I started off by playing around with my dad's old guitar. I began having lessons with one of his friends - just learning Beatles songs and playing around with different chords until I found one of my dad's classical guitar records by John Williams and I was hooked. I wanted to find out as much as possible about the instrument.

When we moved from Tregarth to Colwyn Bay I had lessons with Jonathan Richards and went on from there. I decided during the sixth form at Ysgol y Creuddyn that I didn't want to do anything else.

I didn't concentrate much on my other A-levels, just hung around the music room, practising and practising. I got an offer to study music at the Royal Scottish Academy and went for it.

If you're serious about playing an instrument professionally then you must practise, and from quite an early age. I didn't take up the guitar until I was about 10, which is quite late in comparison to many musicians - especially pianists and violinists who begin very young. You've really got to stick at it too - an hour a night, then up to three hours before university.

It's also important to get used to playing in front of an audience. Put together four or five pieces you're really good at and go out and find places to play. I remember doing a gig on Llandudno bandstand on the prom, which was interesting, and performing in the school eisteddfod.

It's also important to listen to lots of music. One thing that does restrict young people is not having access to classical music - so go out and find it.

You don't have to love the obvious stuff like Mozart or whoever; there are some great modern composers out there. Just experiment and discover your own taste in music.

Classical guitar is my mainstay - it's quite a different discipline from the electric guitar. It has more to do with reading music and understanding the harmonies and you have to pluck with your fingers, rather than strumming with a plectrum.

But I did also teach myself electric guitar and it's come in useful.

I'm currently teaching the guitar in London, but I still perform too. I have a few projects going - solo work, a contemporary flute and guitar duet and a guitar duo called Albach. We've just released our first CD, The Raw and the Cooked.

I've been to San Francisco to perform with a flautist and Albach are going to perform at a guitar festival in Peru in 2008.

There are many modern composers creating music for guitar, though many tend to shy away because writing for this instrument is quite fiddly. I'm currently playing some work by Stephen Goss, a young Welsh composer.

It's been great recently coming back to north Wales to do some gigs and workshops with Ensemble Cymru. We've worked with some primary school children, demonstrating Spanish music on the classical guitar and the different effects you can create on an electric guitar with the pedals and amps. A lot of the children were having guitar lessons and they seemed quite knowledgeable.

My best advice is to find a good teacher and listen to them. Also listen to as much music as possible, practice and get yourself out there, performing. It's important to leave university with a good programme ready to perform so you can get out there and work. David Black