About Us
Our Mission
At Slow Train Piano Lab, we want to help as many people as possible discover the joy of playing the piano without being constrained to written sheet music.
We want to enable them to play in a band setting, accompany another performer, or simply relax in front of their own piano or keyboard at home.
We want students to select the music they play. We want to teach students the rules and the theory underpinning music, to unlock the keyboard. We want to teach them scales and arpeggios, not for the sake of passing exams, but to use, for real, in their improvisation.
We want to give them the skills that will see them playing the piano for the rest of their lives.
Our Story
Traditional beginning
Music has always been part of who I am — not something I had to learn, but something that felt a part of me. I started piano like many children do studying for Grade 1 at the age of nine, but very soon after I passed the exam, my teacher left. Some years later I took Grade 2, but sadly that teacher moved away too.
It felt like the formal path was just not meant to be.
An alternative way
My parents bought me a little book on how to play by chords, how to vamp, shape harmony, and create sound with feeling and quickly play real songs. At that age I was fortunate to have an upright piano in my bedroom, and so I spent hours exploring it, discovering that I could quickly make music and begin to play the songs I loved.
From that point on, I never looked back.
Music was everywhere
Our home was filled with music. My Dad played the trumpet, trombone, guitar, and piano, and he played by ear, using chords, which was very helpful. My mum sang with real warmth and beauty. Music wasn’t just a skill in my family — it was a way of being together. It was how we expressed ourselves, how we encouraged one another, how we lived.
As I grew, so did my playing. I joined a church worship band, learning to play contemporary worship by ear using chords. I accompanied my mum and dad as they sang in churches across the UK.
As a teenager in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I fell in love, not only with music, but with synthesisers. I was fascinated by the idea that you could shape sound itself. I decided to study Electronic Engineering at university because I wanted to understand how synthesisers worked and how music could be created from electronic circuits.
Slight detour
When I graduated, life took a different direction. I stepped into the defence industry, developing electronics hardware and software for safety critical electrical control systems and instrumentation. It was challenging, meaningful work. It provided stability, growth, and supported my family for 36 years. But it never quieted the pull of music. Music remained the heartbeat in the background, always waiting, always calling me back.
Soon after graduation I got married and raised two children, but I kept learning, listening, exploring — jazz, blues, music theory, improvisation. The piano became a place where I could express anything: joy, reflection, prayer, celebration, sadness. It has been my companion through every season.
Coming home
In April 2025, when I reached retirement, something became beautifully clear – I knew exactly what I wanted to do next. I was not retiring to sit back and do nothing – no, it was finally time to return to music – a passion that had always been there for me.
I feel a deep desire to share the joy of playing freely by chords, with others. To share the joy I have experienced all my life. Playing by chords has let me express my feelings without searching for the right words. It has allowed my hands to speak when words were just inadequate. It has allowed me to play music that felt personal, shaped by the moment, the mood, the heart. I want to equip beginners, young and old, with the skills to play by chords without getting bogged down with notation. Time for notation will come later. But I also feel a real passion to help experienced pianists, even those with Grade 8, who can read music beautifully, but have never felt truly free at the piano to play by ear.
I want to give students an experience, not just a piano lesson. I want them to experience playing in a band, with a guitarist, a drummer and bassist. I want to give them a chance to play along to a drum track, or a backing track and hear their playing in a real life context. I want them to be excited about practising as they fall in love with making real music.
A passion is born
So, in May 2025, I founded Slow Train Piano Lab – where students learn to play by ear, by feel, by heart – where music is made with curiosity, not pressure – where the piano becomes a place of joy again.
The piano has been my companion and my passion through every season of life — a place to return to, a place to be myself. My hope is that, here, you’ll discover that same sense of home.
Welcome to Slow Train Piano Lab.
Let’s find joy at the piano — together.
Mark
We offer professional and flexible face-to-face and online piano tutoring to all abilities, focusing on teaching you the Slow Train Piano Lab chord-based piano technique that allows you to play confidently, creatively and quickly. Each lesson is tailored to your goals, whether you’re just starting out or looking to try something new.
Slow Train Studios - Nottingham
Affiliations
All teachers have Enhanced DBS
Testimonials
Here's what some of our students had to say about Slow Train Piano Labs...
If you’re frustrated that your playing sounds dull and boring, Slow Train Piano Lab is the place to be…no need to read music, but instead based around chords, your playing will begin to become more fluent almost instantly.
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Contact Details
- Head Office - Wollaton, Nottingham NG8 2AB
- hello@slowtrainpianolab.co.uk
- 07710 533500
- Monday - Sunday 9am - 9pm
