Crawshaw Music School

Our Teaching Philosophy

We believe a successful learning experience should be:

Relationship Focussed

• We place students and their families first in our practice.
• We aim to be flexible, providing catchups for missed lessons and term payment options.
• We aim to engage with the whole family in the learning experience.
• We provide a waiting area for parents/whānau during students' lessons with coffee and tea.
• Parents are always welcome to sit in on the lessons.

Student Led

We appreciate that students' interests can change over time and we aim to go with where students' learning interests are. All our teachers play by ear and can transcribe songs and teach multiple styles/genres of music. However, we will not teach students songs that are currently beyond the student's level.

Skill Based

Whatever direction our students are going in, we try to provide solid skill-based learning around the student’s song and style choices.We teach the following core skill sets:
• Sight Reading/Tab Reading
• Technique
• Scales and Soloing
• Theory
• Song Styles
• Playing by ear/Intervals

Trust Built

• We aim to do what we say we’ll do and be consistent in our teaching practice. To aid in this, we have a shared resource base.
• We aim to develop long term teaching relationships and lifelong learners.

Business Orientated

We aim to have sustainable business practices and look to do things smarter and invest in new technology. Our business is run with integrity and honesty with our goal being to build a strong and trustworthy brand.

Our Teachers

Book a free trial lesson with any of our tutors.

AJ Crawshaw

Learn guitar, bass, production, ukulele and piano with AJ!

AJ has a BA in Music and was a youth worker for 4 years. He has taught high school music, band classes, group classes and one on one. He is the head teacher and Crawshaw Music School's director. He loves teaching all sorts of people and specialises in teaching music to neurodiverse students. He is also a songwriter, session musician, recording engineer, sound engineer, and producer. He has been teaching guitar, piano, keys, ukulele and bass for over 15 years.Teaching days
Monday 1:30pm-7pm
Tuesday 1:30pm-7pm
Wednesday 1:30pm-5.30pm
Thursday 2pm-7pm
Friday 1.30pm-6pm

Malu Jonas

Learn Flute and Piano with Malu.

Malu is a very experienced and skilled pianist, flautist and recorder player. She has been arranging music and teaching music at high schools for decades as well as privately. She can teach right up to tertiary level in flute. As well as contemporary she can also bring a classical approach to her teaching.Teaching days
Monday 3.30pm-6.30pm
Friday 3.30pm-6.00pm

John O'Connor

Learn Guitar and Bass with John O'Connor

John O’Connor (BA Music) is an esteemed guitar player, musician, composer, and recording engineer who has had a prolific career in the New Zealand music industry for over five decades.John has performed as a session guitar player and contributed to a variety of artists and albums over the years.Over his career he has played with global touring artists such as Chuck Berry, Spencer Davis & Bo Diddley. He toured with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) during the Kiri Te Kanawa Homecoming tour in Auckland in 1990.John has written and produced music for various mediums, including radio and television commercials for brands like Telecom, Honda, BNZ, Mobil, and BP. He contributed to Peter Jackson’s early films, “Bad Taste” (1987) and “Braindead” (1992), where he showcased his guitar prowess.John continues to perform in bands – you can currently see him play with Laura Collins and the Back Porch Blues Band.He has also taught as a tertiary music educator for over 15 years. He’s an excellent teacher.Teaching days
Monday 2.00pm-7.00pm
Tuesday 2.00pm-7.00pm

David Binnie

Learn Drums with David Binnie

David has a BA in Music and has been gigging solidly for the past 15 years. He played in various covers/originals bands, an orchestra, a marching band, for musical theatre, and as a soloist busking. He has over 8 years' teaching experience with us, is highly skilled and is brilliant at relating to lots of different learners.Teaching days
Monday 3.00pm-7.00pm
Wednesday 3.00pm-8.00pm
Thursday 3.00pm-8.00pm
Friday 3.00pm-6.00pm

Clare Christian

Learn Singing With Clare Christian!

Clare has sung and played with a very impressive list of musicians both here and in London including my old tutors from when I was studying and a founding member of Pink Floyd! She was also a music director at the London Rock Academy before she came back to New Zealand. She is a highly regarded vocalist and we are enjoying the wealth of expertise she brings to our school.Teaching days
Mondays 2:00pm-8.00pm
Tuesdays 2:00pm-8.00pm
Wednesdays 2:00pm-8.00pm
Thursdays 2:00pm-8.00pm

Mark Lewis

Learn Piano with Mark Lewis!

