Tech Music School is a contemporary music school that trains musicians for the music industry in the following disciplines: drums, vocals, guitar, bass guitar and music business. It is situated in Acton

Acton, London

Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...

, West London.
The school is known for its notable alumni, including Radiohead

Radiohead

Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

's Phil Selway

Phil Selway

Philip James "Phil" "The Graf" Selway is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of English rock group Radiohead. He also drums and provides backing vocals, along with occasional guitar and lead vocals, for 7 Worlds Collide...

 and Ed O'Brien

Ed O'Brien

Edward John O'Brien is an English musician, songwriter and guitarist for the rock band Radiohead. He is also responsible for harmony vocals during live concerts and on many tracks from the band's albums...

.

Tech Music School was the first UK institution to offer a BMus (Hons) degree in Popular Music, before this time BMus degrees were only available to classical musicians.

History

Founded in 1983 by drum tutor Francis Seriau, and described as the original contemporary music school, it has grown into a comprehensive contemporary music college that train musicians to be professional performers. The School was sold to the BIMM Group in 2010 by Francis Seriau who left the organisation at the same time.

Accredited by Thames Valley University

Thames Valley University

The University of West London is a public university based in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in Ealing and Brentford, London, and Reading, Berkshire....

, Tech Music School offers a [BMus Hons Music] Degree, One Year Diploma, One Year Higher Diploma, Part-Time Courses, Private lessons and a [BA Hons Music Business] Degree, delivered by a faculty of teachers who are also working professionals. The teaching faculty comprises top musicians that have worked with some of the artists from around the world.
Tech Music School is internationally known and has significant numbers of students from Europe, Asia, Africa and the USA. Currently overseas students account for around 30% of students on full-time courses.


The school was featured in the 2007 BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 documentary series Play It Again

Play It Again

Play It Again is a documentary series on BBC One, featuring celebrities trying to learn to play musical instruments. The series is produced Diverse Production and started on 25 March 2007 and is narrated by Tamsin Greig.-1: Jo Brand, playing the organ.:...

(episode 3), where celebrity Aled Jones

Aled Jones

Aled Jones is a Welsh singer and television/radio personality, broadcaster and television presenter who first came to fame as a treble...

 was taught by tutor Erik Stams (Head of Drums) to play the drums.


A poll to find the greatest guitar riffs of all time amongst students from Tech Music School received huge media attention in 2008/9. It was featured as the main story on the BBC Breakfast news on Wednesday 2 April 2008, as well as in the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, and the Metro. The results of the poll sparked widespread debate through comments in response to online articles.

Patrons

Nick Beggs

Nick Beggs

Nick Beggs is a British musician, noted for playing the bass guitar and the Chapman Stick; he is a member of Kajagoogoo and formerly Iona and Ellis, Beggs, & Howard.-Personal life:...

Sam Brown

Billy Cobham

Billy Cobham

William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....

Jason Cooper

Gary Husband

Gary Husband

Gary Husband is a British jazz and rock drummer, pianist and composer.- Short biography:Gary Husband is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist and composer...

John Jorgenson

John Jorgenson

John Jorgenson is a US musician. Although best known for his guitar work with bands such as the Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters, Jorgenson is also proficient in the mandolin, mandocello, Dobro, pedal steel, piano, upright bass, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone...

Andy Newmark

Andy Newmark

Andrew "Andy" Newmark is an American musician, best known as a popular session drummer, and for playing with the funk band Sly & the Family Stone from 1972 to 1973....

Billy Ocean

Billy Ocean

Billy Ocean is a Trinidad-born English Grammy Award winning popular music performer who had a string of rhythm and blues international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British-based R&B singer / songwriter of the early to mid-1980s...

Rick Wakeman

Rick Wakeman

Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...

James Taylor

James Taylor

James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....

Notable alumni

• Mick Avory
  Mick Avory
  Michael Charles "Mick" Avory is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the British rock band, The Kinks, joining them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remaining with them until 1984, when he left amid creative friction with guitarist Dave Davies...
  
