One to one
It is you and me for the whole lesson. No class, and no waiting your turn. Your time is yours every week, same day, same time.
Adults · Long Bay, North Shore
Piano and guitar lessons for adults.
I am Adam Whybro. I teach piano and guitar to adults, one to one, at my studio in Long Bay, Auckland. Complete beginners are welcome at any age, and so is anyone coming back to it after twenty or thirty years. Lessons are $35 per half hour.
Book a lesson
or text 021 162 3447
- $35 per half hour
- Weekdays from 3:15pm
- One to one every weekly lesson
- No exam unless you want one
The short version
Adult lessons at a glance
The same teacher, the same room and the same price as every other lesson here.
- Teacher
- Adam Whybro teaches every lesson, one to one.
- Price
- $35 per half hour, $70 per hour. Invoiced a month at a time.
- Lesson times
- Weekdays from 3:15pm. The last lesson finishes at 7pm on Monday, 7:30pm Tuesday to Thursday, and 6:30pm on Friday.
- Levels
- Complete beginners to intermediate.
- Where
- 24 Westerley Place, Long Bay, Auckland 0630
- The drive
- About 5 minutes from Torbay School, 7 to 8 from Browns Bay beach, and 14 from Westfield Albany or Mairangi Bay village, on a weekday afternoon.
- Qualifications
- ABRSM Grade 8 piano. Grade 5 theory, distinction. About me
After school times are nearly full. Tell me the days that could work on the booking form and I will reply within a day with the times I have free. If none suits, you are on the waitlist, and I will tell you when one opens.
When you are the student
How lessons work for an adult
You choose the songs
Bring me a song. That is what the lesson works on, and the technique goes in underneath it. Mozart or Metallica, it is your call.
No exam unless you want one
Grades are optional and I never push them. If you want one, it is ABRSM on piano and RSL Rockschool on guitar. Exams and Grade 5 theory
Nobody is made to perform
Lessons are in a room in my house, not a hall. There is a sofa in it, and nobody is made to stand up and perform.
Ten minutes a day
Practise a little and often. Five short goes across a week beats one long session the night before. Ten minutes a day is plenty at the start.
An honest answer
I will tell you how it is going. If progress has stalled I will say so, and I will tell you why.
Singing while you play can be part of a piano or guitar lesson too, at beginner level. Beginner singing lessons
Starting from nothing
Complete beginners are welcome at any age.
You do not need to read music, and you do not need to have played anything before.
The first lesson is a normal lesson at the normal price, and you do not have to come back.
On piano
Hands on the keys in lesson one. Reading both staves comes a few notes at a time, never a whole page at once. You count out loud. It feels silly, and it fixes rhythm faster than anything else.
On guitar
I show you your way around the guitar from the first lesson: holding it properly, your first chords, and changing between them cleanly.
If you used to play
Coming back after twenty or thirty years is not starting from zero.
Students who already play come to fix technique, read better, or finally learn the piece they stopped at.
On guitar, maybe you can play a few songs and you skip the chord you were never shown. I build on what you already know.
Tell me on the booking form what you used to play and where you stopped. That is where I start.
In their words
What students and families say
Adam is a great teacher - my eldest son has been going to him for 7 years and my youngest started beginning of this year. They are always excited for their lessons and Adam tailors the lessons perfectly for their music taste and ability. There’s a perfect balance of learning techniques vs playing songs.
It is the perfect balance between learning new skills and also making sure I’m having fun. Something I look forward to each week.
Adam teaches piano/singing to our 2 young children and is everything one hopes for in a music teacher. He meets them where they are, has the patience of a saint, and critically, he makes learning music a total joy.
Questions
What adults ask before they book
Am I too old to start piano or guitar?
No. Complete beginners are welcome at any age. Lessons are one to one, you choose the songs, there is no exam unless you want one, and nobody is made to perform.
Do I need to be able to read music?
No. On piano, reading is taught from the start: both staves, a few notes at a time, never a whole page at once. On guitar the first lessons are holding it properly, your first chords, and changing between them cleanly.
Do I need my own instrument?
Yes, to practise on at home: a piano or a keyboard for piano, a guitar for guitar. Ask me before you buy anything. A right handed guitar student also brings their own guitar to lessons, and a left handed student plays one of mine, because I play left handed and the studio guitars are strung that way.
How much are lessons for adults?
$35 for half an hour, $70 for a full hour, the same for piano and guitar at every level. An hour is two half hours back to back. Lessons are invoiced a month at a time, with no enrolment fee, no booking fee and no deposit, and you are not signed up for a set number of weeks.
What times can adults have lessons?
Lessons run Monday to Friday from 3:15pm. The last lesson finishes at 7pm on Monday, 7:30pm Tuesday to Thursday, and 6:30pm on Friday. There are no weekend lessons. After school times are nearly full, so if none suits, the booking form puts you on the waitlist and I tell you when one opens.
Something else? The common questions page has more, and choosing a first instrument has a page of its own.
The practical part
$35 per half hour, $70 per hour
Fees
Every instrument, every level. Invoiced a month at a time, so there is no term to pay up front. No enrolment fee, no booking fee and no deposit.
Times
Lessons run Monday to Friday from 3:15pm. The last lesson finishes at 7pm on Monday, 7:30pm Tuesday to Thursday, and 6:30pm on Friday. There are no weekend lessons.
First lesson
There is no free trial. The first lesson is a real lesson at the normal price, with no obligation to continue.
Where
24 Westerley Place, Long Bay, Auckland 0630. Street parking is about 20 metres from the door.
Over the summer I also run a four week beginner guitar group for adults, if enough people book, and blocks of private lessons. See the summer programmes.
Book a lesson or text 021 162 3447