Contact Us
Address

Unit 11 RAWLINGS FARM, RETTENDON COMMON, CHELMSFORD, ESSEX, CM3 8DY

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Freephone
0333 121 8080

Email
info@atmusicgroup.co.uk

We will NOT re-sell your details onto third party plonkers
A.T. Music Group

A.T. Music Group - Helping you learn the guitar one step at a time

Are you currently looking for guitar lessons in Essex? Well you wouldn’t be here if you wasn’t. We want to help you achieve your goals.

Understanding how the guitar works and being able to play like your favourite guitarist is a relatively easy goal to achieve. Through perseverance and practice you will quickly see the results and within 6-12 months you can be playing in the student bands at one of our many shows or in your own band before you know it.

The key to playing the guitar well is to understand from day one how and why chords and scales work together and of course tutor / student rapport. Luckily, we’re all lovely.

We don’t teach from our houses or bedrooms, we mainly teach from our studios that are set up with all the mod cons we need for better tuition and our prices reflect that. Coming to your house is an option but we do encourage you to try and venture out to us occasionally to take advantage of all the tools we have here.

Lets get started?

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Meet our tutors

Talon

Talon

Graduating from Colchester Institute, Talon has spent the time studying music and music technology.

Like one of our tutors?

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What our pupils say

Sammy Wakeling, age 46 from Chelmsford

A T Music are just simply "all about the music"! My son has been there for almost 3 years having guitar lessons with Sean (fantastic teacher) and I have watched his confidence grow, they nurture ability and help to get the best out of you. Marc is a fantastic leader and is always there for you whether your recording in one of the many state of the art studios or learning an instrument, as are all of the teaching staff there! ATMusic offers total professionalism in a friendly atmosphere and I guarentee a complete music experience in a relaxed enviroment..........go see for yourself!

Sammy Wakeling, age 46 from Chelmsford

Jamie Robertson, age 18 from Wickford

Excellent place to learn and play music, the facilities available are amazing, staff are really friendly, Marc himself has helped me a lot along the way with confidence helping me to perform in front of people and for that I couldn't rate them any higher

Jamie Robertson, age 18 from Wickford

Andrew Smith, age 50 from Basildon

Great intro my son enjoyed his first visit will be back for many more. No pressure to book relaxed atmosphere. Highly recommended

Andrew Smith, age 50 from Basildon

Sarah Dingwall, age 42 from Chelmsford

The confidence my daughter has gained, the fun she is having with Marc and Talon is a delight to see. I can't recommend them enough

Sarah Dingwall, age 42 from Chelmsford

Clair Barry, age 39 from Witham

My son Jack is six years old and has recently started guitar lessons at A.T Music. Jack is excited to go to every lesson, and his lessons have been a real confidence boost for him. In his own words he describes his teacher Sean as "kind", "patient" and "really cool!"I am really impressed with the professionalism and kindness of the staff at A.T Music, and would recommend them to anyone who has a young child with an interest in music.

Clair Barry, age 39 from Witham

Why not try us for yourself?

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Frequently Asked Questions

How are our lessons structured?

All lessons are planned after the first initial couple of lessons. Every student has a unique game plan and achievement schedule. Yes we have our own guidelines that we would like to see you achieve by a certain period, but it’s also about how much you put into it. At the end of every lesson all notes on what was done and what you need to practise is put onto our system and sent via email so you have a digital copy (and can’t lose paperwork). Then you can update it with what you have done so we can monitor your progress at home. Feels like Big Brother doesn’t it! It’s not quite that bad. You just get an opportunity to share with us what you found difficult or what felt easy when practising.

How long are the courses?

We have had students with us for up to 5 years and some that stay for just 1 year. You get out of it what you want. We can take you down all the avenues or you can simply just get to a level that you are happy with that is within your budget. Either way we almost put it in your hands. If you want to be the best you will continue with lessons and show us what you have been achieving, if you haven’t then perhaps this is not right vocation for you. The type of students we absolutely love taking on the books are the ones that have practised what we set them for home work but then who have done extra work by learning something from youtube for example. When they show us what they practiced and more, it just excites us to want to push you more and get to the fun stuff of what we love about the guitar.

What if i'm struggling with learning?

We work on getting a balanced process, where on the one hand you are getting a good progressive understanding for the instrument, fret board harmoany etc., and how that applies to music and music theory, including (optional) theory grades. And on the other, a general understanding of musicality and performance. All this is done at your pace. If its slower than others it doesn't matter. As long as you understand in the long run.

We can help teach you through your favourite songs and breakdown the songs to show you what’s going on behind the structure. This is a great basis for helping you become creative in your own right and encourage you to compose your own material.
We of course have input on some of the songs we’d like you to look at because they have been carefully selected for tuition purposes.

Are your staff DBS checked?