   - The Kinks
  The Kinks
  The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
  
  
• Richard Beasley
  Richard Beasley
  Richard Beasley was a soldier, political figure, farmer and businessman in Upper Canada.He was born in New York in 1761 and moved to Quebec in 1777. In 1783, he formed a partnership with Peter Smith in the fur trade. In 1788, he settled in Barton Township on Lake Ontario near the current city of...
  
   - Gary Numan
  Gary Numan
  Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
  
  
• Aaron 'Breakbeat' Fagan - NDubz, Kano
  Kano
  Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
  
  , Kanye West
  Kanye West
  Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
  
  
• Jon Brookes - Charlatans
• Luke Bullen
  Luke Bullen
  Luke Bullen is an English drummer and percussionist. Bullen studied at top London drum school Drumtech and joined the band Addict in 1995; the band was signed to V2 Records in 1996...
  
   - KT Tunstall
  KT Tunstall
  Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist from St Andrews, Scotland. She broke into the public eye with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland...
  
  , Joe Strummer
  Joe Strummer
  John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
  
  
• Julien Brown - Massive Attack
  Massive Attack
  Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
  
  , A1
  A1 (band)
  A1 are a British-Norwegian boyband. They were originally made up of Mark Read, Ben Adams, Christian Ingebrigtsen and Paul Marazzi. Their first single, "Be the First to Believe", entered the UK singles chart at #6 in early 1999. They had a huge amount of success worldwide and charts with two number...
  
  , Will Young
  Will Young
  William Robert "Will" Young is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominenceafter winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise...
  
  , Kylie Minogue
  Kylie Minogue
  Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
  
  , Romeo, Heather Small
  Heather Small
  Heather Small is a British soul singer, best known for being the lead singer in the Manchester based band M People. Her debut solo album was Proud in 2000...
  
  , Lyndon David Hall, Mica Paris
  Mica Paris
  Mica Paris is an English soul singer, radio and television presenter, and occasional actress. Her forename is pronounced Misha.-Beginnings:Paris' roots are in soul and gospel music...
  
  , Kano
  Kano
  Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
  
  , Mariah Carey
  Mariah Carey
  Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
  
  , Shane Ward, Raymond and Co.
• Laurence Colbert - Supergrass
  Supergrass
  Supergrass was an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consisted of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes , Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey ....
  
  , The Jesus and Mary Chain
  The Jesus and Mary Chain
  The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride, Glasgow in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid...
  
  , Ride
  Ride (band)
  Ride were a British alternative rock band that formed in 1988 in Oxford, England, consisting of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence "Loz" Colbert, and Steve Queralt. The band were initially part of the "shoegazing" scene. Following the break-up of the band in 1996, members moved on to various other...
  
  
• Pascal Consoli - Bjork
  Björk
  Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
  
  , D'Influence
  D'Influence
  D'Influence is a British production team and acid jazz band. Formerly of The Echo Label they founded their own label, Freakstreet Records. Members include Kwame Kwaten, Sarah Anne Webb, Ed Baden-Powell, and Steve Marston....
  
  , Underworld
  Underworld
  The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
  
  
• Jason Cooper - The Cure
  The Cure
  The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
  
  
• Lee Davies
  Lee Davies
  Lee Davies is an English drummer who has worked with artists such as Jerry Donahue, Lucie Silvas and Slack Alice and has carried out session work for Warner Bros...
  
   - Jerry Donahue
  Jerry Donahue
  Jerry Donahue is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of the rock guitar trio The Hellecasters.-Biography:Donahue was born in New York, the son of big band...
  
  ,
• Mark Decloedt - EMF
  EMF
  - Music :* EMF , a British band** "EMF", a bonus track on EMF's album Schubert Dip* E.M.F. , a 1983 album by GG Allin* English Music Festival, a British music festival- Organizations :...
  
  
• Ed Drewett
  Ed Drewett
  Ed Drewett is a singer-songwriter signed to EMI Virgin Records. Drewett first came to public attention in 2007 on the BBC television show Any Dream Will Do but he did not make the final 12 chosen for the live shows. He is best-known, however, for the single "I Need You Tonight" produced by The...
  