Mark is a professional musician and music teacher. He has performed in many bands and as a solo pianist and singer/piano player. He has over 15 years' teaching experience and has taught some very high achieving students.Teaching days
Tuesdays 3.00pm-7.00pm
Wednesdays 3.00pm-7.30pm

Neha Gate

Learn guitar, bass, ukulele and keyboard with Neha!

Neha is a multi-instrumentalist who specialises in guitar, bass, ukulele and keyboards. I’ve gigged with him before and he’s a very skilled and accomplished player.He has over 15 years' experience teaching music in primary and secondary schools, as well as tutoring one on one. He is a graduate of Whitireia School of Music and went on to win Rock to Wellington (curtain raiser for Ozzy Osbourne and other rock artists) and also won Wellington Guitar Wars. Neha has also performed and recorded with many bands and known NZ recording artists throughout the years including Amba Holly, Sianne Daugherty, Maaka Fiso and Pere Wihongi while gigging regularly with his band Groove Roots.He is fluent in most genres of music but is particularly good at contemporary music styles including reggae, R&B, pop, funk, rock and acoustic music.Book a Free Trial Lesson with Neha today!Teaching days
Tuesday 3.30pm-8.30pm
Wednesday 7pm-8.00pm
Bands Tuesday night

Dawid Warenczuk

Take a band class, guitar, bass, ukulele, and keyboards with Dawid Warenczuk!

Dawid is a talented young BA music graduate from Whitireia. He is a multi-instrumentalist and is involved in several band and recording projects around the Wellington region. He is an excellent teacher.Teaching days
Wednesday 3-7pm
Thursday 3-5.30pm
Friday 3-6.30pm
Bands Wednesday Nights after 6.30pm
Bands Thursday Nights after 5.30pm

Joe Simmonds

Learn guitar, bass, ukulele and keyboard with Joe Simmonds!

Joe is a multi-instrumentalist who specialises in guitar, bass, ukulele and keyboards.Joe is a songwriter, teacher, creative and well-known local musician and sound engineer.He loves teaching beginner musicians and inspiring creativity.Book a Free Trial Lesson with Joe Today.Teaching days
Thursday 3.00pm-7.30pm
Friday 3.00pm-6.00pm

Hire & Services

PA and lighting hire, rehearsal rooms, recording, transcribing and instrument repairs.

PA Hire

Acoustic amplifier/mini PA: $80 incl. GST per night
Small PA: from $200 incl. GST depending on requirements
Large PA: from $500 incl. GST depending on requirements
Sound Technician: $25 per hourLights: from $100 incl. GST depending on requirements
Light Technician: $25 per hour

Room Hire, Recording & More

All prices quoted are inclusive of GST.Band Space: $60 all inclusive for a 2-3 hour rehearsal or $25 per hour. Plug-in and play band practice space.
Smaller Practice Room: $25 per hour.Recording Work: $78 an hour. Bulk discounts apply for larger projects.Covers Band: Modern pop-based three-piece band from $1500 for 3 hours.Transcribing/Tablature: $78 an hour or call for a quote.

Our Facilities

All of our teachers are equipped with the latest technology and software to assist them in lesson preparation and teaching. The music school also doubles as a recording environment after hours. We have a wireless network setup for file sharing and draw upon a shared resource database.Some of the programs we use are: Sibelius, GarageBand, Logic Pro, Mainstage, transposition and tempo changing software, iTunes, Microsoft Office, Dropbox and Google Docs.We have amps set-up for guitars, a full drum kit and PA, so you can just bring your instrument and plug in for lessons.

Instrument Repairs

We are excited to finally offer instrument electronic repair with Cam Sutton jumping onboard the team.We can still do your restrings and strap buttons etc, but now have more scope to do a little more. Things like re-frets and neck repair etc we will still outsource.• For electronics it's a minimum of one hour $50 + GST.
• We will assess for free.
• Restrings $20 + the strings.
• Other repairs are on a quote-by-quote basis.Drop offs can be done weekday afternoons to our workshop at Crawshaw Music School, 27 Tongariro Street. Email [email protected] with your name, email and phone number, plus a photo of the instrument and the repair you need.We now have the awesome Benjamin Jackson in doing restrings and guitar repairs every Monday afternoon at our new music space at 27 Tongariro Street. You can drop things off during the week between 3-5.30pm, or on Mondays from 2pm-7pm.Email us what you need done with your contact details to [email protected] and we'll get you on the job list!