I do find it important as a teacher that each student understands what he/she is engaged with: I will make you aware of the history of your instrument, mention and name the different, individual  parts of the instrument. All of this is to create more awareness  and passion for your instrument. When you search the net for particular guitars or other musical instruments, you may have noticed how musicians can be very particular about their instrument of choice. They may know details like the age of their instrument and what kind of materials it is made of. All of this is because musicians spend a lot of time with their instruments on a daily basis. When you spend a lot of time with something you are bound to fall in love with this kind of something you do. In case of musical instruments, most musicians simply love their instruments, they treat them with care and will spend a lot of money and time to improve the sound of a particular instrument. Hence my effort to create a bit of love for your own instrument. 

The lessons are practical in nature: Music is a do activity, you need to play notes, songs and techniques. Behind anything you play there is theory to explain how it actually works. This may sound a little scary at first but it is not so! You will learn musical jargon and theory from day one, and you will get used to the terms being used, it will become like another language you speak. The theory you will learn is practical in nature and you will use it as long as you make music. Nothing to be afraid of!

I do find it important that students experience making music as having fun! Fun is the reason why we play music. You will need to practise whatever we have learned. The more you practise, the better you will get. When you play better, you will experience more pleasure whilst your playing. Very simple really!

Making music is more than just playing your own instrument. I will make you aware of the bigger picture within the music we play. This could be a simple song, or something improvised or something we made ourselves. Once you have more awareness of all the various parts, you will understand the music better. This is not complex, it is just a approach, a mind set if you like. Once you understand what is going on you can tackle anything musically!

It is important to become free with your instrument. Freedom means knowing your way around the instrument. Your instrument should start to become part of you, in that way you will play without any effort. You will also understand the different ways how to approach your instrument, instead of being locked up in one particular mode of playing. All of this, of course, will take time but I will make you aware of this so you can carry that attitude with you for your future musical journey.

Last but not least: "I am not too old to learn a musical instrument?" No, never, you can take up a musical instrument at any time in your life. All you need is passion, will power, and time to practise.  The big difference with children is that they will do whatever they need to do. Because children do not often ask questions, they will get things done quicker.  More mature people may ask more questions, questions about their own ability, they may  also be more critical about themselves. All of this gets in the way of your learning and stops you having fun learning your instrument!  All I would say: You can take up a musical instrument at any age. Just do it, stick with it and enjoy what you have learned and can play at this given moment in time!