All staff are DBS checked and we are proud to share with you that we have a 100% pass rate with all students taking grades. It honestly is all about the way you communicate and teach. We want our students to feel like they’re coming to see a friend and break down those barriers and feel relaxed.

How to Find A.T. Music Group?

The Studio is conveniently situated on the old A130 between Chelmsford & South Woodham Ferrers. The location is easy to get to from all directions, and has a bus stop right outside our main gates. We are 10 mins drive from the Chelmsford Train Station. We are also very close to the main A12 junction 17. The Sat Nav will take you close enough to our site but then on the approach just look for the “Rettendon Antiques” BILLBOARD sign, we are behind that sign through the main gates. The business complex is next door to a car cleaners and is smack bang in the middle of the two pubs at the bottom of the hill - The Rettendon Bell and Le Benaix - conveniently.

your booking enquiry For Guitar Lessons

Beginner Lessons

learn more about our Beginner Lessons

Lesson prices

½ hour one-to-one (skype lessons available) £25
1 hour on-to-one (skype lessons available) £35
Recording lesson session only and extra £5

Fancy giving it a go for the first time? Is it something that’s been on your to do list for a while and never got around to it. Well take a leap of faith and give it a try.

We are equipped with all different guitars so if you don’t have your own guitar it doesn’t matter, try ours first before you buy your own. Plus we can help advise on which guitars to purchase when the time is right.

Within the first few lesson we will have you playing basic chords to songs you love and have you understanding your way around the guitar. We'll show you how to tune a guitar, positioning the guitar, and how to use a plectrum.

You might try the ACOUSTIC guitar but find you prefer the ELECTRIC guitar or maybe even the CLASSICAL guitar. In the early stages it doesn’t really matter so much, it’s more about introducing you to the instrument and helping you find your feet with the direction you want to take your instrument.

So gives us a call and have a chat with one of our specialist musicians who can answer any questions you may have. We can even arrange a visit to the studios before you have your first lesson and have a free assessment.

Intermediate Lessons

learn more about our Intermediate Lessons

Lesson prices

½ hour one-to-one (skype lessons available) £25
1 hour on-to-one (skype lessons available) £35
Recording lesson session only and extra £5

If you’re considering this option you probably already know a little bit from Youtube or a previous tutor. So considering you already know the things we cover in the beginner lessons we would open your eyes to things like:


Well there's not much point beating around the push. You can already play a little so lets crack on and show you the sort of things we cover in these lessons.

  • Different guitars and tones

  • Amps and effects pedals
  • Extended chords open and barre

  • scales such as minor and major pentatonic, major and minor regular scales

  • Finger style and arpeggiating
  • Solos

  • Different voicing

  • Improvisation and music theory
  • Putting you forwards for gradings

...and more!

Advanced Lessons

learn more about our Advanced Lessons

Lesson prices

½ hour one-to-one (skype lessons available) £25
1 hour on-to-one (skype lessons available) £35
Recording lesson session only and extra £5

Have you’ve been playing for a while and can already play well?

Or you’ve been gigging and recording but find you have hit a wall and need more studies on the instrument, or perhaps you just want to start learning a whole different style / genre, then we can help get you on the right path.

Perhaps you’re starting to feel frustrated and want to throw the guitar against the wall when you can’t play that solo. Maybe you just need fresh vibes from someone new.
 Some people even come to us who can play amazingly well, and in some instances are self-taught but have found themselves picking up bad habits. Some cases of RSI have occurred and need help with technique. In any event, we can fix it and better the skills you already have.

We have a great team of guitar teachers who specialise in many different areas so there is someone for everyone.

Some of the things we cover in advanced lessons:

  • All scales and modes
  • Jazz
  • Playing along to backing tracks
  • Improvisation
  • advance finger exercises
  • Hammer ons and pull offs and tapping
  • Playing with the in-house band
  • Stage craft
  • Recording a track in the recording studio and click track work…etc
  • A look into other guitarists – Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Joe Satriani, Steve Ray Vaughan, Kerry King, Jeff Beck
Refresher Courses

learn more about our Refresher Courses

Lesson prices

½ hour one-to-one (skype lessons available) £25
1 hour on-to-one (skype lessons available) £35
Recording lesson session only and extra £5

Do you want to dust off your guitar and get playing again? Well we have the perfect course for you!

Some students come to us who played years ago but had to stop when they had a family, or work got in the way, or simply the case that they had now retired and want to get back into playing guitar. We have a service here that can accommodate you.

Playing guitar is much like riding a bike, you never forget, it’s in the back of your mind somewhere and we just need to pull it out and help you remember the stuff you perhaps thought you had forgotten.

Once we have focused on bringing you back up to speed you can get involved with all the tuition offered for advanced players and can even help get you back into a band.

