Michael J Hutton - Music Coach

Hi, My Name is Michael Hutton

As a child after going through the phases of wanting to be a bus driver, train driver, fireman and footballer, I settled on Rock Star.  This really excited me and still does to this day.

My problem was that I lacked confidence and self-esteem, often being the butt for other people's jokes, i had a pretty good social circle but somehow felt quite lonely.

My homelife, through nobody's fault, was not a happy experience.  My mother suffered depression and mental illness which not only affected her but those around her including me.  The negative effects of this didn't help my confidence and self-esteem which stayed with me for many years into adulthood.

This, plus my lack of ability to connect with the standard education system, meant school offered no real escape either except for one teacher who was only there for a couple of terms but probably unbeknown to him offered me my first glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel

I was developing an interest in the guitar and this maths teacher offered to give my guitar lessons in the lunch break.  This was my first evidence that teaching methods can be adapted to suit different people and not just the talk and chalk method that the standard education system seemed to offer.  Although i didn't realise it at this point, the seeds were being sown that would blossom into the path I was going to take.

Leaving school was the best thing that happened to me at this time as I felt that I didn't have to keep up with my peers anymore and could make my own choices.  I still had a long way to go but I was on the right road.

I was working and still wanting to learn guitar but again I hit the same old mindset within all the teachers I was coming across until I eventually found the right one.  Someone on my wavelength at last!

As a result my playing moved forward in leaps and bounds, getting into bands, and eventually making my living from playing was a dream come true and did wonders for my confidence and self-esteem.

I have been fortunate but my life somehow wasn't complete. After seeing that there were alternate ways to teach and that all you needed was passion, empathy and a desire to share your experience I got into teaching guitar and absolutely loved it, I really felt that I had found my vocation and even took this into the corporate world training all over europe and beyond on financial software at some of the most prestigious financial institutions on the planet.

Now having been made redundant after 20 years in the city of London I am focusing once again on teaching guitar but with a broader remit.

My early learning experiences along with my personal childhood ones have awakened me to the much wider benefits of learning and playing guitar.  The health and Welling benefits for you as a player and those around you.  I learnt that Playing Guitar for me actually helped me build my confidence and self-esteem, motivate me into achieving far more than I ever imagined both as a player but more importantly for my life in general, I believe I am a better person, I have a happy homelife for myself and my family and feel Great! 

On a more personal level, I believe that tackling mental health issues has come a long way since my mother was suffering but as with anything, prevention is better than cure so if, by allowing someone to see the benefits of learning and playing guitar, their quality of life benefits in whatever way suits them, then that can only be a positive and wonderful thing.

Someone once said to me that you may never know what impact you have on someone who crosses your path in life.  I have personally experienced this but I doubt my maths teacher has any idea.  I only hope you get to experience this wonderful feeling as well.

I have had, and still do, some wonderful people behind me but realise that to achieve anything you have to do it from the inside out, your thinking and choices decide what happens to you and no-one else's.  The buck stops with you!

Do Anything You Wanna Do and Be Remarkable