Find a Music Performance tutor

Performance tuition can focus on how the music sounds and how you communicate it to a listener. A useful starting point is a short piece or passage that reveals both what you can already do and what needs work. You do not need to choose an exam as your goal.

Try this practice rhythm in 4/4, with four crotchet beats in the bar: a crotchet on beat 1, two quavers on beat 2, a crotchet rest on beat 3, and a crotchet on beat 4. Here a crotchet lasts one beat, each quaver lasts half a beat, and the rest means one beat of silence.

Count evenly: 1-and, 2-and, 3-and, 4-and. Clap on 1, 2, the and after 2, and 4. Keep counting through beat 3 without clapping. A possible slip is to bring the last clap in on 3, removing the silent beat and making the pattern too short.

Slow the count until the last clap lands on 4 reliably. Then play or sing the rhythm on one comfortable note. For a follow-up, repeat the same bar twice: the second bar must start on the next 1, with no extra pause. Success means the silence lasts its full beat and the pulse continues into the next bar.

For a simple phrasing exercise, play or sing C–D–E–G in a comfortable register as four even crotchets, one note per beat. If those note names are unfamiliar, clap four even beats instead. Add a crescendo across the bar, with no instruction to change speed. A crescendo means gradually getting louder; it does not mean getting faster.

First perform the notes or claps at an even volume while counting four steady beats. Repeat them with a gradual increase in volume, keeping each sound on the same beat as before. If the fourth sound arrives early, the louder sound has become tangled up with an increase in speed. Reduce the dynamic change and try again while maintaining the count.

Listen for a clear rise in volume and an unchanged pulse. Then apply that distinction to a phrase in your own piece, following its markings and style. This separates two musical decisions so that expression becomes deliberate. A tutor can help you choose an appropriate tone and articulation for your instrument or voice.

Agree a small number of priorities after the tutor has heard you perform. For a beginner, that might be one secure rhythm and a clear ending; for a more fluent player, it might be sustaining a phrase or balancing a melody against its accompaniment. The task should be clear enough to repeat independently.

Latimer offers online one-to-one tuition. Have the instrument or singing space, the relevant music and a device ready; position the camera so the tutor can see the playing action or singing posture being discussed. Test whether both quiet and louder passages can be heard clearly before relying on the setup for detailed feedback.

Ordinary video calls introduce delay, so playing in time together from two different locations is difficult. For accompanied practice, arrange a backing or accompaniment recording that the learner can play locally, while the tutor listens and gives feedback. Agree how any ensemble rehearsal will happen outside the one-to-one lesson.

Microsoft Teams is the default lesson platform, with another platform possible by agreement. If an in-person lesson is important, discuss the location and arrangements with the individual tutor.