About the Teacher - A Brief History
Richie Robinson is surely one of Australia's best-kept guitar secrets. Born in Alice Springs
a small town in outback Australia. Richie got his first guitar at age 8
- It only had two strings on it, and Richie made the most of each of them, - as he has done ever since!!
At around 11 years old, Richie moved to the city and had the good fortune to live with his Grandfather, Les Kyte at The Academy of Music & Languages. Les was a classical-jazz band leader and arranger, and insisted that Richie practice music daily. The disciplined piano and music lessons Richie received there gave him the overview and head start he needed to acquire and maintain his position in life as an independent full-time professional performer.
Richie began his performance career as a busker around Adelaide and Sydney around the age of 13, and put most of his earnings into guitar and music studies with the best local teachers of the time.
Among his many teachers was Bruce Hancock (now heading the Jazz Department at the University of Adelaide) At the age of 16, Richie studied jazz harmony with Bruce, and Richie's dedication to the instrument led him to write a modal harmony course of his own for guitar which he then taught at various centres around the city, and is still available today as part of Richie's syllabus.
Once Richie solidified his standing in local bands doing small tours as a Rock'n'Roll and Blues guitarist, he began to expand his abilities into studio work. Local label Calibre Music gave Richie the opportunity to do studio gigs writing and playing guitar parts for local artists to shop overseas. Richie used the opportunity well and worked obsessively to learn to play rhythm and supporting roles as well as lead guitar.
At age 22 Richie took all his "apprenticeship" experience and became an independent, full-time performer. Since that time he has toured Australia extensively, performed in Fiji, China, and jammed with some remarkable musicians - including James Morrison and the Stevie Wonder Band.
In the last 27 years as a full-time performer, Richie has spent as much as 40 hours a week performing onstage on a regular basis, as a solo musician, as a small ensemble leader, right up to leading 10 piece big band The Rock N Swing Rebels.
Alongside a number of songwriting awards, Richie's productions have included Paul McCartney's guitarist Rusty Anderson. His production of New York born artist Billy Lofton made the front cover of network magazine - one of the record industry's most known publications - Richie's release was chosen in front of famed alternative, Keith Urban for that issue.
The background Richie has gathered with which he now speaks makes him a strong authority on the subject of professional guitar performance. As a result it is difficult to put a value on the insights he can provide. Far beyond the typical "out-of-high-school and into-the-local-music-conservatorium" teachers, Richie's real world performance history is an absolute treasure trove to those that know the true value of experience.
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