In this edition of the RGT Guitar Tutor Interview Series, we are catching up with Norfolk jazz guitarist and guitar tutor Jasper Smith.

With 25 years of experience under his belt as a guitar tutor, Jasper has run his own successful private guitar studio, as well as taught in the undergraduate music, popular music and jazz degree programs at Anglia Ruskin University, the University of Middlesex and the University of East Anglia.

An experienced jazz guitarist with countless gigs under his fingers, Jasper was one of the first guitarists to successfully obtain the Jazz Guitar Performance FLCM diploma certificate from RGT and the London College of Music.

We recently caught up with Jasper to discuss his approach to teaching RGT exam material, his gear, how he prepared to successfully take the Jazz Guitar Performance FLCM exam, as well as his advice for anyone thinking of taking this exam.

To learn more about Jasper, his teaching and performing, please visit the Jasper Smith Homepage and Jasper’s Facebook Musician Page.

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RGT: How did you become aware of RGT, and why do you choose to encourage your students to take RGT guitar exams?

Jasper Smith: I became aware of RGT back in 1995 when the first diploma exam came out for electric guitar.

At the time, no other examining body was offering anything equivalent, so RGT was breaking new ground.

I took that exam in its first session, December 1995, and whilst working through the syllabus I investigated all of RGT’s electric guitar exams that were available at the time.

They seemed like a good well thought out system, and a way of providing students with benchmarks for development.

So I started to encourage my pupils to consider working towards the RGT exams.

Of course since then, RGT has gone from strength to strength and there are now many more options in performance, Rock, Acoustic, Bass etc., so there’s pretty much something for every student to choose from.

What’s also good about RGT exams, is that they are QCA accredited and therefore useful for students looking to gain extra UCAS points for university entrance.

RGT: What do you find is the biggest challenge when preparing a student for an upcoming RGT exam?

Jasper Smith: Consistency of preparation in all sections of the exam is an issue I always try to address with students.

Most people have parts of the exam in which they are stronger, and others which they maybe feel a little weaker in.

I find the trick is to help students to identify the areas which need more work at a fairly early stage, so they can make the appropriate adjustment to their practice schedule.

The aural section of the exam is often a problem area which students sometimes tend to avoid.

Because of this, I try to incorporate aural training into guitar lessons whenever I am working with a student for an upcoming RGT exam.

RGT: Most students, if not all, deal with nervousness on some level either before or during their exams. How do you address this issue with your students in their lessons?

Jasper Smith: I encourage students to play in front of others at every opportunity, as this definitely helps them get a feel of how to deal with performance nerves.

I always remember a guitar teacher friend of mine who broke his arm and still had some students to prepare for a forthcoming exam.

He told me that in the subsequent lessons, when he couldn’t play, he realized how much more playing he had been doing than was needed.

Whilst some things obviously require demonstration, as teachers we can easily fall into the trap of overplaying during lessons, and I make a conscious effort to do as little playing as possible in the lessons leading up to a student’s exam.

In this way, the student is focused on his or her playing and gets used to having the ‘spotlight’ on them.

RGT: What is your guitar of choice these days, and what is your typical setup when playing a jazz-guitar gig?

Jasper Smith: My main jazz guitar is a 1994 one pick-up Gibson L5 – the Wes Montgomery model, though I also play a 1970 Byrdland and a 7string BJH archtop.

Most of my gigs are jazz related these days, but for teaching and those heavier rock moments I have a 20^th anniversary PRS and a relic Nocaster.

The rig I use depends on the size of band and venue.

Ideally I like to use a 65 reissue twin reverb but as anyone who has ever picked one up will know, these are unforgivingly heavy, so I also have a Polytone Mini Brute with 15’’ speaker and AER compact 60 which I use for London gigs when I travel by tube.

Strings on the archtops are all D’Addario chromes 13-56, .75 on the 7th string, and I play directly into the amp or sometimes through an Ernie Ball volume pedal.

This can be useful for switching between rhythm and lead sounds on fast tempo numbers.

RGT: You were one of the first guitarists to successfully complete the RGT Jazz Guitar Performance FLCM exam. Why did you choose to take this exam, and how has completing the exam affected your teaching and performing career?

Jasper Smith: I guess I’m just a sucker for exams. Seriously, I thought it would be a good test and quite a prestigious qualification to hold.

Being a masters level award, the FLCM is actually very good value when you compare it with the cost of enrolling on a masters degree course.

From a teaching point of view, it’s nice to feel that you can walk the walk so to speak, and it certainly validates your abilities to lead students right through the exam system as far as they want to go.

RGT: Were there any particular exercises that you did in the practice room that you felt helped fully prepare you to succeed with the FLCM exam?

Jasper Smith: Because the FLCM is a performance exam with no scales and technical exercises etc, I focused largely on the pieces that I chose to perform.

A big part of jazz is improvisation, so I worked hard on the various pathways I was using to approach each tune’s blowing section.

These included guide tone exercises, arpeggio extensions, flat 5 substitutions, turnarounds etc.

Although I did these in isolation at times, mostly I concentrated on building solos which developed organically and logically.

It’s kind of a lifelong study, so I just did as much as I could and went over and over each tune.

RGT: You are an active performer on the British Jazz scene, as well as a busy guitar tutor. How do you find that your performing influences your teaching and vice-versa?

Jasper Smith: Personally I think performance is a vital part of a musician’s development.

All the good teachers I know have performed at some level throughout their careers.

It’s good to be able to share some of your own experiences from live playing situations with students in order to help inform and prepare them for similar situations which they might encounter.

Teaching without having ever played for others seems to me to be like being a football coach having never played a competitive game – it doesn’t make sense.

On the flip side, being a teacher requires a certain organization of ideas and approaches along with a conscious methodology, all of which can help when preparing for performance.

RGT: If you had one piece of advice for guitarists that are thinking about taking the RGT Jazz Guitar Performance Exams, what would it be?

Jasper Smith: Don’t hesitate – go for it. If you are serious about the instrument, you’ll never regret time spent perfecting your skills.

Working through the RGT Jazz Guitar Performance Exams will certainly help you do just that.

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