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Find out more about Joseph

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

  I first started my passion for music at a very young age. I was always surrounded by music, my parents would constantly be playing it around the house, in the car ect...
  
  I was surrounded by a large variety of music, whether that was: funk, soul and 80's music in the kitchen; rock and punk in the living room or my brother introducing me to hard rock and metal bands. That's where my love for a lot of different styles and genres began and specifically where my passion for the electric guitar started.

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

  I'm a rock fan at heart, so I would say that! But I listen to a lot of different genres of music, so it's hard to say which is my favourite, in particular.
  
  I'm not sure if this is a common thing or not, but the way I listen to music is that I'll get obsessed with a certain band/artist, (or sometimes even a certain album), and I will listen to it on repeat, sometimes for months without getting bored. And then I will change to another band, and the cycle will continue!

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

  I think the most riveting course I teach is music theory and applying that theory onto the fretboard. I'm always so excited to help people improve on music theory topics and how you can use them practically.
  
  For example, teaching a student how to create chords, and then by using that knowledge, finding the notes on the fretboard and working out chord shapes naturally. That is always such a fun thing to teach!
  
  But I also find it gratifying when a student has been practicing a certain song and they are improving each week. Then eventually they will be able to play along to the song, and all that hard work has paid off.

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

  think every instrument has it's pros and cons, in terms of learning. For example, at the start, guitar or bass can be challenging because it takes time for your fingers to get used to the strings and gain calluses. But after this and when you have learnt how to change between chords, you can pick up so many songs with a limited number of chords and a few strumming patterns.
  
  Whereas, something like the violin could be very tricky to produce a proper sound for a while as the bowing technique seems to be very tricky to master. Also the lack of frets would make intonation and being in tune very hard.

• 5) What are your keys to success?

  I always say that when you have lessons, you are self taught for 99% of the week and the lessons are the 1% time and place to make sure you are moving forward properly and learn the right things. It's a cooperation between the teacher teaching the correct information in the right way and the student practicing it consistently.
  
  Making sure you are having fun practicing is also just as important. The fun will drive the motivation to practise which will then lead to more playing!

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

  There's a lot I could choose from but I'll go with two that are not household names but are two of my favourite current guitar players, and one that is more recognised but would be amazing to meet and talk to.
  
  First of, I would love to meet, probably the best guitarist on the planet at the moment: Guthrie Govan. He is just mind blowing as a guitar player and so versatile but is also amazingly well spoken and funny that I feel like he would be amazing to speak to about music and guitar.
  
  Secondly, another person I would love to chat to would be Mark Lettieri. Probably my favourite guitarist over the past 12 years or so along with Guthrie. His overall playing is top notch, whether that be his improvising or his rhythm playing, he's amazing to listen to. Again, for similar reasons to Guthrie, he is so likeable and down to earth/humble, as well as be extremely easy to listen to, he seems like he would be super easy to chat to.
  
  My third would be James Hatfield from Metallica. They are a very important band to me and I believe James is one of the best rhythm guitarists in metal and one of the best front men in rock/metal. Again, he seems so likeable and since he was and still is a huge inspiration to me, I would love to chat to him too. I'm sure he'd have an amazing story or two from one of this thousands of gigs he has played!

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

  One of the most important thing about music, in my opinion, is playing with different people and sharing that love of performance and playing.
  
  When I was at the RNCM, my favourite part of the course was the fact that I could play with different musicians and perform and create music together. Especially nowadays, playing gigs with a variety of bands, playing with different musicians each week is such an important thing for myself to consistently improve and keep the motivation high.

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

  I like to think that I'm friendly and relaxed as a teacher. When I was at the RNCM, my favourite teachers were always the ones where I felt motivated to practise after the lessons and then show them my improvement the week after. They also happened to be the teachers that I could talk to when I was struggling. Whether that was with my playing or my motivation. They were always understanding and would help me try to improve and get back to practicing and enjoying it. I always want to make sure that I'm doing that in my lessons too. I want to listen to my students properly, help them and understand their potential issues as much as I can.
  
  I think that's extremely important to do. Of course, it's important to be knowledgeable about what your teaching, but you need to have the right personality to be a good teacher too, in my opinion.