1^st lesson belanja

John

Rate RM225
Response 1h

RM225/h

1^st lesson belanja

Guitar
Electric guitar
Bass guitar
Ukulele

Guitar Lessons Where You Learn Exactly How Much Effort Each Chord and Note Needs

Guitar
Electric guitar
Bass guitar
Ukulele

Lesson location

- online

About John

I'm practical, and I'm fond of small adjustments. I've found that the biggest leaps on guitar rarely come from learning something new. They usually come from noticing that you're doing something with ten units of effort when it needs three. So during a lesson I'll often stop you and ask a simple question: "How hard are you pressing right now?" or "Where do you feel tension?" At first people aren't sure how to answer. After a few weeks they start noticing it themselves, and that's when progress speeds up.

I explain things in several ways, because one explanation won't work for everyone. If a description of a strumming motion doesn't click, I'll compare it to shaking water off your hand. If that doesn't work, I'll play it slowly next to you, or have you mute the strings and focus only on the motion. If a theory idea feels abstract, I'll play two versions and ask which one sounds like the song you love, then explain why. Children usually respond well to images and games. Teenagers often want to know how something connects to music they listen to. Adults often appreciate knowing the reason behind an exercise. I adjust to whoever is sitting in front of me.

I don't rush and I don't drag. If something isn't working after a few tries, I won't have you grind through it for twenty minutes. We'll take a step back, simplify it, or come at it from another direction, and then return to it later in the lesson. For returning players especially, I try to separate what's still in your hands from what needs rebuilding, so you don't waste time relearning what you already know.

A lesson with me feels like working alongside someone who pays close attention to small details but never loses sight of the music. You'll play a lot, you'll ask questions, and you'll leave with a clear idea of what to practice and how. My goal is for guitar to feel lighter and more natural in your hands, whether you're learning your first G chord or refining a solo you've played for years.

About the lesson

Almost every guitar player, at every level, uses too much effort in some places and not enough in others. Beginners squeeze the neck so hard their hand cramps after two chords, while the strumming hand barely reaches the strings. Intermediate players clench through a fast solo and wonder why their accuracy disappears at speed. In my lessons we measure effort instead of guessing. A typical exercise: fret a note, then slowly release pressure until it starts to buzz, then add pressure until it rings cleanly again, and stop there. That spot, usually far lighter than people expect, is how hard you actually need to press. Once your hand has felt it, chords get easier, fingers tire more slowly, and changes speed up because nothing is locked in place.

Chord changes are the classic early frustration: each chord sounds fine on its own, but moving between them leaves a gap that breaks the song. I don't treat the change as one movement. We look for "anchor" fingers that can stay put or slide along a string, and "pivot" fingers that lead the rest of the hand. Then we practice only the change, back and forth, with the strumming hand never stopping, even if a few strums come out muted at first. Keeping the rhythm going matters more than getting every note perfect, and beginners usually find they can play a full song much sooner than they expected. For a more advanced player, the same thinking applies to moving between barre chords, jazz voicings, or fingerstyle shapes, where a single finger left in place can turn a clumsy shift into a smooth one.

The fretboard often feels like a huge grid of unrelated dots. Instead of memorizing it blindly, I like to start on a single string. You play a melody you already know, perhaps a nursery tune for a child or a riff from a favorite song for a teenager or adult, using only one string. That forces you to hear and feel distances: two frets is a whole step, one fret is a half step. Then we play the same melody across two strings and see how the shapes change. Gradually you build a map tied to sounds you recognize rather than a chart you have to recall. Intermediate and advanced players take this into scales, arpeggios, and improvisation, where I'll often set deliberate limits, such as soloing over a progression using only three notes or only one string. The limit makes you choose notes for musical reasons instead of letting your fingers run familiar patterns.

Whatever we're working on, it shows up in real music the same day. A strumming pattern goes straight into a song. A new scale shape gets used over a backing track. A fingerpicking exercise becomes the intro to a piece you want to play. I'll also show you how to practice once you're home: how to find the exact bar where things go wrong, how to slow down just that bit, and how to check whether you're using more effort than you need.

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RM225

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5h: RM1125
10h: RM2250

free lessons

This first lesson is free to allow you to get to know your teacher so that they can best meet your needs.

online

RM225/h

Guitar Lessons Where You Learn Exactly How Much Effort Each Chord and Note Needs

Lesson location

About John

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

free lessons

online

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Guitar Lessons Where You Learn Exactly How Much Effort Each Chord and Note Needs

Lesson location

About John

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

free lessons

online

Similar Guitar tutors in New York

Raafik

Miaw

Adel

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Isaac

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Andy

Zealenhomemusic

Bryan

Kairel

Arjang

David Tee Kian Fu

Hashvinder

Hans

Carson

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