   - Solo
  Solo (music)
  In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
  
  
• Marina Diamantis - Marina & the Diamonds
  Marina & the Diamonds
  Marina Lambrini Diamandis , better known by her stage name Marina and the Diamonds , is a Welsh singer-songwriter. She rose to fame after reaching number two on the BBC Sound of 2010 poll list, coming second to Ellie Goulding...
  
  
• Laura Fares - Sam Sparro
  Sam Sparro
  Sam Sparro is an Australian singer-songwriter, music producer, and former child actor. His stage name was derived from a family nickname, which in turn was inspired by the Dagenham radio mascot Sammy Sparrow...
  
  , Ricky Martin
  Ricky Martin
  Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
  
  , Guy Chambers
  Guy Chambers
  Guy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...
  
  
• Doug Fink - Noah and the Whale
  Noah and the Whale
  Noah and the Whale are an English indie folk band from Twickenham, London, England formed in 2006. The band consists of Charlie Fink , Tom Hobden , Matt "Urby Whale" Owens , Fred Abbott , and Michael Petulla .-Early years and Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down...
  
  
• Nick Francis - Goldheart Assembly
• Graham Godfrey - Soweto Kinch
  Soweto Kinch
  Soweto Kinch is a British jazz alto saxophonist and rapper.Born in London, England to a Barbadian father, who is a playwright, and British-Jamaican mother, who is an actress, Kinch began playing saxophone at the age of nine after learning clarinet at Allfarthing Primary School, Wandsworth, SW London...
  
  , Gabrielle
  Gabrielle
  Gabrielle is a French female given name derived from Gabriel. It may refer to:* Gabrielle , an album by the singer of the same name* Gabrielle , 2005 film* Gabrielle , an UK singer that achieved popularity in the '90s....
  
  
• Brian Greene
  Brian Greene
  Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi-Yau manifolds...
  
   - George Benson
  George Benson
  George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
  
  , Cliff Richard
  Cliff Richard
  Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
  
  
• Nenad Gajin - Emma Bunton
  Emma Bunton
  Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...
  
  , Slobodan Trkukja, Mokhtar Samba, Bojan Z
• Dominic Greensmith - Reef
  Reef
  In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
  
  , Kubb
  Kubb
  Kubb is a lawn game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them. Kubb can be simply described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes...
  
  
• Victoria Hart london - Solo
  Solo (music)
  In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
  
  
• Charlie Arthur Appell IOW - solo
  Solo
  -Games:* Dance Dance Revolution Solo, a sub-series of Dance Dance Revolution by Konami-Literature:* Solo , a comic book series* Solo , a Swedish magazine* Solo , a comic book character...
  
  , Jamiroquai
  Jamiroquai
  Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
  
  , The Project
  The Project
  The Project can refer to:*The Project , an Australian talk show*The Project , a British drama...
  
  , Papa Do Plenty
• Greg Haver - Producer
• Mark Heaney
  Mark Heaney
  Mark Heaney is an English drummer. A self-taught drummer who started playing drums at the age of eight after seeing Buddy Rich playing on TV, by age ten he was working two to three nights playing in pubs and clubs throughout the United Kingdom in his father's band.Heaney has recorded and played on...
  
   - The Seahorses
  The Seahorses
  The Seahorses were an English rock band, formed in 1996 by guitarist John Squire, following his departure from The Stone Roses.The band released one album in 1997 and began work on a follow up, before splitting up due to musical differences during recording sessions in January 1999.-History:Formed...
  
  
• Carlos Hercules - George Michael
  George Michael
  George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
  
  , Beverley Knight
  Beverley Knight
  Beverley Knight MBE is a British soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer who released her debut album in 1995. Heavily influenced by soul greats such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released six studio albums to date...
  
