Thanks for coming to the About Me page, just in case you’re wanting to know more about the person behind this website. Here you can find out more about my musical background and teaching experience in great detail.
But, if you’re in a rush, here’s me reduced to six bullet points…
- My name’s Craig Bassett and I’m 54 years old.
- I studied classical piano for 9 years, from the ages of eight to seventeen.
- I’ve been playing guitar for 36 years.
- I’ve been a professional guitar tutor for the last 33 years, and have taught electric guitar in the following cities in New Zealand and Australia: Auckland, Wellington and Melbourne.
- I love helping motivated and enthusiastic guitarists significantly improve their electric guitar playing.
- I drink an insane amount of coffee, although I’m doing my best to cut down a bit.
Musical Background
I’ve been playing some form of musical instrument for the last 47 years. The first instrument I formally studied was one that many people learn…the piano!
I was lucky enough to study classical piano for nine years starting at the age of eight. This really helped me to develop an understanding of music and music theory. It also helped me learn the practice techniques used by classical pianists. But my piano days were soon to be a thing of the past as I had discovered a much better instrument…
I started playing guitar three months before my 18th birthday. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the instrument. I would usually practice at least 3 hours each day after school. In the weekend I would often practice up to 10 or 11 hours a day. It would be a fair comment to say that I was obsessed! The styles of music that interested me most at this time were metal, blues, funk and rock. I worked VERY hard at these styles of guitar playing for around 7 years. But then a new obsession was about to start…
In 1997 a friend introduced me to jazz guitar and I fell in love with it! I particularly loved the guitar playing of Wes Montgomery and proceeded to spend countless hours transcribing, learning and analysing his solos off albums like “The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery”. I learnt a lot about jazz doing this, but I felt I needed some formal training…
After a year of intensive jazz practice, in 1998 I headed down to Wellington (in New Zealand) to start a Bachelor of Music (Performance). During my three years there I was fortunate enough to study and play with some of the best jazz musicians in New Zealand including Noel Clayton, Leigh Jackson, Colin Hemmingsen, Paul Dyne, Nick van Dijk, Norman Meehan and Roger Sellers. During my studies I learnt about jazz improvisation, jazz composition, jazz arranging, music theory, ear-training and ensemble playing.
It was particularly life-changing to study with Noel Clayton and Leigh Jackson. In my opinion, they’re two of the best jazz guitarists in New Zealand, and I definitely learnt a LOT from them. I thought I was a really good guitarist before I started lessons with them, but then I saw them play! It was a very humbling experience and it definitely drove me to become a better guitarist and musician.
In 2000 I completed the Bachelor of Music (Performance) from Massey University in Wellington.
Over the last 36 years of playing guitar I’ve had experience performing in situations ranging from speed metal gigs to freelance jazz gigs. But I have to say here…
Even though I love playing guitar and consider myself to be a pretty good player, my main passion is teaching others. I love the buzz of seeing my students improve their playing. I also love the challenge of breaking down complex musical concepts and explaining them to people in a very simple way! So let’s take a look at my teaching experience…
Guitar Teaching Experience
I started teaching guitar on a professional level when I was 21. I gotta admit I wasn’t very good at it initially. In fact I sucked! But over the last 33 years of teaching I’ve worked hard and have improved a lot as a teacher. A heck of a lot. I’ve taught guitar in a wide variety of situations including:
- High Schools.
- Music Schools.
- Internet Teaching (Via video conferencing and online guitar courses).
- Master Classes on improvisation and technique development.
- Private Teaching (Both one-to-one and group settings).
In April 2008 I relocated from New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia where I set up a successful guitar coaching business.
After eight years of teaching Melbourne, I moved back to Auckland in July 2016 and set up Auckland Guitar Mastery.
In March 2026 I moved to live in Whanganui, which is a small city in New Zealand, but continue to teach guitarists online via video conferencing software.