Dr Mark Poole Guitar Tuition

07/06/2026

Incredible progress from my guitar pupils this summer term:

5 year old Max playing guitar riffs with ease from 'Fleabag' to 'Beat It' to 'Year 3000' and the James Bond theme.

Six year old Arlo mastering 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' by The Darkness. And year 5 Jonah learning 'Hold the Line' by Toto!

Toby, now having had lessons with me for 6 years (from year 1 to year 7) playing Mission Impossible, 'Something' and 'Blackbird' by The Beatles.

Ife, at only year 6, playing Superstition riff, I Wish bass line and Lush Life by Zara Laarson in one lesson. Shout out to brand new pupil Alessia who also mastered this last riff!

Leighton and Esther both playing 'Here Comes the Sun' brilliantly.

Omari mastering 'Pink Panther'

And online, Alex, Shaan and Josh all having had lessons with me since 2019, continuing to cover extended chords, complex chord progressions and techniques passing my highest level tests and most impressively mastering 'Bad Love' by Eric Clapton and 'Sir Duke' by Stevie Wonder!

My thirty students all excelling across three primary schools and online 👏. A very rewarding job this is!

Get in touch if you're interested in lessons.

25/03/2026

A total teaching high yesterday. One of my highest achieving pupils Shaan played the Eric Clapton solo from Something by The Beatles all the way through! I've been playing and teaching the chords for this beautiful song for years, but I only recently worked out the solo and taught it to my most advanced pupils. Very tricky to play!

Shaan started lessons with me at a Leicestershire school in 2019. The family moved to Canada in 2021 but Shaan and her brother Josh have continued with online lessons for 5 years. And now both can play a number of complex tunes, riffs, chords, scales. The fact that my 5 highest achieving pupils are all online pupils shows that students can really excel online as well as face to face.

24/03/2026

What you get from my guitar lessons:

1) Individually tailored lessons suited to the pupil's musical tastes.

2) A trusted teacher with an enhanced DBS who has 15 years experience teaching in primary schools and thus has a great rapport with kids!

3) A friendly, laid back, lighthearted approach with no exams, but a structure. Zero pressure and total freedom for your child to learn at their own pace.

4) Lessons in composition and song structure from a profilic songwriter of hundreds of songs.

5) Lessons from a performing musician of twenty years who's worked with many of the top professional musicians in the Midlands.

6) A level of communication about individual progress that you don't ever get with generic music schools.

7) A teacher who has continued to teach some pupils for 7+ years (from 7 years old through to their teens)

8) A teacher who drives hundreds of miles to deliver lessons but also does online lessons so geography no limit.

9) A free guitar when you sign up and half price lessons for siblings of current students.

Get in touch to book your lessons!

10/12/2025

Well done to my highest achieving pupil Alex, who's now been having lessons with me for 7 years. In his last lesson he managed to play The Darkness 'Christmas Time' (Don't Let the Bells End) while singing falsetto at the same time...and perfectly in tune! No mean feat that 🎸 😎🙂

27/10/2025

Great to have a number of new pupils who've started lessons with me in the last few months. This summer I started teaching my youngest ever pupil Max. He was still just four years old when he started! Now at five and a quarter, he can play his favourite tunes: Cheerleader and Year 3000, is about to pass my level 1 test, and has played Hammerstring Blues all the way through! Remarkable and unprecedented for a five year old! Well done Max 👏

09/09/2025

In rehearsal with my band 7StoreySoul

Why Did You Do It. 7Storeysoul version of classic funk tune

06/09/2025

Looking forward to a new school year teaching at three schools in Leicestershire and Derbyshire, including a brand new school. Shout out here to some of my top achievers from the school year 2024/2025 amongst my school and online pupils...

Well done to Urszula and Caiuz for being top achievers at my Derby school, Ife, at my Leicestershire school for not only smashing her learning targets but also composing her own song 'Hey Everybody' which I've subsequently recorded with members of my band!

Also shout out to my highest achieving pupil of all time Alex in Leicester who smashed all targets, completed all 8 guitar test levels, composed two of his own tunes, became the second pupil ever to play Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder all the way through, and is now studying GCSE music.

Also Shaan and Josh, my online pupils in Canada for both playing Superstition riff brilliantly, hitting learning targets and reaching Level 7 and 5 guitar tests respectively..

Toby in Leicestershire for achieving his learning goals, playing Blackbird, Bad Love by Eric Clapton etc: Narayan for becoming a 50+ chords pupil and playing his favourites: Pompeii by Bastille and All Goes Wrong by Chase n Status/Tom Grennan.

And finally Max, starting at 4 years old: my youngest ever pupil, and already shortly after his 5th birthday playing 4 rock riffs including We Will Rock You and his favourite - Year 3000 by Busted!

Here's to 2025/2026 lots of new pupils and as always with my tailored approach, teaching a whole load of new songs, riffs and helping kids to make their own music!

31/07/2025

My band 7StoreySoul is 20 years old this month and still going strong! 😎

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E8xqhT4Dz/

18/07/2025

It's been a great year teaching kids at schools across the East Midlands and online. Some of my high achieving pupils have now been having lessons with me for 6 years. And another new school lined up for next year.

It's been a total pleasure teaching the kids at my new school in Derby this year: a diverse school, much like the school I went to, with wonderful pupils and friendly staff. Great to see the kids so enthusiastic about learning an instrument and some of them now composing their own songs! I'm lucky to be in the most rewarding job.

30/05/2025

I currently have a few spaces available for new beginner guitar pupils in North Leicestershire. Message the page for details. I've taught in primary schools for 14 years and have taught 750 kids over the years. I can teach adult beginners too. I have an enhanced DBS and my lessons are friendly and relaxed. See photos of reviews/testimonials for an idea of what you'll get from my lessons.