Headingley has a bit of a split personality, and I mean that as a compliment. Walk down Otley Road on a Saturday afternoon and you'll pass more students than you can count, spilling out of the shops near the old Arndale Centre — but turn off onto the quieter streets around Ash Road, Grosvenor Road or up towards St Michael's, and you're suddenly in solidly family territory, prams and school runs and all. I teach guitar and bass across both sides of that split, which makes it one of the more varied patches on my books.
A good chunk of Headingley's identity comes from the cricket ground. Test matches at Headingley Stadium bring a different energy to the whole area a few times a summer, and I've had more than one student turn up to a lesson still buzzing from a day watching Yorkshire or England, guitar case by the door from the session before. It's a small thing, but that sense of a place with its own character tends to feed into how people want to play — Headingley students often gravitate towards guitar-heavy indie and rock, which fits, given how much of that scene has roots in Leeds.
I'm Ryan Hawkins, guitar and bass tutor at Phillips Music Tuition. I studied Pop Performance (Guitar) at Leeds Conservatoire and have spent the last ten years teaching and gigging around the North, including regular corporate and wedding sets with the Northern House Band at venues like Grantley Hall and Rudding Park. Lessons happen at your home in Headingley — whether that's up near Kirkstall Lane, over towards Cardigan Road, or down by Hyde Park — with everything brought to you, no amp-lugging required on your end. If you'd rather come to me, my Lawnswood studio on Raynel Way is a short drive away, and online lessons are available too, which tends to suit exam terms or evenings when the Otley Road traffic isn't playing ball.
I hold ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory and know the Rock School syllabus properly, so students working towards graded exams — often for UCAS points alongside GCSEs or A-Levels — get a structured route through scales, technical work and sight-reading. Just as many of my Headingley students have zero interest in exams and simply want to get better at the songs on their own playlists; both approaches get the same attention from me. Genre-wise I lean pop, rock and soul, but indie and blues come up constantly around here, which suits me fine.
Every new student starts with a free consultation lesson — a relaxed introduction rather than an audition, so you can see if it's the right fit before committing to anything. Lessons are £35 for 60 minutes or £18 for 30 minutes, travel across Headingley included, with a straightforward 48-hour cancellation policy.
If you're in Headingley, or nearby in Hyde Park, Far Headingley, Weetwood or Meanwood, get in touch and I'll find a time that works for you.