News

Well, it's been a busy term so far; I have more pupils than ever! I am planning on having a big party in the summer when we can all meet in my garden for an afternoon of guitar playing, drinks and nibbles. Watch this space for dates.
We had a small gathering at my house before half term for two of my child pupils to perform to their families. They did themselves proud, and you can see their performances and some of my duet playing if you go to my youtube site (link on the left). My Park Mead School guitar ensemble has got off to a promising start. We are using the ABRSM Music Medal repertoire, which is great fun. Guitarists often miss out compared to other instruments with opportunities for playing in ensemble; I wanted to provide the chance to build my pupil's ensemble skills and welcome other guitarists to join in too. We shall be performing to the school in the summer term.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am passionate about guitar playing in duets and ensemble. To give you some of an idea why, The Hampshire Guitar Orchestra which I belong to has had an article written about it, view it here: http://www.viewmagazines.co.uk/view-magazines/Mar08%20View%20Hants.pdf I hope what comes across in the artice is how inspiring and how much fun ensemble playing can be.
I invite all my pupils, family and friends to come and see us on June 21st, it will be a fantastic concert as we are joined by our friends from the Cambridge Guitar Orchestra. They have a completely different style and repertoire to us, so our annual joint concerts are always rich in variety. Follow this link for information and tickets: http://www.hago.org.uk/concerts/index.html
My intention is that this weblog contains interesting information and links for all my pupils. If you have any suggestions, get in touch and help me turn this into a living resource. The website links on the left are a good start, and if you go to my youtube site and click on "groups", I belong to one group, Classical Guitar, with thousands of good quality videos of classical guitar playing. Let me know if you find any gems that are worth a direct link to.

Kate Morris
01/03/2008

Reviews and Quotes

"Kate is an expressive and committed guitarist who combines an enthusiastic approach with a real ear for the music behind the notes."Derek Hasted MA(Cantab) DipABRSM, guitar teacher with over 30 years teaching experience, and published composer and arranger including ABRSM exam repertoire. http://www.derek-hasted.co.uk/ , and Musical Director of the Hampshire Guitar Orchestra http://www.hago.org.uk/



"Kate is a very capable performer: intelligent, passionate and sensitive. Her assets are excellent posture, good technique and superb memory." Sasha Levtov, Artistic Director of the West Sussex Guitar Club http://www.westsussexguitar.com/ , the largest classical guitar club in the country. Sasha is a highly experienced guitar teacher, and organises professional recitals and guitar festivals, see the website for details.



'I am a pupil of Kate's having enjoyed two great terms of guitar lesson and especially for me good fun with my guitar. Having struggled with my Christmas gift of 2005 and countless teach yourself guitar books and endless frustration I was introduced to Kate. Kate has encouraged me to enjoy my pastime of guitar playing. Exploring different methods of playing - which strangely have not left me cramping and getting frustrated as the 'Teach Yourself Books' did!!!! It's been a real journey and a fab person to accompany and guide me through me lifelong guitar playing. Kate afforded me the opportunity to learn at my pace, play what I wanted to play (yes even folk!) and get back to the real reason I wanted to play - for FUN! THANKS SO MUCH' Ursula (adult pupil) Cranleigh, Surrey


References from current pupils or parents are available on request.