  , CJ Lewis, Lyndon David Hall
• Becky Jones - Groove Armada
  Groove Armada
  Groove Armada is an English electronic music duo from London, England comprising Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They are perhaps best known for their singles "I See You Baby" and "Superstylin'"...
  
  , Emma Bunton
  Emma Bunton
  Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...
  
  , Skunk Anansie
  Skunk Anansie
  Skunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin , Cass , Ace and Mark Richardson .Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009...
  
  
• Ged Lynch - Black Grape
  Black Grape
  Black Grape were a 1990s rock band from England, featuring former members of Happy Mondays. The group's music was funky and eclectic, using varied instrumentation and samples.-History:...
  
  , Peter Gabriel
  Peter Gabriel
  Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
  
  , Electronic, Public Enemy
• Aditya Narayan
  Aditya Narayan
  Aditya Narayan Jha , born 6 August 1987, in Mumbai, India, commonly known as Aditya Narayan, is an actor, television host and music composer. He is the only child of Indian playback singer Udit Narayan and Deepa Narayan.-Early life:...
  
   - Sa Re Ga Ma Pa
  Sa Re Ga Ma Pa
  From 1999 till 2001, the show was hosted by the brothers Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan.After that, Shaan started hosting the show. Later, the name "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" became known as the "brand name" of the series and completely changed the concept of the show to include public interaction through...
  
  
• Andie Rathbone
  Andie Rathbone
  Andrew Rathbone is an English drummer and former member of the rock band Mansun.Rathbone was the third and final drummer in Mansun, brought in after the band had "internal conflict" with the previous two...
  
   - Mansun
  Mansun
  Mansun were an English alternative rock band formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone. The band broke up in May 2003....
  
  
• Mark Roberts
  Mark Roberts
  Mark Roberts is a British streaker who has run naked during several international events.A father of three, Roberts' streaking began when he saw a female streaker run naked down a 1993 Rugby Sevens game in Hong Kong...
  
   - Massive Attack
  Massive Attack
  Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
  
  , Neneh Cherry
  Neneh Cherry
  Neneh Mariann Cherry is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, and occasional DJ and broadcaster...
  
  , D:Ream
  D:Ream
  D:Ream was a UK pop and dance band of the 1990s. They had a UK Number One hit with "Things Can Only Get Better" in 1994 as well as eight more top 40 hits. They released two albums, both of which reached the top five...
  
  
• Phil Selway
  Phil Selway
  Philip James "Phil" "The Graf" Selway is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of English rock group Radiohead. He also drums and provides backing vocals, along with occasional guitar and lead vocals, for 7 Worlds Collide...
  
   - Radiohead
  Radiohead
  Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
  
  
• Ashley Soan - Faithless
  Faithless
  Faithless were a British electronica band consisting of Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo. The group is best known for their dance songs . Faithless recorded six albums. During their career they sold over 15 million records worldwide...
  
  , Squeeze, Del Amitri
  Del Amitri
  Del Amitri were a Scottish pop-rock guitar band, formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1983. The band grew out of Justin Currie's Jordanhill College School band and came together after teenager Currie placed an advertisement in the window of a music store asking for people who could play to contact him...
  
  , Hear'Say
  Hear'Say
  Hear'Say were a British manufactured pop group created in February 2001 from the winners of Popstars, an ITV reality TV show based on a New Zealand show of the same name. They enjoyed huge success with their debut single "Pure and Simple", helped by the publicity surrounding Popstars, the first of...
  
  , Lewis Taylor
  Lewis Taylor
  Andrew Lewis Taylor is a British multi-instrumentalist musician, born in London, UK, in the late 1960s. He started in the music business touring with the progrock band Edgar Broughton Band. In 1986 he began performing as Sheriff Jack, releasing two albums of psychedelia music, Laugh Yourself Awake ...
  
  
• Sebastian Steinberg
  Sebastian Steinberg
  Sebastian Steinberg is an American bass player, best known for his work in the band Soul Coughing.- Biography :Steinberg played with Soul Coughing throughout the band's entire history, from 1992–2000. He also recorded and performed with guitarist Marc Ribot and appeared on William Shatner's 2004...
  
