Centre for Young Musicians

Guitar
Head of Department - Tim Pells
Tim studied at the University of British Columbia, the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Royal Academy of Music, London.

From 1983 to 1990 he was guitar Organiser for the Inner London Education Authority and has been Head of Guitar at CYM since 1984.

He joined the English Guitar Quartet in 1984 and has recorded three CDs with them and toured in Australia, Canada, and Israel. He has also recorded with the Indian fusion group ‘Natural Waves’ and worked widely as a session player in the UK.

Tim has several publications to his name and works for the ABRSM as a CT-ABRSM Course mentor. He is Head of Contemporary Strings at the Colchester Institute Centre for Music and
Performing Arts.

The guitar is an instrument of huge diversity with professional guitarists working in virtually every aspect of the music industry today. At CYM our aim is to give guitar students something of the complete world of guitar. Working on acoustic instruments, our students study classical repertoire and technique, jazz theory and practice, composition and improvising, accompaniment and chordal skills. I believe that the future of guitar is as wide as the world of music.

All guitar students at CYM rehearse and play in a guitar ensemble. There are quartets and small ensembles, a large ensemble of 15 players, jazz guitar ensembles, and ensembles where the focus is in learning musicianship skills. A range of special skills and instruments are available to students, and our songwriting course
is now attended by students throughout CYM.

Tutors
Click here for a list of tutors within the department.