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PROFESSIONAL TUITION IN
  • Guitar
  • Bass
  • Vocals
  • Drums
  • Clarinet
  • Saxophone
£15 per half hour, first lesson FREE!
Providing the High Peak with expert music tuition, the Milltown Studios teachers consist of John Patterson, Pete Salisbury, Samuel C Lees and Shane Lally. Part of the studios success has been down to the way they provide music tuition to suit the needs of each individual pupil.

Pupils can learn for fun, or to develop their skills towards playing in a band or orchestra, or to help towards GCSE and A-level qualifications, or anything else musical that they may need. Pupils of all ages and abilities are welcome at Milltown.

Pupils can also work towards ABRSM exams or Rockschool exams. This has been made even easier by the studio becoming an official Rockschool examination centre.

JOHN PATTERSON | Guitar, Bass, Drums, Saxophone, Clarinet

John opened Milltown Studios in 2002. He started working as a musician in his late teens performing with various bands, orchestras, and ensembles. At the age of 19, John was given unconditional offers from several music colleges but made the difficult choice to carry on working as a freelance musician- a decision that has seen him in constant demand ever since.

John's working life as a performer has seen him travel and perform all over Britain and Europe in a huge variety of gigs including The Royal Albert Hall, Bridgewater Hall, North Wales Theatre, Palace Theatre, various festivals, arenas, clubs, pubs, mills, barns, restaurants, street corners, and television appearances! John has performed with a huge number of acts covering most styles of music including classical, jazz, blues, funk, rock, indie, soul, and dance. From originals bands, and cover bands, to tribute acts, and pit orchestras, he has experienced many performance situations.

John teaches Monday to Thursday at Milltown studios in the evenings, and during the day in several schools with "Musical Roots", as well as gigging most Fridays and Saturdays. Proficient at teaching both ABRSM and Rockschool exams (with a 100% pass rate!), John enjoys passing on the knowledge he has gained from his many music based experiences.

PETE SALISBURY | Drums

Pete has spent 23 years working all over the world in live and studio environments with a number of groups including the Verve, the Charlatans, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Richard Ashcroft.

He teaches Rockschool exams grades 1-8 and is extremely proficient in many styles including rock, Latin, and jazz. He has worked with John Patterson at Milltown Studios on a number of projects, the most recent being "musical roots", a band tuition project in local primary schools.

Pete enjoys both the private tuition and the group sessions in the schools immensely and hopes that his students also enjoy and gain some great experience from his knowledge of playing in so many different situations.

SAMUEL C LEES | Guitar

Samuel C Lees has been a professional guitarist since the age of 16. Over the last 25 years his musical journey has seen him working alongside many artist, absorbing and mastering many styles of music.

Samuel’s journey started when he packed up his guitar and ran off to Wales to play guitar for Ray Phillips of Budgie. With only one week’s notice to the first tour date; Samuel had a job to get mum and dad on board with this project. ‘The Apprentice’ toured all over the UK with Budgie learning his trade and quickly building a reputation as a guitar player that can get the job done.

Yet, all good things must come to an end and Samuel came home with tales to tell and a desire to form his own band and work on his own projects. Projects like Texas Flood, inspired by the playing style of SRV, or The Washington Lees Experiment, a successful collaboration with Steve Tate, one of the UK’s most experienced session drummers and, of course, the Samuel C Lees Band. Special times that enabled him to tour with artist like Jack Bruce, and Robben Ford or open for Joe Bonnamassa, Walter Trout, Robin Trouwer and Yngwie J Malmsteen.

Of course a good guitar player is always learning and Samuel is no exception. Having always been inspired by Django Reinhardt and those amazing gypsy jazz guitar players, over time he forged quite a reputation as a gypsy jazz guitar player himself. Playing and performing with guitarist like Lollo Mayer, Fappy Lafertan, Robin Nolan and young up and coming players that he met on the gypsy jazz circuit.

Samuel loves his guitars and all things relating to them. This enthusiasm had been used in his role as an instrument demonstrator. He has demonstrated for companies like Fender, Gibson, Marshall and many more. Presently, you can find Samuel on YouTube singing the praises of G&L guitars and Blackstar amps.

SHANE LALLY | Guitar

A local guitarist from New Mills, Shane first picked up the guitar aged 6 mainly influenced from having a musical family. His mother played piano and his father was a keen rock guitarist. After listening to his father playing numerous songs from bands such as Cream, Whitesnake, Metallica, and Guns n Roses, he began to show particular interest in rock guitar.

Primarily self taught, it was around 18 years of age that Shane started to take his option's seriously as he attended college studying music performance and then on to university to study popular music performance. Now with his educational path complete, Shane has developed a proficiency in most popular music styles on guitar, ranging from all out Shred Rock, to more subtle tones and harmonic complexities of Jazz, through to the rhythmical feel and technicality of funk. He prides himself on his extensive chord knowledge and his sense of improvisation.

Now performing with several bands, Shane's musicianship and technical skills continue to improve making him a fantastic addition to the Milltown Studios team.