My name is Oleksii Nikolaiev. I am a professional musician and teacher with over 14 years of teaching experience.
If you are looking for a teacher for yourself or your children, I am ready to help. I have experience working with children from the age of 7 and adults up to the age of 65.
In this stage, you will learn to play and sing your favourite songs using basic chords, rhythms (strumming) and arpeggios (picking). Do not worry about your vocal ability—I will show you how to create an enjoyable performance that you and your friends will love. You will also learn the fundamentals of music theory. It is not difficult, but it is essential for understanding what we are doing. The length of this stage depends on how much time you can dedicate to the guitar and on your individual abilities. For children, it also depends on age; younger children may need more time because of their physical development. First, we need to prepare your hands and fingers and develop the necessary skills. This adjustment period can be challenging and uncomfortable for your fingers, but I will help you through it. In your first month, you will play an easy song, so you can feel that you really can play the guitar. Then we will build your repertoire: every song you learn will make the next one easier. By the end of this stage, you will have a repertoire of 15–20 favourite songs. You can stay at this level and continue expanding it, or move on when 15–20 chords and three rhythms are no longer enough for you.
In the second stage, we go deeper into music theory. You will learn to read sheet music. It is not difficult, but it is essential for conscious musical development. You will also learn to work out rhythms and chords independently, play more complex chords and understand how they are constructed. You will discover new rhythmic techniques, including string percussion, different ways of muting strings and much more. You will also learn fingerstyle playing: performing instrumental melodies using only your fingers and the guitar, without singing. This is an extensive stage, and its duration also depends on you. Of course, we can adapt it by adding or removing material, but this is its general scope.
The third stage is for the most advanced, determined students who want to keep developing. Here, you will learn to play by ear and improvise: harmonically, melodically and rhythmically. You will learn to work out rhythms, chords and melodies by ear, and create your own fingerstyle arrangements. This will help you reach the level of a professional musician who can compete with me.
