I began playing drums and keyboards at school and turned professional very soon after. Having served my apprenticeship like many musicians on the club circuit, I enjoyed chart success with some original bands, before moving into session playing.

Over a career spanning 4 decades I have played on many famous West End Musicals, TV and Radio shows and toured the world extensively.

Session playing is still at the core of my playing life and ensures that I teach from a position of knowledge and authority – especially important for pupils aiming to play professionally at the highest level.

• Singing in the Rain with Tommy Steele. 
• Summer holiday with Darren Day.
• Tribute To The Blues Brothers.
• Blood Brothers with Stephanie Lawrence, Barbara Dickson.
• Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat with Philip Schofield.
• Five Guys Named Moe. 
• Smokey Joe’s Cafe. 
• The Magic of Broadway – Oslo.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – The Palladium.
• Songs My Mother Taught Me – The Savoy Theatre. 
• The Genius of Ray Charles – The Haymarket,
• The Rat Pack – The Strand Theatre.
• Guys and Dolls – The Piccadilly Theatre starring Patrick Swayze.

• Noel’s House Party, BBC1. 
• The Barrymore Show ITV1. 
• Brian Conley Live and Dangerous LWT and DVD. 
• The Lawrence Olivier Awards BBC1
• The BBC Radio Orchestra, Radio 2
• This Morning ITV
• Pebble Mill at One BBC1.
• Gloria Gaynor in Concert BBC2. 
• Top of the Pops BBC1. 
• The Tube, Tyne Tees TV.  
• The Alan Titchmarsh Show ITV. 
• Blue Peter BBC1

• The Supremes
• Petula Clark
• Five Star
• Ben E King
• Joe Longthorne
• Gloria Gaynor
• Lorna Luft
• Wayne Sleep
• Joe Pasquale
• Bradley Walsh
• Lilly Savage
• Harold Melvin
• Martha Reeves
• Billy Paul
• Cilla Black
• Barbara Dickson
• Paul Daniels
• Marti Webb
• The Drifters
• Bjorn Again
• The Monte Carlo Sporting Club Band
• Brendan Cole, Live and Unjudged
• Brendan Cole, Licence to Thrill
• Brendan Cole, A Night to Remember
• The Royal Command Performance
• McFly, Metropolis Studios
• Barry Manilow & Lorna Luft Blenheim Palace. 
• High School Musical National Tour
• Songs My Mother Taught Me CD A
• Loose CD A

I usually teach three days a week, depending on my playing commitments.

Yes, but this depends on how much playing work I have in the diary. On an average week I teach two and a half days, although if I have a busy week of gigs or I’m working abroad, some weeks I can’t teach at all. My students have to have some flexibility. I personally believe it’s important to find a teacher who is ‘at the coal face’ earning a living from playing, rather than a teacher that has the theory but is yet to put this into practice. All my teachers were busy session players and I was happy to miss the odd lesson in order to tap into their experience.

I find with most pupils, a lesson once a fortnight works best. The lessons can be for half an hour for beginners and an hour for intermediate and advanced students.

Yes. It’s really important on any instrument to get a good foundation. I have many pupils who start lessons having played for some time and have reached a point where they are frustrated with their ability, or maybe the band they are playing with are not always happy with what they are doing. I usually find this is down to having never grasped a good basic technique.

At present my youngest pupil is seven and my oldest is 71.

Yes, I’m very lucky. I have many contacts in the business I have built up over the years who still call me. Two thirds of my income is still from playing. The great thing about being a freelance musician is nobody has to call you with a well paid gig. There are plenty of musicians who would happily take your place. I enjoying live playing more now than ever, so all the time they call me, I’ll say yes.

Yes, I teach Rockschool and Trinity Rock. I find some students enjoy the challenge of taking the grades and they can be useful for students taking GCSE music, or maybe intending to go on to music college. I have also had a few lessons with Dave Hassell in Manchester on Latin, and John Taylor who taught at Footes Music in the West End.

Probably the most well known of my teachers would be Bobby Armstrong. He has taught most of the pro drummers in the UK. I have also spent some time with Jim Blackley over in Canada. He has written one of my favourite books on Jazz drumming, The Essence of Jazz Drumming.

Yes, as a session musician you have to be able to cover all styles of music. I think after you have covered the basic foundation, it’s good to have a knowledge of Rock, Jazz, Latin, Reggae, Funk etc. I tailor the lessons to each pupils aims. If you are into a particular style, then that’s great.

When you are earning a living from music, it’s important not to limit you work opportunities. So I figured it would be good to also learn to sight read. This has opened many doors for me. I wouldn’t have been asked to do TV shows and West End musicals without being a good reader.

In my lessons, l write everything down, or make a copy of my prepared lessons. This doesn’t mean you will become a sight reader, but it does mean you can start to work out whether the bass drum comes with the snare or before it etc. I also record everything I think a pupil won’t remember when they get home. If you can hear it and see it, you will soon have a basic knowledge of reading.