Guitar Lessons
“In my pursuit of furthering and solidifying my technique, Jon’s knowledge and great methods have made all the difference. Thanks to Jon I can now use my guitar playing in my work as a professional speaker. So much fun and I’m endlessly grateful 🙂”
“Out of all the guitar teachers I’ve had, Jon has had the biggest impact on my playing. When I log out after each lesson I’m always satisfied. He’s a great teacher who takes his student’s development very seriously with an eye for details and a long-term plan in mind.”
Does this sound familiar?
You are having a hard time learning songs and solos by your favourite artist.
You can’t seem to get your technique to that fluid and effortless place that you see your heroes possess.
You feel lost and don’t know how or even what to practice. Much less in what order to do it.
You aimlessly watch endless amounts of YouTube videos in the hopes of finding your way.
Music theory is a giant mystery to you and you don’t know how to apply anything to your actual guitar playing.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Do you want to improve your technique?
Do you want to be able to play what you hear in your head?
Do you want to understand what your favorite musicians are playing?
Do you want to be able to improvise freely all over the fretboard and not be bound down by boxes or positions?
Do you want effective practice techniques that'll enable you to actually make progress each and every time you sit down with your instrument?
My focus is on developing your technique, timing, ear, and fretboard knowledge. By improving these you'll be a better player in whatever style or styles you are specifically interested in.
We can of course dive deeper into any style you want but I've found that the best use of our time together is to help you improve in the areas I outlined above.
Over the years of practicing and dedicating myself to becoming a better player and above all a better musician, I’ve found some great concepts and exercises that help immensely. Here are a few things we can dive deeper into:
Ear training: Probably the most important thing for any musician. I use and recommend movable do Solfege which is extremely powerful once you get the hang of it.
Fretboard layout: How to see scales/arpeggios/chords all over the fretboard in any key. Combined with Solfege it's a powerful way to learn to play what you hear.
Rhythmic Theory: Learning the different permutations of triplets, sixteenth notes, and beyond. Konnakol is an Indian system for counting complex rhythmic figures. Sort of like Solfege for rhythms.
Technique: Alternate picking, Sweep/economy picking, hybrid picking, legato in both hands, etc... but most importantly HOW to practice to build your technique and get rid of bad habits and sloppy playing.
Theory: From the pentatonic scale through the modes and beyond. Learn the building blocks to music and how to apply that knowledge to improvising and writing your own music.
Improvising: How to apply everything we’ve learned and make music in real-time. Different ways to practice so you can pinpoint trouble areas and expand and improve your playing with each practice session instead of repeating the same old licks.
The lessons are conducted via Skype and are taught in 30/45-minute sessions.
Please use the form below to send me a brief outline of your goals and what you hope to achieve with your lessons.
“First and foremost, Jon is an excellent teacher. He has a deep understanding of a huge number of techniques such that he knows how they work, the common (and not so common!) mistakes that people make when learning then, and has a very clear way of explaining his thoughts.
He is solely focussed on teaching in a way that works for the student and I made great improvements in literally a few weeks. He has given me the tools to approach any new piece of music and I’m confident that I have the best possible foundation to really understand the piece I’m playing. Last but not least, he’s a thoroughly nice person with the student’s best interests at heart.”
“Toni Watzinger
https://www.instagram.com/toni_watzinger/
”Jon is an awesome teacher and great guy in general. I took lessons for about 3 years and it changed my playing a lot. But for me personally more important: It changed the way I practice. Jon gave me an insight on how to practice systematically and offered some well arranged practice schedules that helped my to overcome the plateau I was on for quite some time. Now I can see improvements in my playing regulary by following his practice routines. Thank you Jon :)””
Price:
45-Minute Lessons:
120 EURO per lesson.
30-Minute Lessons:
100 EURO per lesson.
I also offer video exchange coaching:
https://jonbjork.teachable.com/p/guitar-coaching-video-exchange
Jon came highly recommended from another excellent teacher who has benefitted from Jon's skill identifying problem areas and getting them fixed - fast.
