A NEW guitar school will be hitting the right chord with local musicians.

The Kit Hawes Guitar School opens for business in a purpose-built studio on the side of the guitarist's home in West Swindon.

Kit, 20, will be giving lessons in electric and acoustic guitar, bass guitar and song composition.

Kit has been teaching in a small way with a couple of students but is now moving into a full-blown guitar school which will open with 20 students on its books.

The guitarist was born in London and when he was a youngster his parents brought him to Lower Shaw Farm in West Swindon.

"We went for the weekend and ended up living there for eight years because they liked the lifestyle so much," said Kit.

Both his parents are musical. They run the Swindon Scratch Choir.

Mum Linda plays the guitar and dad Martin is a singer and percussionist.

"We used to have singing weekends and I grew up with music all around," he said. "My brother Sam was the only one who escaped. He went in to marketing."

It was Kit's grandad Harry Hawes who was the famous musician in the family. He sang in a close harmony group called the Radio Revellers before the Second World War.

"We found a video on the internet of his band playing at the cinemas in 1938," said Kit. "It was amazing. So music is definitely in the blood."

Kit has won through to the semi-finals of the BBC Young Folk Musician awards, the finals of the National Yamaha competition run by Guitar magazine, and he's also part of Indie band The Minnesota Twins, who are through to the semi-finals of the televised Live Unsigned competition, "the X Factor for rock bands".

Anyone interested in joining the new guitar school at Clydesdale Close, Shaw, should call Kit on 01793 875184 or email identti77athotmail.com.