Christopher Lyall started learning the classical guitar whilst he was at school in London and continued with Julian Byzantine (a pupil of John Williams). He then entered the Royal College of Music in London with the cello as second instrument.

At the Royal College he studied the guitar with Patrick Bashford and occasionally with Carlos Bonell (another pupil of John Williams). Studies also included theory and composition with composers Joseph Horovitz and Stephen Dodgson, cello lessons with Harvey Smith and also lute lessons with Diana Poulton, who at the time was the world's leading authority on the music of John Dowland and a pioneer of early music.

Whilst at the Royal College he won first prize in a guitar competition in southern England and represented the college in various festivals as a soloist and also in chamber music groups and with orchestras. He was also a substitute professor of the guitar at the Royal College of Music Junior School.

His London debut was at the Wigmore Hall and was highly praised by the critics. He went on to play in England, Spain, Italy, Holland, Chile and Japan and in major festivals in Brazil and Portugal. In 1983 he was a finalist in the Munich International Music Competition.

Christopher Lyall has lived in both Portugal and Brazil, playing and teaching extensively in both countries. During his last stay in Brazil he taught the guitar at the Federal University of Amazonas and was the first invited soloist to play with the Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra in the famous Teatro Amazonas in Manaus (Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez). In Portugal, apart from teaching and playing, he founded, in 1999, the International Guitar Competition in Sernancelhe, at the time the only event of its kind in the country. In 2001 he played the guitar concerto by Castelnuovo-Tedesco there, with Carlos Bonell playing Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in the same programme.

In 2004 he gave concerts and courses in Peru and also recorded for Peruvian television. Apart from solo recitals he has played with singers, in chamber groups and with orchestras. His repertoire consists of all the periods from the Renaissance to contemporary and he has given several first performances of guitar works. He has also recorded for BBC radio and television, RTP in Portugal, Bayerische Rundfunk in Germany and Rede Globo in Brazil.

Christopher Lyall has taught all levels of the guitar from beginner to concert level and to students of all ages. Many of his former students are now either playing or teaching in their own right.

He has been living and teaching in Cambridge since 2014.