The Graphic

Music has always been an integral part of my life. ​​ Born to two classical pianists it seemed that i was fated to become a musician too. My musical journey 'officially' began aged 8 with the Double Bass, which continued to be my main instrument for the next 10 years. In that time I joined the Junior Royal Academy of Music, the National Children's Orchestra and later on the National Youth Orchestra. Whilst I look back on this time with somewhat fond memories, I will always remember the feeling that I was not in the right place and I wasn't being taught in the right way, and that in my eyes classical music and the way it was delivered to me wasn't allowing the music in my heart to be free. It wasn't till age 18 when I picked up my first guitar that everything changed. After so many years of experience in what was 'correct' and 'doing things the right way' i decided it was time to allow myself to build my own technique and my own understanding of an instrument that at the time was largely unknown to me. The key elements that aided my progression were: how i held myself whislt playing and learning new techniques by playing the songs that i loved. Once I reached the point that I was able to play and sing competently I began to compose my own songs and experiment with different genres. For many years this was under the name The Graphic. This band was a playground for me, allowing me to experiment with different genres and overall push my playing and singing abilities. My main drive and inspiration to write songs that make my heart sing. It is a long standing opinion of mine that the only way an artist can truly affect change and affect their listeners is when their heart sings, when there is something truly special in the music that comes from within the artist. This is not to say that the music must be complicated but is to say that the artist has left a piece of themselves in the music. That they have created an eternal memory of themselves for the listener. After a number of years I decided to begin teaching and passing on my own passion for the guitar to others. My ethos has and always will be that for a student to progress quickly or even at all, they must be enjoying the learning process. However if following a traditional learning method this can prove difficult. There is no good way to present a scale/arpeggio in an attractive manner to a 10 year old. Though considering the importance of these things, a student cannot afford to not have scales/arpeggios in their arsenal. Therefore I endeavour to find a way that is approachable. This may be presented as a solo in a song that the student likes, a passage that I have written myself or even as a part of a 'game' (when teaching younger students). Over the years this method has brought smiles to each and every student I have come in contact with, and is not limited to any genre! Some of the genres I have applied this method to so far include: Blues, Metal, Rock, Pop and even Rap! Aside from creating my own music, teaching is the greatest passion in my life and getting to see a student go from playing their first chords to playing solos is an incredible reward. Even more so when they begin to write their own music and their own songs using what we have learnt together. Thank you for taking the time to read this page and I will leave you with one final thought ​ 'When learning a song the learning is not complete until you can understand why it was written.' Laurent Shinar