100+ students taught, 10 years of teaching experience | Highly engaging guitar teacher in Surbiton, Kingston, Wimbledon - and online!

Find out more about Sindre

• When did you first develop a passion for music and your favourite instrument?

  I fell in love with classical music at a very early age and started playing the piano when I was 5 or 6 years old. I wanted to compose music as amazing as Beethoven!
  
  Later in my early teenage years, I started playing the guitar. Then a year later, I discovered Bluegrass music. All of a sudden, I wanted to play ALL the instruments that the Bluegrass band played - banjo, mandolin, violin and the Dobro. And I did. When I told my parents I really wanted to get a Dobro, my dad went "Do you not think there are enough instruments in this house now?"
  
  He was probably right.

• Is there a particular type of music or artist that you listen to on a loop without it driving you crazy?

  Listening to any type of music for long enough will eventually drive me crazy! But I have a deep love for Fats Waller. What's so captivating with him is first of all that he's a piano virtuoso. But it's his cheekiness and humour in his riffs that excites me the most. Have a listen to it yourself and see what you think!
  
  I can also listen to great classical music and gypsy jazz for a long time.

• Explain to us the most difficult or riveting course you could personally give to a student of music.

  Perhaps I should explain the most useful and overlooked aspect of learning a skill. That's something called accelerated learning, skill acquisition or "learning how to learn".
  
  Mastering some basic skill acquisition principles will make you advance a lot faster and make it easier for you to break through plateaus.

• What do you think is the most complicated instrument to master and why?

  The first instrument that comes to mind is the violin. Why is this often viewed as more difficult than other instruments?
  
  It's fretless.
  It requires extremely fine motor skills and control of every single limb in both arms.
  It can take years just to produce a sound that is pleasant to listen to for other people.
  
  But the reward is amazing. String instruments like the violin and the cello produce some of the most captivating and rich sounds in the world.

• What are your keys to success?

  Three words. Habits and consistency.
  
  Huge leaps of progress rarely happen in life. Progress happens in micro-steps.
  
  When you observe yourself or someone else achieving a huge leap of progress, what you're seeing or experiencing is the accumulation of good habits consistently carried out.
  
  From an outside perspective, these habits are invisible. But they mount up over time. Habits and consistency are the keys to success in any endeavour and are the main factors that will produce extraordinary results.

• Name three musicians you dream of meeting in your favourite bar in the early hours of the morning. Explain why.

  What can be more special than meeting legends that you look up to? Meeting John Williams would probably provide me with the most profound out-of-body experience. I'd love to have a conversation with someone who has made some of the most iconic and original music of our time.
  
  Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney are two other legends I'd love to meet. If I could ask them some questions about their process and hear some stories about their journey, that would be a great start to my day!

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to music or your days at music school.

  In my early years of playing the guitar, I wanted to learn a certain type of improvisation. I got in touch with a teacher who was willing to show me the ropes. He was amazing at improvisation, so I was really excited to learn from him.
  
  In our first (and only) lesson, I asked the killer question: "So how do you do it? How do you know what to play when improvising?"
  
  His reply was: "Well... You just do it!".
  
  This was the day where I learnt that there is a big difference between a good player and a good teacher. We didn't have any more lessons after that because I think he learnt that he didn't know how to communicate the step-by-step process of getting to the level of skill he was at.

• What are the little touches that make you a Superprof in music?

  One of my strengths is that I know how to play several styles of music. So I can see where they overlap. And also, people who get into music for the first time don't always want to learn only one single style. They often want to explore pop, classical music, and maybe some jazz. I'm more than happy to help with that.
  
  My students don't miss out on anything. I provide clear step-by-step instructions for how to get to the level of playing you're interested in. And I arrange concerts where my students get to show off their skills to my other students and their friends and family.