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Head of School of Music & Performing Arts

BA, NTF, FHEA

Personal Statement:

Aside from my Head of School duties at Bath Spa, I teach on the Commercial Music degree programmes, and am also the organiser of the annual UK Songwriting Festival

After studying music at the University of Northumbria I worked as a guitar player for four years, then moved to Bath in 1994 to become Music Editor of Total Guitar magazine. I spent three years as Head of Music at City of Bath College and started at Bath Spa in July 2001.

I have written around 40 popular-music-related books, covering Music Theory; Guitar Effects and Altered Tunings, plus over 300 articles and reviews for for Total Guitar, Classic CD, Roland UK, Music Tech and Future Music. I was the Associate Editor of Music Tech magazine during its 2003 launch. My most recent publication The Complete Junior Guitarist (Music Sales, 2009). I also recently co-wrote and co-produced the album Crows Rooks and Ravens (2009) with Scottish singer-songwriter Andi Neate (iTunes link).

My specialisms include songwriting, altered tunings for guitar and fingerstyle guitar.

I was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2004 in recognition of my work as a teacher of popular music; the award was used to fund an investigation into the teaching and learning of songwriting in Higher Education; I am currently studying for a PhD investigating collaborative songwriting at the University of Surrey with Prof Allan Moore.

Membership of Professional Bodies/Subject Associations:

• National Teaching Fellow (Higher Education Academy 2004)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Association of National Teaching Fellows - committee member
• QAA subject reviewer (Popular Music) - 2005-current
• IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music) - 2003-present
• Registry of Guitar Tutors - member 1992-2004
• British Academy of Composers and Songwriters

Teaching Specialism:

• Songwriting
• Performance
• Popular Music History
• Music Theory
• Music Technology

Key Publications/Exhibitions/Performances:

Over 40 popular books relating to guitar playing, guitar teaching or music theory published since 1999. Currently the UK's most prolific author of guitar-based teaching books. Notable publications include Guitar On Tap (Music Sales, 2000), The A-Z of the Guitar (Foundry, 2002), Altered Tunings for Guitar (Artemis Editions, 2003) Bob Dylan for Guitar (Music Sales, 2002), Complete Junior Guitarist (Music Sales, 2009).

Rockschool - contributed 5 original set works for guitar/bass grade 1-7 syllabi (2005). Producer, co-writer and guitarist for 'Rockschool companion' CD (2007).

Contributor to 'Making Foundation Degrees Work' [Eds. L. Brennan and D. Gosling] (SEEC, 2004).

Associate Editor for the launch of Music Tech Magazine (Anthem Publishing, Feb-July 2003). Duties included designing the magazine's pedagogical style with reference to its identified target market.

Contributor to various music magazines including Future Music, Total Guitar, Classic CD, Music of the Millennium, Music Tech magazines (1994-current)

Editor of 'Guitar Teacher' 1996-98

Current Scholarship:

RESEARCH
National Teaching Fellowship project 2005-08 - researching the Teaching and Learning of Songwriting in Higher Education. Developing skills, knowledge and contacts to inform further curriculum development in this key area. Organiser of UK Songwriting Festival. Currently undertaking a PhD study into collaborative songwriting creative practice.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

The Complete Junior Guitarist (guitar learning for 8-12 year olds) - Music Sales corp (wordwide) - April 2009.
Guitar Effects, Arpeggios for Guitar and Altered Tunings for Guitar - pub. Artemis Editions (UK) and Hal Leonard (USA) - 2004.
Crows, Rooks and Ravens - album of original songs with Edinburgh-based songwriter Andi Neate (Blue Elf records 2009).

CONFERENCES

• Music Skills symposium: 'Bassoonists don’t play the blues – pedagogical alternatives to clef-based systems' (Newcastle University, 2009)
• Higher Education Academy annual conference (University of Nottingham, July 2006)
• 'Podagogy' PALATINE conference - 'iTunes and OSX Widgets in the teaching of Songwriting' (University of Wolverhampton, June 2006)
• Carnegie Colloquium on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 2005 (Atlanta, Georgia - March 2005) - paper 'Evidence of Student Learning in Vocational Assessment Environments'.
• Leeds Guitar conference - November 2004 - the ergonomics of guitar-based songwriting.
• PALATINE conference 2004 (Bath Spa University College - chair) - Teaching and assessing songwriting in HE.
• UK Songwriting Festival - organiser (2004-current).
• Registry of Guitar Tutors' Annual Conference (TVU, 2002) - specialist speaker on diatonic harmony teaching methods.
• Orsa Music fair (Sweden) - Oct 2005 - guest lecture (the Teaching and Learning of Songwriting in UK Higher Education)

External Examiners:

• University of East London - External for Performing Arts periodic review (2009)
• Southampton Solent University - EE for BA (Hons) Digital Music (2009-current)
• Bucks New University - EE for BA (Hons) Music Management and Studio Production (2006-current)
• University College Chichester - Validation adviser for Foundation Degree Commercial Music (2008)
• Southampton Solent University - EE for BA (Hons) Digital Music
• QAA programme and subject reviewer - Popular Music etc (2004-current)
• University of Plymouth - Foundation Degree revaiidations (2008)
• University of Brighton and Northbrook College Sussex - EE for BA (Hons) Music Performance (2004-2008)
• Christchurch College Canterbury - EE for Popular Music programme revalidation (2004)
• Senior examiner in guitar/bass for LCMM (1992-2004)
• Visiting examiner (Rockschool Ltd) 1999-2001

Other External Roles:

• Expert witness for Music Publishers' Association (copyright infringement in songwriting) - 2007-current
• Musical Director for PRS Foundation Creative Exchange project (UK/Hong Kong songwriters) (2008)
• Musical Director and songwriting mentor for Scottish Arts Council project Burnsong (2007 and 2009). Performances at BBC Glasgow and Scottish Parliament.

Recent Professional Updating:

• Pro Tools 7, Logic Pro 8, Melodyne, Stylus, BFD in-house training (2008)
• Apple Certified Pro accreditation (Logic Pro) - 2006
• BSU management skills training (EEF) - 2006
• HERA (Higher Education Role Analysis) training - 2005
• Songwriting Selected - learning programme with the Arvon Foundation and Ray Davies (The Kinks) (2004)
• Dreamweaver for web design (2003)

Audio files:

Next related events:

Spartacus Unplugged @ Komedia
Tue 9th Feb 2010, 8:00pm

Music Research Forum - Tom Johnson
Thu 11th Feb 2010, 4:30pm

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