About me

I’m a full-time classical guitar teacher who teaches out of my home music studio in Seng Kang.

Before pursuing a full-time career in music education, I had a ten year career in advertising, public relations and communications. I previously  worked as a  Communications Executive at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), specialising in digital media.

Before joining NYP,  I worked at the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports where I worked on  the President’s Challenge during S R Nathan’s tenure as President.

I also have some experience in the private sector. I worked in Red Dawn Communications, a boutique PR agency, and at Redworks (Ogilvy). I’ve worked with clients such as the Economic Board of Singapore, The People’s Association Youth Movement, DHL, Coca Cola and Nokia to name a few.

During my polytechnic and university days, I taught the classical guitar to put myself through school, and earn some pocket money. Before I graduated, I was hired by Ngee Ann Polytechnic as a guitar instructor under the baton of Alex Abisheganaden.

As a classical guitar teacher, I’ve been teaching part-time and full-time since 2006. I have prepared students for the ABRSM and Trinity College of London Music exams up to Grade 8, with a 100% passing rate, and 80% of my beginner students are able to reach a grade 3 playing ability within 8 months (instead of 4 years).

I am able to achieve these results by only teaching solo or duo classes. This ensure that students get enough personal attention and guidance and produces the best learning outcomes . I sincerely care about my students and I do my best to help them grow musically.

For this reason, I do not discriminate against students. I have taught students of all ages (aged 6 to over 60), various ethnicities (Chineses, Indian, Malay, Eurasian, Caucasian) and nationalities (Singaporeans, Malaysian, Americans, Britons, Japanese, Indian Nationals, Chinese Nationals). I even teach students with learning disabilities (dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, high functioning autism, partial hearing loss).

I’ve appeared in various media, including BBC Newsday, the Straits Times, The New Paper, Today and Yahoo! News.

In my free time, I like to go to the gym with my wife, and spend time with my family.

Timeline:

1984: Born
1991: St Gabriel’s Primary School
1995: Started learning the classical guitar
1997: St Gabriel’s Secondary School
2000: Began teaching classical guitar privately
2002: Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Diploma in Mass Communication)
2003: First classical guitar performance
2005: Became paid instructor for Ngee Ann Polytechnic Strings
2006: National Service
2006: Starting teach classical guitar part-time (due to national service)
2008: Worked at Mentis Marketing (search engine optimization) and Ogilvy and Mather/Redworks (advertising)
2009: Studied Murdoch University (Bachelor in Mass Communications)
2009: Freelance copywriter/public relations/web developer
2010: Created Bloggers in Big Shoes
2010: Graduated from Murdoch University
2010: Marketing and Public Relations Manager at Red Dawn Communications
2011: New Media Relations Executive at the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
2012: Communications Executive at Nanyang Polytechnic
2018: Became a full time classical guitar teacher

8 Replies to “About me”

  1. Do you still have time to teach?

    I like guitar but I find it hard to play.

    I am 53 years old, a private Math tutor.

    Do you still stay around serangoon area? near Kovan ?

    I have not been playing guitar for a long long time.

    I have to learn from scratch, may be 🙂

    Thank you for your time. if you are free just drop me a note.

    See if we have an opportunity to meet. 🙂

    Have a nice day

  2. Hi Hock Eng,

    Yes, I still teach.

    I am located near Kovan MRT station. If you would like to start classes, you can email me at dedrick@dedrickkoh.com, or you can message/call me at 98411123. We can work out a schedule from there. 🙂

    Do note that I may be unable to answer your call if I am busy.

  3. Hi Derick, stumbled upon your blog in linkedin as I am looking for an answer which is still a mystery to me even after I have posted in web wednesday.

    Specialist Diploma in Sales and New Media in NYP

    Came across this and got to understand that this is a new course offered so would like to find out more as below as I have been in the sales industry for awhule and am looking to further my endeavour:

    Would like to know in terms of:
    1)What is the career prospect and advancement for a social media specialist with this diploma?
    2)How is the remuneration package like?

    Appreciate your honest opinions and thanks in advance!

    1. Hi Viktor,

      It’s been a while since I worked in the online retail sector, so you may want to take my personal comments with a pinch of salt.

      In my opinion, it’s still a relatively new field. I asked the course manager about this Specialist Diploma and was informed that, like all our diplomas, it was created because there is a industry demand for this skillset.

      From my observation, the field of new media is quite new and constantly evolving, so I will not hazard a guess in terms of career prospects or remuneration. Every day people like me go to work, we write the book for future generations to study.

      Despite new media’s infancy (20 years is quite young compared to radio, television or print) I see it as a field that is here to stay, regardless of how it evolves, and it is my belief that e-commerce will grow even more as it gains more traction in Singapore.

      But that’s just my humble opinion.

      I’m sending you an e-mail to link you up with a NYP lecturer who is much more familiar with this course. I hope this reply, and my subsequent e-mail helps. Thanks for commenting.

  4. Hello Mr Dedrick,

    your personal history is quite impressive. I am a classical guitar enthusiast myself and am learning these days. Got opportunity to learn this piece of instrument since last 2 years when I was 35, though my learning pace is at a snail speed but I feel quite comfortable with my slow pace as am mostly occupied in my usual job.Anyway, why I am writing to you is because I find there is a very little knowledge about classical guitar here in India and I find scope in here is quite tremendous both in terms of commercially and professionally. If you ever consider yourself to be ready to spread western classical music knowledge through classical guitar across your own cultural boudaries and you think India is a okay destination for you to begin with, you may get in touch with me. Here in India there are no good teachers or people having knowledge on this subject. My music teacher here in Delhi is quite good and knowledgeable but lacs motivation or resources to move forward ahead in this direction, maybe because he is at late 50’s and I have some different ideas in terms of promotions , concerts etc to spread the awareness and culture on the subject.
    I am reachable at XXXXXX@gmail.com or at +91XXXXXXXX – Cell. It’d be quite nice to be in touch with you, if I am in Singapore which I do once in a year, will try to touch base with you if its okay for you. All the best…!
    Kind Regards
    krish

    1. Hi Krish,

      Thanks for visiting my website and commenting. As a classical guitar teacher, I had several students from India, and they too shared with me how classical guitar teachers are in short supply in India. I don’t have any plans to relocate to another country to teach guitar or to work, but if I ever travel to India I’ll see what I can do to promote the instrument.

      I never had any intention to develop a “impressive” personal history, but my choices in life have given me plenty of interesting stories to share.

      Sadly, I will probably have to take most of these stories with me to my grave.

      Let me know if you are in Singapore. I’d be happy to touch base and work on some material with you! 🙂

  5. hi, thank you for your response….as I was going through you website, I saw you have put some valuable comments on classical guitar instrument. I am planning for a CG192 Spruce board. can you tell me if that model is free from any flaws as I noted that some of the yamaha instruments are flawed and could be detected only by individuals who are experienced like you. I am planning to ask a friend of mine in Singapore to simply fetch this piece from shop who does not know anything at all about guitars. All I am gonna do is to give him the model no and tell him to get it for me. Thats only obvious I get to hear from you about this model CG 192 S .Hope to hear back from you on this soon.
    thanks in advance…
    krish

    1. Hi Krish,

      From my experience with Yamaha’s latest CG line, I found the action to be too low across the board for all their models.If you have a very weak attack and get lucky with a specimen with slightly higher action, you may be ok.

      But if you can’t try it for yourself, buying it is a bit of a risk. The lower action means that Yamaha classical guitars are no longer as safe to buy without trying them first.

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