   - Lily Allen
  Lily Allen
  Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...
  
  
• Amy Studt
  Amy Studt
  Amy Jane Studt is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Growing up in a musical family she recorded her first demo by age 14, which eventually got her signed to Polydor. Studt released her first single "Just a Little Girl" in July 2002, to international success. It was followed almost a year...
  
   - Solo
  Solo (music)
  In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
  
  
• Justin Welch
  Justin Welch
  Justin Steven Welch is an English musician, best known as the drummer in the Britpop band, Elastica....
  
   - Elastica
  Elastica
  Elastica were an English alternative rock band that played punk rock-influenced music. They were best known for their 1995 album Elastica, which produced singles that charted in the US and the UK.-History:...
  
  
• Pick Withers
  Pick Withers
  David "Pick" Withers was the original drummer for the rock band Dire Straits and played on their first four albums, which included hit singles such as "Sultans of Swing," "Romeo and Juliet" and "Private Investigations."...
  
   - Dire Straits
  Dire Straits
  Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
  
  

Master classes and visiting artists

Tech Music School has a history of offering its students master classes by some of the best musicians in their field. Some of these include:

Drums

Billy Cobham

Billy Cobham

William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....

 - (Drum Legend)

Ian Paice

Ian Paice

Ian Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...

 - (Deep Purple

Deep Purple

Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...

)

Mark Schulman - (Pink

Pink (singer)

Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....

)

Chad Smith

Chad Smith

Chad Smith is an American musician, best known as the longtime and current drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith is also the drummer of the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot which includes Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Michael Anthony, former Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes' backing band and...

 - (Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

)

John 'JR' Robinson - (Session)

Manu Katche

Manu Katché

Manu Katché is a French musician of Ivorian origin, born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés on 27 October 1958. He is a drummer and songwriter.-Career:Session musician...

 - (Session)

Andy Newmark

Andy Newmark

Andrew "Andy" Newmark is an American musician, best known as a popular session drummer, and for playing with the funk band Sly & the Family Stone from 1972 to 1973....

 - (Roxy Music

Roxy Music

Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...

, Sly and the Family Stone)

Ian Thomas

Ian Thomas

Ian Thomas may refer to:* Major W. Ian Thomas , Christian speaker and author* Ian Thomas , dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth II* Ian Thomas , Canadian singer-songwriter...

 - (Session)

Neal Wilkinson - (Session)

Danny Gottlieb

Danny Gottlieb

Danny Gottlieb is a freelance drummer who has performed as part of the Pat Metheny Group and Mahavishnu Orchestra. He is also a member of the University of North Florida jazz faculty, where he teaches as a fulltime Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies.- Biography :Danny graduated from the...

 - (Session)

Dave Lombardo

Dave Lombardo

Dave Lombardo is a Cuban American heavy metal drummer best known for his work with American thrash metal band Slayer. He has performed with Slayer on seven albums, including their groundbreaking 1986 release Reign In Blood and their 2006 release Christ Illusion, for which he received critical praise...

 - (Slayer

Slayer

Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...

, Fantomas

Fantômas

Fantômas is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre .One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11...

)

Mark Mondesir - (Session, Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck

Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...

)

Andy Gangadeen

Andy Gangadeen

Andy Gangadeen is a drummer from the United Kingdom, known for his band The Bays and as a session drummer. Born in the UK to a Guyanese family, he grew up in Walthamstow and took up drums aged 17....

 - (Session, The Bays

The Bays

The Bays are a group of English musicians that only play live improvised jazz and dance music. They have never rehearsed nor recorded in a studio as they do not release music commercially. This means they are also completely independent of record labels...

)

Steve Smith

Steve Smith (musician)

Steve Elliott Smith is an American drummer who has worked with hundreds of artists in his career, but is mostly known for being the drummer of the rock band Journey during their peak years of success. Modern Drummer magazine readers voted him the #1 All-Around Drummer five years in a row...

