But one thing is common in all the levels: We should enjoy this, the student and me as well!
I would like to emphasis that there may be overlaps between the different types. So let’s go through these 4 groups, and find out where you belong to.
You haven’t had any experience with the guitar so far.
Probably you will meet it for the first time at the first lesson. You just want to be able to play simple songs and you are not really into music theory. For instance I met parents who came to me only because they
wanted to play for their children. I think this is a beautiful reason. This is also your group, if you just want to play simple songs with your friends in the Vondelpark J.
Before we start we always learn about the guitar and how things work on this instrument. If you are a
beginner it is really important for you to understand your instrument well and then learn all the things step by step. We will need to build up the study
otherwise it could become confusing later. We will start learning about notes, chords and pretty soon we will learn the first real song. We will start with an easy strumming song and then move on to picking one. We repeat a little bit in every lesson, we keep playing the previous things and we go on as well. That is how we can memorize everything well and develop new things. I always write down everything (all the theory and songs) because it is good for you to have it on paper thinking about the future. Many times I record the lesson so I can give you the mp3 file. At home you can listen to it again, which is very useful.
You are interested in theory as well as learning different techniques (finger pickings, rhythmic strumming, and a lot of tricks) and different styles (can be rock guitar riffs and songs, Spanish songs or bossa novas, swing, classical etuds, pop or blues songs, etc.). We also can learn how to play melody a little bit, or the relationship between chords and scales, etc. Some people for instance already heard about pentatonic or modal scales but they don’t know how to use them. I have a very good method especially for this so we can easily make these things clear and practice together. There are some people who already can play but they are stuck at a certain level of development and they need my help to get through it. For instance they know a lot of chords but they don’t know how to use them. They might feel that they play always the same. I think every music lover met this problem already and we all know this feeling. But we can absolutely fix this because we just need to find new ways and aspects. Most of the time we just need to develop our
creativity.
You already play guitar well and you want to develop your skills in different things and learn new approaches (scales and modes, harmonies, arpeggios, theory, improvisation etc.). You might want to apply for admission to conservatory and they need help to prepare for the exam.
What you are mainly interested in is not the guitar.
Either because you already have a level you are happy with, or you play another instrument, which also can be a computer. In this case you might want to improve your creativity and pick up some music theory. We have a couple of music maker softwares like Ableton Live, Logic pro, Cubase, Reason, Garage Band. With these programs you can record instrumental lines, and make and edit electronic music. I can teach you how to make music and what the possibilities, options are. I use Ableton Live to create, record and edit music. We can make drum lines or bass lines with VST
plugins or with other electronic instruments. Theory and different editing techniques, technical tricks with noises, atmospheres, etc.
My name is David Reschofsky. I’m a composer, musician, and guitar teacher in Budapest.
06301925082