Information About Johnston - Lurgan teacher

Personal Description:

My name is Johnston. As of this date I am currently eighteen years of age and I have been playing the guitar and learning the ideals of music since the age of twelve. I am self-taught excluding my sister and superiors showing me a few tricks. My major influences are Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom), Synyster Gates (Avenged Sevenfold), Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne), Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen), Hizaki (Versailles), amongst many other musicians

I am heavily influenced by metal, classical, flamenco and gypsy music. I apply all of these techniques into my own style.

During my time playing the guitar, I have played many places, in and out of Northern Ireland, our biggest gig being 400 people at the Empire Music Hall. My band, for which myself and our lead singer wrote the songs for, came second in the Northern Irish battle of the bands.

Tutoring Experience:

My teaching experience comes from mainly friendly encounters. When I began my music course in 2010, people began to approach me asking me to teach them some of my tricks. This turned into a bit of a job. I took on another sixteen year old student free-of-charge for a year and he has went on to play guitar in a rising band in England. Other than that, I have mainly been teaching a few tricks here and there to some who have described my playing as 'much over the average for the amount of time playing' and asked me to teach them it.

Tutoring Approach:

I am happy to offer a FREE first session to ensure the tutee is happy with myself and my tutoring style. A demonstration of my own skills is welcome if requested.

In my approach to tuition, I have a firm belief in developing your own style. As of this, I REFUSE to abide by music grades. I teach in a way that helps the tutee develop his/her own style. I also ensure to teach the tutee that, while learning the licks and riffs he/she loves, that he/she learns improvisation along the way. I believe this will help the tutee better understand the instrument.

For beginners, I would plan to help the tutee learn about the instrument. The first lesson would include a half hour of a breakdown of the guitar as a whole before a half hour of playing. That is the last time the tutee will hear of the guitar parts unless requested otherwise. From there, I will request a meeting to hear of what bands the tutee enjoys to listen to and wants to learn. I ensure that I keep it interesting by teaching the tutee what he/she wants: not something from some old book!

For intermediates I will be mainly taking the approach of teaching them guitar techniques (e.g. sweeping, sweep tapping, finger picking, tremelo picking, accuracy, pinch harmonics etc) as they request. Also, improvisation will be highly expanded upon at this point.

Of course, these are just small guidelines, it is all down to what the tutee wants! This is why I offer the FREE first session: to see what I'm going to get and what you're going to get for your money. I will inquire about what they want to learn and what they desire to achieve in the time they spend with me. I don't believe in labels such as "beginner, intermediate, expert" etc. What some consider child's-play is expert to others!

Along the way, I will be teaching some music theory! I ensure not to hit the point of boredom with it because… well… I know how that feels!