 - (Session)

Ralph Salmins - (Session)

Karl Brazil

Karl Brazil

Karl Brazil is the main drummer for the Welsh indie rock band Feeder. He also works with James Blunt and Take That. Although born in Wolverhampton, he is a dedicated supporter of Birmingham City F.C....

 - (Session)

Bill Summers & Mike Clark (Headhunters)

Troy Miller

Troy Miller

Troy Miller is an American film producer, director and screenwriter.  Miller is best known for his work in directing.- Stand-up comedy :Miller has produced and/or directed comedy shows and specials for a variety of comics including Robin Williams, Martin Short, Katt Williams, Jim Gaffigan, Brian...

 - (Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse

Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...

, Soweto Kinch

Soweto Kinch

Soweto Kinch is a British jazz alto saxophonist and rapper.Born in London, England to a Barbadian father, who is a playwright, and British-Jamaican mother, who is an actress, Kinch began playing saxophone at the age of nine after learning clarinet at Allfarthing Primary School, Wandsworth, SW London...

)

Adrian Erlandsson

Adrian Erlandsson

Adrian Erlandsson is a prolific Swedish heavy metal drummer, who currently plays in Brujeria, Netherbird, with his wife in Nemhain and in Yorkshire doom metal band Paradise Lost...

 - (Cradle of Filth

Cradle of Filth

Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...

)

Aaron 'Breakbeat' Fagan - (Kanye West

Kanye West

Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...

, NDubz)

Ash Soan - (Session)
Gary Husband

Gary Husband

Gary Husband is a British jazz and rock drummer, pianist and composer.- Short biography:Gary Husband is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist and composer...

 - (Level 42

Level 42

Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...

, John McLaughlin

John McLaughlin (musician)

John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...

)

Dennis Chambers

Dennis Chambers

Dennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...

 - (Drum Legend)

Pat Petrillo - (Session)

Barry Van Zyl - (Johnny Clegg)

Horacio Hernandez

Horacio Hernandez

Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez is a renowned Cuban drummer and percussionist."El Negro" is a gifted musician who represents a new generation of great players following in the footsteps of countrymen Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D'Rivera, Ignacio Berroa, and others. Hernandez plays on the cutting edge of...

 - (Session)

Pete Lockett

Pete Lockett

Peter Robert Lockett is an English percussionist and recording artist. Lockett is known as a versatile and prolific percussionist, collaborating with many artists. He is well-versed in percussion traditions from music cultures around the world, including, Arabic, Japanese, Indian and...

 - (Percussionist)

Gary Powell

Gary Powell

Gary Armstrong Powell is a British drummer. He is primarily the drummer for The Libertines, as well as doing the same for the band formed by his bandmate Carl Barat after the Libertines split, Dirty Pretty Things and Guyanese artist, Eddy Grant...

 - (The Libertines

The Libertines

The Libertines were an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty . The band, centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty, also included John Hassall and Gary Powell for most of its recording career...

)

Jojo Mayer

Jojo Mayer

Jojo Mayer is a highly acclaimed Swiss drummer born in Zurich and currently resides in New York City.Mayer is the son of a touring musician and began his career as a drummer at an early age, receiving his first drum set at the age of two...

 - (Nerve

Nerve

A peripheral nerve, or simply nerve, is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of peripheral axons . A nerve provides a common pathway for the electrochemical nerve impulses that are transmitted along each of the axons. Nerves are found only in the peripheral nervous system...

)

Dave Weckl

Dave Weckl

Dave Weckl is a highly acclaimed jazz fusion drummer. Weckl attended Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, MO and graduated in 1978. He majored in jazz studies at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut...

 - (Drum Legend)

Phil Maturano - (Session)

Woody Woodmansey - (David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

)

Brooks Wackerman

Brooks Wackerman

Brooks Wackerman is the current drummer for the American punk band Bad Religion and the younger brother of Chad Wackerman, formerly a member of Frank Zappa's band.-Career:...

 - (Session, Bad Company

Bad Company

Bad Company were an English rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of two former Free band members — singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke — as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who, in years prior, was a key component of...

