My Mum used to play Chopin's Nocturne in Eb which she had learned to play by rote from her Uncle Jim who was the organist at the local Methodist church. My Dad used to play Glenn Miller's In The Mood which he'd learned to play by ear. Looking back now I realise just what a profound role those two pieces had in starting my lifelong passion for music. My first piano teacher was my Mum's cousin, Doreen Hardcastle, she played the piano beautifully and seemed to be able to sight read just about anything, I used to love listening to her playing. After leaving school I started a teaching course at Alsager College of Education where I studied music and had piano lessons from Fred Mason. Fred was a wonderful man and really fuelled my appetite for learning more about music. He was a brilliant sight reader and seemed to know just about every piece of classical piano music by heart. He was also a brilliant improviser and used to fascinate the class by demonstrating how to compose a sonata on the spot at the piano. After the first year I transferred to Leeds College of Music as by then I was so absolutely absorbed with music that I wanted to spend all my time learning whatever there was to know about the piano and music in general. At Leeds College of Music as well as studying classical music I also studied jazz, harmony, form, theory and composition. I had piano lessons there with Bryan Leyton, arguably the finest jazz pianist in the country and Bill Kinghorn a notable composer who gave me such an insight into the structure of classical music and also taught me so much about harmony used in jazz and the music of iconic jazz pianists such as Bill Evans. Later on I studied jazz at St Andrew's Univeristy where I was inspired by saxophonist Richard Ingham (composer in residence at St Andrew's) and pianist Richard Michael, Professor of Jazz. The enthusiasm and talent of the two Richards was infectious and left us all with a great thirst to learn more. Richard Michael was very instrumental in the introduction of the ABRSM Jazz Piano Graded Examinations and was awarded the BEM for services to jazz education. You may have noticed that Ive talked a lot about being inspired by the various teachers that I have had in my life, I have indeed been blessed to have taught by so many great musicians. As a result of this my main aim when teaching is always to try and inspire my students. Learning to play the piano well involves a lot of disciplined regular practice which means that if you don't enjoy playing the music that you're learning you will find practising boring and stressful, but if you are practising something that you really want to play then you may find that you have to drag yourself away after several hours at the piano! Probably the thing that I enjoy most about playing and teaching is the fact that the more I learn, the more I realise just how much more there is to learn and it will always be my aim as a teacher to inspire my students to learn just as my many teachers have inspired me.