Choose your session.

I’ll play three notes from a tune you like. Hum them back, then see if you can find them on the keys. Once they feel familiar, we’ll play them along with the recording.

I’ll play a bass line while you try two-note chord shapes underneath the phrase. Listen for how little your fingers need to move between chords.

I’ll play a two-bar phrase over a blues and leave a little silence. Answer me with the same rhythm and a different ending. Then you start one and I’ll follow.

Pick a chorus you love. I’ll play it twice, changing one chord from major to minor the second time. Listen for the moment its mood shifts, then try that one-note change yourself.

Sing the last line of that same chorus. Which note feels like somewhere you could stop? Hold it while I try different chords, and listen for the one that brings you home.

Start the chorus on a different note. We’ll hum the tune, find its new home chord and piece the rest together by ear. Try both versions and pick the key you like singing in.

Bring a voice note or a half-written lyric, or come in empty-handed and we’ll start at the piano. We’ll play a few chords and hum ideas over them until there’s a line you want to hear again.

I’ll play different bass notes under your melody. You choose the combination that gives your line the feeling you had in mind.

We’ll try a quieter verse against your hook, then play the sections together and listen for where the chorus wants to land.

Pick a track you keep coming back to. We’ll slow down its hook, sing it and work out the notes one phrase at a time.

Would you like to play the tune with your right hand, or play chords and sing along? For the first, I’ll cover the bass while you find the melody. For the second, we’ll find a chord rhythm that leaves room for your voice.

We’ll try the chorus as a stripped-back ballad and then closer to the record. Pick the tempo, chord shapes and texture you like.