Hristo V.

General Info

• Certified Music Teacher

  Certified Music Teacher

  Our rigorous hiring process requires a completed application; an interview with our professional recruiting specialists; personal and professional reference checks; and annual criminal background checks for the duration of each teacher's employment with us.

  
• Background Check Complete

  Criminal Background Check

  In order to ensure the safety of our students, all teachers undergo a thorough criminal background check, which includes: Social Security number trace, multi-state criminal search and a nationwide sex offender registry search.

  
• Levels: Beginner to Advanced

• In-Home Lessons: Yes
• In-Studio Lessons: Yes
• Ages: 5 & up

Subjects Taught

Guitar, Music Theory, Songwriting

Education

San Jose State University - B.A. in Music - Jazz Studies - 08/2002 - 12/2006 (Bachelor's degree received)

Specialties

I specialize in Jazz guitar, improvisation, harmonic studies and theory.
Chord melodies, building lines, phrasing, voice-leading, chordal improvisation, and re-harmonization/substitution.

Lesson Details

I design my lessons with the specific student goals in mind.

For Beginner students: we will start by exploring rhythm concepts and understanding how to read music. Learning the physics of the guitar and exploring the notes in the first few positions. Learning open position chords, and simple chords progressions, major and pentatonic scales,etc.

For Intermediate students: we will continue expanding our knowledge of the higher positions of the guitar, as well as develop better ... sight-reading skills. Bar cords and chord transposition, and music theory. Expanding our scalar vocabulary to modes, and minor scales. Learning arpeggios and classical etudes.

For Advance students: Close interval voicings, jazz improvisation, chord to scale relationships, and harmonic substitutions are some of the concepts we will cover. Learning solo guitar playing (chord melody), incorporating walking bass lines, transcription skill and arranging skills.

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About

Hristo is a modern jazz guitarist/composer from Sofia, Bulgaria. Residing in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1998, Hristo has performed with some of the premier musicians in the region and has toured nationally and internationally with a wide variety of formations. He has performed guitar clinics all over Japan and Europe and has published a book on chordal development and construction entitled “Between the Voicings.” He has also published different articles on jazz improvisation. He leads ... the “Hristo Quartet;” an impressionistic jazz ensemble which showcases Hristo’s completely unique voice as a composer, featuring Brazilian pianist Weber Iago, drummer extraordinaire Joe De Rose, and one of the most original bassist in Northern California - Dan Robbins. Their debut record “Song for Messambria” presents a unique blend of modern jazz (ECM), classical, and Brazilian tone textures. The album received outstanding reviews by the international jazz community and it was selected as one of the six best jazz records of 2009 by E-Jazz News. Hristo has been featured in jazz publications all around the world and his music is being played in hundreds of radio stations.
Hristo is also a co-leader a project which was formed in 2009 with Grammy nominated Brazilian pianist Weber Iago. The goal of the duet is to exploit and explore the infinite sonic hues and tonal nuances of the two instruments while creating some of the most intimate, engaging, and interactive instrumental improvised music. Their debut outing “The Secrets of an Angel” is already gaining critical acclaim on the international jazz scene.
In 2011 Hristo released his most sophisticated, refined, and adventurous work up to date - "The Perperikon Suite" is a large scale composition in 7 movements inspired by the magic and mystery of the Thracian city of Perperikon. The album has been featured in all major jazz publications and it is also the number 17 jazz record in the nation.
Hristo has performed at some of the most prestigious jazz festivals and clubs in the world, including the 53rd Monterey Jazz Festival, YOSHI'S Jazz Club, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Anthology, San Joe Jazz Festival, Okazaki Jazz Festival (Japan), and many many more.

Hristo holds a B.A. in Music (Jazz Studies) from San Jose State University in San Jose, CA.
He has also studied in the prestigious Roland Music Academy in Caracas, Venezuela.

Students can benefit from Hristo's completely amazing knowledge on the instrument as well as music/harmony theory. He will work and design unique and specific goals tailored to each student's individual interests. His dedication and passion for teaching are first class!!!

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