Matthew had been studying the flute at his school since he was 9 years old. He had achieved well and really enjoyed it.

5 years on and Matthew had achieved grade 5 practical and had to work on passing his theory test in order to progress to the higher grades.

Matthew found theory work a lot tougher than the practical side of lessons and struggled to maintain his interest in music.

Matthew was having his music lessons at school and found this rather stressful as his schoolwork had started to build up in the years approaching his GCSE’s. He also found that he was missing out on vital information in his school lessons when leaving to attend his flute lesson.

Matthews parents thought that private lessons might be the way forward for him.

Key Lessons provided Matthew with a tutor who had a very fresh and young attitude towards music and made theory relatable and understandable.

It sounded to us like he needed a fresh take on things and needed music to be a distraction from the stress of school rather than adding to it.

Matthew started prepping for his grade 5 theory exam. He found it rather academic and so different to the more fun practical side of things. Matthew persevered with his lessons. A few months later Matthew told Key Lessons he was having a lot of fun with his tutor who made analogies and links to popular culture which kept the lesson interesting for him.

Matthew sat his grade 5 exam in June and passed with a Merit! He was really pleased with this result, as he was anxious previous to the exam.

Matthew has since been listening to film scores in abundance as his Key Lessons tutor is also a composer and has written some scores for TV and film.

This has inspired Matthew to learn more about the field. He has been listening to the work of composers and seen that the London Symphony Orchestra is often highly used. He adores them and is longing to work with them!

Matthew has now decided to take music production for A level which will focus on orchestral music for a third of the course. In the two years taken to complete the course he will focus on completing up to grade 8 in both theory and practical for the flute.

He hopes to apply to the Guildhall school of music to study the Orchestral Artistry Specialism course which is delivered in association with the London Symphony Orchestra. From what his tutor tells me, he is well on his was to achieving that!