales and soloing as we go.

As you progress you choose where to specialise — rhythm, lead, or both — usually guided by the music you love. Theory is taught hands-on and stripped back to what you can actually recall while playing, so learning to read notation is available if you want it, but never a requirement.

Already play?

Want to catch up on tricks you missed over the years, iron out old habits with more effective technique, or finally sight-read? We can do all of it. Play well but don’t quite understand what you’re playing? I’ll teach you to crack the code — where every note lives on the neck, the thing most self-taught players miss, which opens up the whole fretboard to a myriad of new possibilities.

Keen to improve your lead? We’ll cover how chords, scales and arpeggios relate to one another — when to look at the guitar horizontally and when to look at it vertically — so the notes stop being a mystery but become a tool.

Your first three months on electric guitar

Month one gets both hands working before anything else: a warm-up routine, fretting close behind the fret so notes ring cleanly, and alternate picking to a metronome at a speed that is honestly comfortable. On top of that go power chords, the first open chords, palm muting, and reading TAB and a chord chart. Riffs come in almost immediately — they are the fastest way to make an electric sound like an electric.

Month two is chords and time. Barre chords and the movable shapes that make them portable, strumming and down-picked rhythm patterns, playing tight against a drum track, and the minor pentatonic in its first shape with bends, slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs on top. This is usually where students play their first full song end to end.

Month three joins the two hands to the fretboard. We map the pentatonic across all five shapes, add the major scale and start relating chords to the scales they came from, so the neck stops being a set of memorised boxes. You solo over a backing track for the first time, and we set your amp and pedals up properly for the tones the music you like actually uses.

Where the level goes after that

Beyond the first term it depends on the player. Rhythm-minded students go into extended and altered chords, funk and reggae feels, drop tunings and riff writing. Lead-minded students take on modes, three-note-per-string scales, arpeggios and sweep picking, legato and vibrato control, and phrasing — which matters far more than speed. Most people want both, so we alternate, and songs you have chosen yourself carry the technique rather than the other way round.

Graded exams, if you want them

Grades are optional and plenty of students never bother, but if you want a target I prepare candidates for RGT, Rockschool and Trinity electric guitar grades, and I have taken students through the full run of them.

Over a year learning guitar with Malcolm and I went from knowing a few basic chords to freestyle solos. Lessons are very methodical and designed to push you just outside the comfort zone.— Greta, electric guitar student

Where lessons happen

In-studio in London SE16 — Rotherhithe, Canada Water and Surrey Quays — at your place anywhere within TfL Zone 3, including Bermondsey and Borough (SE1), Walworth (SE17), Deptford (SE8), New Cross and Peckham (SE14, SE15), Lewisham (SE13) and Canary Wharf (E14), or live online worldwide over a choice of video conferencing apps. Get in touch and we’ll pick what fits you best. I teach music lessons right across South East London — see the areas I cover →.