)

Peter Erskine

Peter Erskine

Peter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...

 - (Jazz Legend)

Danny Heifetz - (Mr Bungle)

Chuck Silverman - (Percussionist)

Martin Atkins

Martin Atkins

Martin Clive Atkins is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Pigface, and Killing Joke...

 - (Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...

, Pigface

Pigface

Pigface is an industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.-History:Pigface was formed from Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour, which produced the In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up live album and video. For the tour, Al Jourgensen brought...

, Ministry

Ministry (band)

Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...

)

Jerry Brown

Jerry Brown

Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...

 - (Session)

Guitar

Guthrie Govan

Guthrie Govan

Guthrie Govan is a guitarist known for his work with the bands Asia , GPS, The Young Punx and The Fellowship as well as Erotic Cakes...

 - (Dizzy Rascal, Solo)

Christophe Godin

Christophe Godin

- Biography :Christophe Godin is a French guitarist and singer, notable for his work with the famous French bands Metal Kartoon, Gnô and Mörglbl...

 - (Solo, Morglbl)

Ace - (Skunk Anansie

Skunk Anansie

Skunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin , Cass , Ace and Mark Richardson .Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009...

)

Carl Verheyen

Carl Verheyen

-History:Verheyen has authored many instructional books, including Improvising Without Scales, as well as Studio City, a collection of articles written for the magazine Guitar for the Practicing Musician from 1996-1999...

 - (Session)

Jon Gomm

Jon Gomm

Jon Gomm is an English singer-songwriter and virtuoso performer, using one acoustic guitar to create drum sounds, bass lines and melodies simultaneously. His songs draw on a range of influences and styles, including blues and soul. Michael Hedges is an important source of inspiration...

 - (Solo)

Bernie Marsden

Bernie Marsden

-External links:*...

 - (Whitesnake

Whitesnake

Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...

)

Larry Coryell

Larry Coryell

Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...

 - (Fusion Legend)

Adrian Legg

Adrian Legg

Adrian Legg is an English guitar player who has been called "impossible to categorize". He plays custom guitars that are a hybrid of electric and acoustic, and his fingerstyle picking technique has been acknowledged by the readers of Guitar Player who voted Legg the "best acoustic fingerstyle"...

 - (Solo)

Pete Callard - (Session)

Thomas Leeb

Thomas Leeb

Thomas Leeb is an Austrian fingerstyle guitarist.- Biography :Thomas Leeb grew up in the small Austrian mountain village Turracher Höhe, Carinthia, as the youngest of four children of a hotel-owner's family. Over a period of thirteen years he taught himself the electric guitar, then switched to...

 - (Solo)

Rodney Brannigan - (Solo)

Brett Garsed

Brett Garsed

Brett Garsed is an Australian guitar player. He plays with, among others, John Farnham and T. J. Helmerich and is a former member of the band Nelson...

 - (Session)

Marc Rizzo

Marc Rizzo

Marc Rizzo is the lead guitarist of American metal band Soulfly and formerly of Ill Niño. He has featured on four Soulfly albums to date: Prophecy, Dark Ages, Conquer, and Omen. He has also released three solo instrumental albums; Colossal Myopia, The Ultimate Devotion, and Legionnaire...

 - (Soulfly

Soulfly

Soulfly is a heavy metal band formed in 1997 based in Phoenix, Arizona. The original lyrical content revolved around spirituality and religious themes, with later albums encompassing other themes including war, violence, aggression, hatred and anger. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max...

)

Pat Martino

Pat Martino

Pat Martino is an Italian-American jazz guitarist and composer within the post bop, fusion, mainstream jazz, soul jazz and hard bop idioms.-Biography:...

 - (Jazz Legend)

Frank Gambale

Frank Gambale

Frank Gambale is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released eleven studio albums over a period of more than two decades, and is renowned for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.-Recording career:...

 - (Fusion Legend)

Dave Martone - (Session, G3

G3

G3, G03, G.III, G.3 or G-3 may refer to:- Politics :* G-3 , the three largest countries in the European Union* G-3 , the grouping of Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela- Military :...

