Our Story

Tony's story with music began at the age of 5, when his father bought him his first guitar. Living in a musical environment helped Tony to quickly build his skills.  By the time he was 11 years old he was playing guitar and keyboard professionally in a band. The other members of the band were all on their 20's and recognising his advanced skills, had invited him to play with them as lead guitarist. Since then he worked on a number of bands, teaching the other members, helping them to improving their skills and knowledge. Tony continued to developed an exceptional musical talent, incorporating not only guitar but other instruments, including the drums. The guitar however is Tony's first instrument of choice. Throughout the years he has been influenced by a number of well known top musicians including Carlos Santana, David Gilmore, Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Mark Knopfler, Al Di Meola, Iron Maiden and Dream Theatre and by the time he was 17 years old, he was teaching their styles. By this stage, Tony was also performing nightly with various bands and for several years recorded for television.

Although Tony graduated from University at the age of 23 with a Bachelor of Physics degree, it was his passion for music, particularly the guitar which leads him to pursue his career as a professional musician. Prior to immigration to New Zealand, Tony taught many students and travelled as a professional musician playing at many different venues, regularly attracting huge audiences.

Tony arrived in New Zealand in 2002 and almost immediately started performing in Auckland six nights a week. During this time, Tony started "Tonys's Rock Studio" as well as teaching guitar at an Auckland Art Institute for six years. Tony's Rock Studio quickly became popular and remains so to this day. Among his students are some who travel long distances to their weekly lessons, coming from as far south as Thames and Hamilton and from as far north as Omaha Beach. Many students have been with Tony for fourteen years.

Tony is working full time as a guitar teacher and has an excellent reputation. He has programmes for all ages including for those as young as 5 years old to those in their late 70's, from complete beginner to advanced levels. He tailor his teaching  methods to suit the needs of the student. He teaches a variety of styles from ROCK, BLUES, JAZZ, HEAVY METAL, CLASSICAL, COUNTRY AND FLAMENCO. He teaches, acoustic, electric and bass guitar. Tony also assists students who are studying music at schools or universities or playing in bands. He teaches them music theory and assist with their original compositions and school performances. 

Throughout the years, many younger students have been given the skills and knowledge to go busking while a great number of older students have become professional musicians.

 Through these programmes, Tony can take your guitar playing to very high levels.