RGT examinations were recently held in malta. Maltese guitar tutor Marc Galea reports on how the exams went and describes his involvement with the RGT…
I started teaching in my local neighborhood at the age of 17. At the time I was an avid reader of Total Guitar magazine. This was my only source of knowledge, since at that time there was no possibility of receiving a contemporary music education in Malta. One problem in Malta is that most of the energy and financial input in music is spent in the Eurovision Song Contest, Which is still regarded by many as the only possibility to make a name for yourself. After I achieved grade 8 in electric guitar practice and theory I started teaching part time in a state school. At that time I realized that I would like to be further involved in modern guitar education because there were many talented youngsters who were eager to play but did not have the opportunity to learn.I'd had to travel to the UK to have some lessons with Jimi Savage and John Mizarolli, and later studied successfully for the RGT LLCM TD diploma on my own, which was difficult without tutor guidance. Euro Institute Of Music I am now a director at the Euro Institute of Music in Hamrun, Malta where I teach 170 guitar students a week from Monday to Saturday. We also teach drums, bass, voice, piano and violin. My students come once a week for hourly lessons and we work through my own syllabus which follows the lines of the RGT exams.Throughout the year I organize concerts for my students so that they experience live performing in realistic venues which gives them an incentive to practice. Students are given the opportunity to form a band and the school offers the facility of practicing rooms. It was always a dream for me that the RGT will come to the school and examine my students and this year it was possible. 39 of my students were examined and another 3 students were presented by another local tutor. The levels examined were from preliminary to grade six and I was very pleased with my students because they all did very well. Exam Day We had 9 hrs of examinations on Friday 4th November. Although you could feel the students tension in the corridor, there was a wonderful atmosphere with students warming up and asking loads of questions. Vic Hyland came to examine my students. He was very helpful when, after the exams we discussed teaching methods and he gave me some good ideas to improve my teaching. We took the opportunity to jam together and I also found some time to show him around the island. He is an amazing player. Next February I have invited Jimi Savage over to Malta. He will be delivering a master class at my school in rock improvisation and we will give a concert as a guitar duo at the St. James Cavalier. This will certainly be one of my dreams coming true, playing and working with one of the players that I admired for years. I am also organizing another master class in jazz improvisation in summer by Luigi Tessarollo, a prominent figure in the Italian jazz scene who participated in various international collaborations. I appreciate the work being done by RGT because they made me a better tutor and player, and being registered with them has opened more doors for me. After this positive experience I am working harder so that the next examination session will be even more successful.