)

Bass

Stu Hamm - (Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani

Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...

)

Hadrien Feraud

Hadrien Feraud

Hadrien Feraud is a French Jazz fusion-bassist.-Biography:Feraud was born into a family of musicians. His first guitar lessons were from his father when he was eight years old....

 - (Fusion)

Yolanda Charles - (Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams

Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...

, BB King)

Julian Crampton - (Incognito

Incognito (band)

Incognito is a British band, as well as one of the members of the United Kingdom's acid jazz movement. Their debut album, Jazz Funk, was released in 1981, with thirteen more albums following, the last of which, Transatlantic RPM, was released in 2010....

)

Laurence Cottle

Laurence Cottle

Laurence Cottle is an electric bass guitarist and composer.-Career:His solo recordings have been mostly in the jazz and jazz-fusion vein, with such notable releases as Five Seasons, Laurence Cottle Quintet Live and others....

 - (Session)
Janek Gwizdala

Janek Gwizdala

Janek Gwizdala is an English jazz bassist and record producer born in London.-Biography:Janek's beginnings in music started at age 11 with calssical guitar lessons at the Merton Music Foundation from the Late Peter Woodings, as well as study in classical music through brass ensembles and...

 - (Session)

Vocals

Ola Onabule

Ola Onabule

Ola Onabule, a British-Nigerian, soul, jazz, singer-songwriter, musician and producer; born Islington, London 30th March.Ola Onabule has had a career that spans almost two decades defined by his decision to release his music independently on his own label Rugged Ram Records. After a brief...

 - (Solo, Session)

Cleveland Watkiss

Cleveland Watkiss

Cleveland Watkiss is a versatile English singer who performs in a variety of musical genres, including jazz, reggae, rock music and drum and bass. Watkiss also performs on piano and guitar.-Life:...

 - (Session)

Juliet Russell - (Session, Gorillaz

Gorillaz

Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...

)

David Combes - (Session)

Sharleen Linton - (Session)

Brendan Reilly - (Session, Basement Jaxx

Basement Jaxx

Basement Jaxx are a British electronic dance music duo from London, England consisting of Felix Buxton born 1971 and Simon Ratcliffe born 1 December 1969. They first rose to popularity in the late 1990s...

)

Sam Brown

Sam Brown

Sam Brown may refer to:* Sam Brown , singer/songwriter, daughter of the singer, Joe Brown* Sam Brown , artist and author, noted for his explodingdog web site...

 - (Solo)

Natalie Williams - (Solo, Session)

Andy Abrahams - (Solo)

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor is an English singer, songwriter, model and occasional DJ. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s...

 - (Solo)

Billy Ocean

Billy Ocean

Billy Ocean is a Trinidad-born English Grammy Award winning popular music performer who had a string of rhythm and blues international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British-based R&B singer / songwriter of the early to mid-1980s...

 - (Solo)

Scholarships and Bursaries

The school runs a large number of high profile scholarships with various magazines and other media partners including EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

's Music Sound Foundation bursaries which are awarded to only 7 colleges in the UK and whose Patrons include Sir George Martin, Sir Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono

is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...

, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Cliff Richard, Diana Ross

Diana Ross

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...

, Mstislav Rostropovich

Mstislav Rostropovich

Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...

 and Tina Turner

Tina Turner

Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...

.

Ongoing scholarship partners include; The Stage

The Stage

The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...

, Marshall Amplification

Marshall Amplification

Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...

, Rhythm magazine, Guitar Techniques magazine, Guitar Part magazine (France), Batterie (France) Ritmi magazine (Italy), Chitarre (Italy).

The school has made a pledge to support the aims of the Music Manifesto

Music Manifesto

The Music Manifesto is a government-supported campaign to improve young people's music education in England based on an agreed strategy and set of priorities...

.

External links

• Official website
• The Telegraph 26/06/2008 Tech Music School: School of Rock
• Official YouTube page with all visiting artist master class footage