Giovanni

Hi!

My name is Giovanni, and I play Electric Bass and Double Bass.

I started my music career as a pianist, at the age of 5, playing traditional Milanese songs with my grandad, until I discovered Red Hot Chili Peppers, and I decided that bass is way cooler (No offense to any pianists out there!).

Since then my passion for music has been my driving force.

During my formation years I have been blessed with the opportunity to study with some of the best musicians in Italy (Camillo Bellinato, Giacomo Lampugnani, Tullio De Piscopo), in the UK (Laurence Cottle, Jeff Gascoyne, Alexander Verster, Barak Schmool) and worldwide (Or Bareket, Lauren Pierce).

I consider myself a lifelong learner and one of the pillars of my teaching method is to transmit this love for curiosity and self-improvement to my students.

What defines my teaching, and my personality in general, is the attention to the detail, and the importance of a holistic/all encompassing approach.
Surely aspects like technique, music theory and reading are paramount, but also are posture, physical wellbeing, good nutrition and mental health.

The way I structure my sessions is always goal-oriented.
On the first day I will assess your level, briefly chat about what are your ambitions, and I will set out 3 targets, a short term (achievable within the end of the session, or in a couple at most), a medium term (achievable in a few weeks), and a long term one (achievable in a few months).
An example of these three targets could be, learning a particular song (short term), perfecting a technique (medium), pass an exam or an audition (long).
I will then prepare all the material (Exercises, song references, video analysis of players, theory, backing tracks, etc) and guide you through it, providing support and motivation when needed (especially after weeks 3/4 of a long term plan, where inevitably focus and motivation tend to dry up, as most of us who embarked in such projects at some point in our lives will know all too well!)
Then, periodically, we’ll have more of these assessment sessions and as we reach our previously set targets, or if we decide we are now interested in something else, we’ll set new goals, which will always be as focused and specific as possible.

I am a strong believer in goal-oriented education, as I noticed on my own growth that the best source of motivation towards reaching a new objective is the dopamine release provided by the previous crushed target, rather than always working on something vague and ethereal because “we should”.

Someone said “A target without a plan is just a dream” and I couldn’t agree more!

As a person who has experienced the challenge learning a completely new instrument from a relatively advanced age (I started playing Double Bass at the age of 25, with no previous experience other than Bass Guitar), most of my late formation period has been very methodical, as opposed to a more intuitive youth learning.

That allowed me to achieve in just three years a high enough level to be accepted (with scholarship) for a Masters Course at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and I believe it gave me an invaluable insight into the cognitive and physical mechanisms of learning an instrument, together with a vast amount of exercises, routines, etudes and workouts that I used for myself, and are now the foundations of my current teaching method.

Over the years I worked as a tutor with a number of institutions, starting from a few music schools in the North of Italy (Music’Attiva, KM33, Ottava Nota), then, after I moved to the UK, teaching regularly at YMM, and at Stoke Newington School, as well as teaching privately for the last 15 years.

Most of my body of work consists in preparing students for exams and auditions.
I am a qualified Rockschool teacher, and that’s the grading system I am most experienced with, having helped countless students to book, prepare and pass their exams with flying colours, but I have worked with the Trinity Rock too in the past, and the mechanism and requirements are largely the same.
For my jazz students usually we choose Trinity Jazz & Classical.
Also I regularly prepare my students to audition to higher education institutions, like Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Academy, BIMM, etc.
I am well experienced with the entry requirements for most of the UK Conservatoires and music oriented universities, and most of those who I prepared for these auditions had no trouble being offered a place.

Finally, in order to still be able to help my students who I couldn’t see in person for the last couple of years, I set up a studio where I teach online, complete with a professional mic, studio lights, business super fast internet connection and all my teaching material always ready to be screen-shared.
I started using it to teach my students during the lockdowns, and perfected it over the two years, to the point where most of my pupils actually decided to keep learning remotely even after the restrictions got lifted!

If what you are looking for is a strongly motivated teacher, with a strong focus on the details and mechanisms of learning, and happy to tailor his lessons around the needs of your current level and ambitions, then please don`t hesitate to get in touch.

Availability: Monday to Friday 9 to 20

Willing to travel: Home Only

Experience: I have been an accredited teacher since 2009, first in Italy, then in London.
Currently Bass Guitar Teacher of YMM and Stoke Newington School, as well as private electric/upright bass, Music Theory, Reading and Harmony teacher

DBS Check: Yes

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