“I was 24 at the time and not having received musical tuition since school I was looking to pick up guitar as a means to play the music I love; Jazz and blues.

I was worried that this would be a repeat of my school days in which dry theory and obscure pieces with little relevance to my life would be thrust upon me as some mental torture.

Joff provides the opposite experience. From lesson one he was genuinely interested to hear and take on board what I wanted to get out of my playing guitar. The lessons feel completely cutom to what I want and practicing doesn’t feel like a chore as I can see the direct relevance to playing outside lessons.

Joff is a practicing musician and this really comes out in his teaching, he knows a wide range of musical styles and seems to genuinely appreciate all of them. I feel if you were to approach him and say that you wanted to play guitar in the style of a Russian balalaika he would take the time to research how to teach this and conduct the lessons accordingly.

Such diversitiy and interest - he never seems to get bored - is rare in teachers from my experence.

Joff makes you learn because you are excited rather than thorugh discipline. I cannot reccomend him highly enough. ”

“I was very lucky to have landed with Joff as my guitar tutor!

I had played guitar for a few years already, but never achieved my goal of being able to improvise a solo. Joff was brilliant at understanding where I was and developing my understanding of the guitar and the music. Joff was amazingly patient and also able to encourage me to push my ability much further than I would have imagined. Once I put all he had taught me together, I realised that I had achieved my goal. I now sit down in the evenings and have amazing fun at being able to lay down my backing track and competently solo over the top.

Thanks Joff!”

“Since starting lessons with Joff this year, I think both technically and musically I’ve improved immensely on the bass, having taken my grade 8 with the confidence of being taught well.
Aside from this, sharing the same musical interests, I feel that in our lessons we feed of each other’s passion for music and it creates a really nice environment to learn in!”

“We are delighted with the progress our son Matt has made on the bass guitar with Joff’s highly professional and extremely effective teaching. He makes sure that both technique and musicality are fully covered, and is always enthusiastic and supportive. Matt has been very successful in the bass exams he has taken and really enjoys his guitar lessons.”

“My playing has improved lots after having guitar lessons with Joff for a few months - His lessons tend to be very tailored to what I want to be learning and also he gives realistic feedback that always manages to be genuinely positive. I always enjoy his lessons and feel I improve each time.”

“Joff coached me during my Grade 5 Rockschool study and provided both technical help and musical theory guidance. With his assistance I was able to get a distinction...He is extremely knowledgeable and he often surprises me with new theories or techniques I hadn’t previously considered. ”

“My son did taster lessons with three different guitar teachers two years ago. He was immediately certain that he wanted Joff to be his teacher. From the first, Joff has fostered my son’s interests, motivations and confidence. He has been able to tap into some innate musicality of his pupil, and accompanies him often in lessons making music that is enjoyable to the whole household. He is very well informed about softwares, instruments, accessories, maintenance, music types and academic studies in music that has been helpful to my son’s schooling as well. Without hesitation, I would recommend Joff to any student looking for guitar lessons in Oxford.”

“We have loved having Joff as our son’s guitar teacher over the last few years. He is interesting, thoughtful and extremely professional - a great teacher and a fantastic role model for our teenage son.”

“Joff was recommended by many pupils that live in our village and has proven to be a fantastic guitar teacher, teaching my son Louis to not only play the guitar but to give him the confidence to read music, as Louis finds this process harder than other pupils due to dyslexia.

What I also found amazing as a parent is that he did not see dyslexia as an issue, but just repositioned how teaching reading music was presented to Louis and by playing to Louis individual strengths in helping him break down the components to make this an enjoyable experience.

Louis and I feel very privileged to have Joff as his guitar teacher and would highly recommend him to other people that express an interest in learning a musical instrument.”