I needed work on organizing practice time, and improving my right and left hand technique. My left fretting hand had way too much tension.
Jon gave me exercises to learn to feel how to play with just the right amount of tension.
Right hand strumming and left hand muting playing funk needed attention.
Again, Jon quickly identified the issues in my playing and offered solutions that work.
I am and feel so much more confident in my ability to tackle some challenging music I want to learn.
I will definitely return to have Jon help me shred one day!
- George Keenan
“Det jag fastnade för med Jons gitarrlektioner var bland annat hans pedagogik som tilltalade mig väldigt mycket. Det har gjort mitt gitarrspel bättre och ökat min förmåga att möta ”all” inlärning med ett helt annat självförtroende och tillvägagångssätt ån tidigare. Man kan kan verkligen känna att Jon besitter en otrolig mängd kunskaper inom musik, gitarrspel och pedagogik. Det som slår mig är förutom att han är en bländande gitarrist är, att han fortfarande är nyfiken på all utveckling och det är också en källa till inspiration för mig. Tack för grymma lektioner!
”What stood out about Jon’s lessons was among other things his methodology that appealed to me a great deal. It’s made my guitar playing better but also increased my confidence and methods of learning in general. You really get the sense that Jon has a vast knowledge of music, guitar and effective learning. What strikes me outside of his great playing skills is that he’s still interested in new ways of learning and that in turn inspires me a great deal. Thank you for the awesome lessons! ”
““Jon is an incredible guitar player and master, and taking lessons with him has been a very wise investment with huge positive payout. Jon’s knowledge about music and guitar technique is extremely extensive and his lessons helped me improve dramatically in all areas. Thanks to his lessons I learnt the best approach to guitar practice and I was given very useful and well thought exercises to get better and reach my goals. I highly recommend Jon to any guitarist who really wants to make a step up and improve as a guitar player and musician!”
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pedrhard/?hl=en
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pedrhard”
För Svenska elever så föredrar jag Swish, du kan swisha till följande nummer: 1233867918. (what looked like gibberish is just payment instructions for Swedish students)
My schedule is flexible enough to accommodate all time-zones, so there's usually no problem finding a time that works for both of us.
In between lessons you're more than welcome to e-mail me with any questions regarding the homework (yeah, sorry to say there will be homework) for the previous lesson.
I do this for a living and need to know at least 24 hours in advance if you have to re-schedule or cancel the lesson, with the exception of something really serious and out of your hands.
Otherwise, I expect you to pay for the missed lesson since I won't have the time to book another one in your place.
Use the form below for booking and any questions you might have in relation to the lessons. We’ll set up the Skype call and get the payment sorted after you’ve booked.
(Check the Spam folder if you don’t get a quick reply, I always respond!)
ORCHESTRAL COMPOSITION
I give lessons in harmony, counterpoint, orchestration, and composition. My approach is a holistic one in that I try as much as possible to view each element of a composition as it relates to the other(s). In other words, I avoid separating them by subject (harmony, counterpoint, etc...) and then trying to piece it back together in actual music. That's like trying to be a writer by studying grammar, vocabulary etc...but never reading any of the great works where you see each element in action.
I've found that when you study REAL music and view each element (harmony, counterpoint, orchestration etc...) in context it gives you a far better understanding of music as a whole. It's also infinitely more enjoyable and motivational to avoid dry exercises as much as possible. Exercises are fine if you need some extra work on a very specific element, but as a whole, it's better to focus on the way each element relates to another in an organic way. This way of studying is also supported by recent studies in learning so it's really a win-win in my mind.
The lessons are conducted via Skype using screen-sharing and are taught in 45-minute sessions. Before we have our first paid lesson we'll have a brief interview/chat over Skype to go over what your goals are as well as check that our setup is working.
In between lessons you're more than welcome to e-mail me with any questions regarding the homework (yeah, sorry to say there will be homework) for the previous lesson.
You'll need a notation program to do the homework, there are several cheap/free options out there if you're not already using any of the bigger ones. I personally use and recommend Sibelius but any available program is fine.
If you have any questions or want to book a lesson, please contact me through the form below.
