Samuel Playford

Sam has been teaching for 5+ years in Australia and the U.S.A. in a wide range of capacities including private tuition, group classes, curriculum development, concert planning and production and performance coaching for individuals and ensembles. He has worked extensively with young children and teenagers while maintaining a client base of adult students up to 60+ years of age. Sam is driven to nurture creativity and critical thinking and strives to individualize his lessons to provide the most relevant and interesting content for his students. 

Sam is a classical guitarist with many years of performing experience. He has played professionally in Adelaide and Melbourne, Australia both as a solo classical guitarist and in bands of many styles including jazz, soul, reggae, blues, rock, indie, and folk. He fell in love with music at a very early age and has been exploring sound, style, and musical function for 25 years. After studying contemporary music at Victoria University in Melbourne, Sam began to travel and explore different horizons in the form of traditional and indigenous music from cultures including Australian, North and South American, Indian, Chinese, and Indonesian. The perspectives of such varying styles have had an integral influence on his comprehension of music and learning and continue to play an enormous part in his inspiration. 

Sam's main learning philosophy is simplicity and his lessons reflect that by following clear objectives with relevant material. Whether young, old, new to the guitar or an advanced player, students are encouraged to discuss their interests and goals as they are guided through the process of building their dream repertoire! They will develop good technical habits while playing the music they like and will have the opportunity to experiment and make arrangement decisions on their songs based on their own stylistic analysis. Sam strongly encourages questions and critical discussions about the material as it can help to gain an understanding of musical theory and form as well as inspire creative avenues of ones' own. 

Don't worry if you don't know where to start, we'll find the first stepping stone somewhere!