About the Edinburgh Guitar Studio

Edinburgh Guitar Studio was established by Grant Catto and he is ably backed up by Graeme Stephen. They combine excellent technical ability on the guitar specifically with wide and varied musical experience generally.

Click on the lists to the left to find out more about the teachers.

• LLCM (td)
• ATCL (recital) - classical guitar
• ABRSM Grade 8 theory

• 6 years as a full-time music teacher.
• Experience in further education, primary and secondary school teaching and private tuition.
• Spent 4 years studying classical guitar, music theory, music history and performance

Music can accomplish an incredible amount for an individual; be it intellectually, socially or emotionally.

The tremendous sense of achievement as one becomes proficient in an instrument is hard to match.

Having been a musician and educator for over 10 years, I hope to help others feel that same sense of achievement and, hopefully, help them avoid the many pitfalls along the way.

Graeme studied music in Aberdeen before moving on to Berklee College of Music, Massachusettes in 1996. Now residing in Edinburgh he performs with numerous musical projects from free improvisation to folk music. Having recorded with various groups Graeme released his first CD with his trio in 2006. In 2003 he was awarded a grant from the Arts Council of Scotland to write and perform a specially composed suite of music with a group of talented performers including Fraser Fifield, Stuart Ritchie, Ben Davis, and Dick Lee. This music drew on influences ranging from world music, jazz and modern classical forms. Graeme has played alongside many great musicians including Jim Mullen, Reid Anderson Quintet, Jorge Rossi, Eivind Opsvik and Bill Mchenry.

“Graeme has absorbed a whole range of influences from the classic pre-bop of Charlie Christian through to contemporary icons like Bill Frisell but is finding his own way to make use of that legacy.”
. . . . . The Scotsman

Having recorded with various groups Graeme released his first CD with his trio in 2006. This recording was funded with a grant from the Scottish Arts Council and features New York based musician Eivind Opsvik on bass and London based drummer Stuart Ritchie.

As well as this trio Graeme leads a sextet of violin, soprano sax, alto sax, guitar, double bass and drums. This group was formed early 2005 performing throughout Scotland including concerts at Aberdeen Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Jazz Festival, Celidh Culture and featured broadcasts on Radio Scotland.

Graeme's compositions for this group take influence from the different styles of players involved, which include folk, jazz and classical disciplines. He received an Atom Award from the PRS Foundation to undertake a recording of this group which was released in 2006.