Group Lessons

learn more about our Group Lessons

Lesson prices

2-3 people - ½ hour £35
2-3 people - 1 hour £45
4-6 people - ½ hour £45
4-6 people - 1 hour £55
Recording lesson session only and extra £5

We offer a discounted rate for group lessons so can help make it more affordable. Groups can consist of up to 6 people in one class.

Some people prefer to be in a group for lessons and that’s fine. It’s much easier for a parent to bring 3 children in for the 1 hour rather than 3 separate hours, plus that will cost a bomb. We offer a discounted rate for group lessons so can help make it more affordable.
 Groups can consist of up to 6 people in one class.

Ultimately there will come a day when one or more from the group speed ahead or to the contrary, not get it as quick as the others and for that matter they will need to separate away from the group and go into a one-to-one session to learn to that particular students pace.

Either way it works very well for large families or schools who want to use the time to fit more people in to a smaller time window.

KIDS LESSONS

learn more about our KIDS LESSONS

Lesson prices

½ hour £25
Recording lesson session only and extra £5

We can work with children as young as 4. We have junior size guitars that can be used and pretend to be like their favourite rock stars.

We have lots of games incorporated into the lessons to keep their interests high and we’re not afraid of looking like silly billies if it keeps the interest of the kids up. We are not wearing clown costumes though haha.

The kids lessons start from single finger technique and then move on to using more fingers as they start to understand their co-ordinations.

We recommend half hour lessons for the children under 11 years old. It’s just easier to grab their attention and enthusiasm in a shorter period of time. An hour to a little one can seem like a life time when their tiny fingers are hurting from pressing against the strings.

Theory lessons

learn more about our Theory lessons

Lesson prices

½ hour one-to-one (skype lessons available) £25
1 hour on-to-one (skype lessons available) £35
Recording lesson session only and extra £5

​Understanding theory is something that every musician should know in order to achieve the best out of your instrument.

It’s one thing knowing it and another thing putting it to practical use. This is where we come in!

Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced music theory student, we can help you learn or enhance your music theory skills. We can take you through your theory exams, get you reading music fluently and understanding the theory for GCSE, A-LEVELS, DEGREES, or even just for your own information

Student Workshops

learn more about our Student Workshops

Lesson prices

Taster workshop of all instruments. 2.5hrs £70
5 hours per day, per week for 4 weeks £400
Recording lesson session only and extra £5

A great package with classes usually running for 5 hours once a week. Then after learning what we teach them they will go off and prepare playing in a group to ultimately record in our studios and perform the songs at the end of the summer.

Usually held over the summer holidays, we take students in to prepare them for an end of summer show where they all get to perform with other musicians and show off what they’ve learnt all summer. You pay for the master class at the start of the holidays as a bulk package and we do the rest.

Its great fun for students that can already play or those who want to have an introduction into a fast track way of learning the instrument. Its also a great way of trying another instrument besides the one you already play. So, if you wanted to try the drums and you play guitar we can introduce you into playing that for the summer workshop.

We also hold workshops for students who want to try a little bit of all the things we teach. You get half an hour on each instrument and the idea is at the end of the session, you know which instrument is for you. We call this a Taster Workshop.

The tuition is in groups and you can learn loads of great tips.

Master Classes

learn more about our Master Classes

Lesson prices

TBA - contact us for info on our next date
Recording lesson session only and extra £5

In music master classes, a highly proficient artist/teacher works usually with one student /or a small group in front of an audience. The idea is to provide a learning opportunity for performers as well as observers.

A master class can offer loads of benefits to budding performers. The master teacher inspires and awes performers and the audience with their ability to interpretate a piece of music which everyone would be pre-advised along with technical suggestions.

We sometimes get guest appearances from recognised members of the music industry who can come in and talk about their time with the guitar and show some tips for the budding guitarist.

How to prepare:

• Make sure you know the score thoroughly.

• Be prepared to stop and start at the discretion of the master teacher.

• Number your bars for reference, especially for ensemble master classes.

• Accept criticism and be prepared to take criticism in front of an audience and to respond in a polite and engaging way.

Becoming aware of what’s expected of you for the master class beforehand will also be helpful. Be aware that you may receive input from a tutor who’s very different from the person you’re used to. Take time after the master class to process what you’ve learned.

Talon

learn more about Talon

Graduating from Colchester Institute, Talon has spent the time studying music and music technology.

He teaches via the Rockschool syllabus and also uses his experience of the gigging circuit to best inform his students. Producing his own original music in his spare time, Talon not only teaches the fundamentals of guitar playing but also assists students in creating their own compositions and recording these in our studios.

Recording students' progression in the studio is a must; Couple this with the opportunity to perform at the AT Music open mic nights and you have a well rounded performance/studio recording experience.

He's our youngest tutor but his skills are second to none and the younger students really enjoy having him as their tutor.

GENRES:
Rock, Indie, Metal, Pop, Psychedelic, Acoustic, Alternative.