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Active - Public

Guitar

Originally from Colombia, Juan has been a resident of New York City since 2008. His music blends classical, modern, and avant-garde elements. He draws from his experience as a recording and touring rock guitarist in Colombia and Miami, his studies of East Asian music, inspired by interaction with musicians and artists in China, Japan, and Indonesia, and his teaching practice. 
He recently released the album “Preludes and Etudes for the Guitar.” His composition “Reino Incierto” has been performed at Carnegie Hall and the Sounds of the City Concert Series in New York. His Three Movements for Guitar Quartet is included on an album of prominent Colombian composers titled “Entre la huella y el grito.” His guitar sonata Schwarzfahren is being published by Cristiano Porqueddu for Edizioni Curci.

Juan earned a master’s degree in Composition from the Manhattan School of Music. He has recently studied classical guitar with Mark Delpriora. His mentors include composers Susan Botti, Reiko Fueting, and electronic music pioneer Joel Chadabe. He earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Florida, where he studied jazz guitar with Tom Lippincott and composition with Susan Epstein-Garcia.
Juan is also an avid cartoonist, collector of rare books, and long-distance runner. 

*** Lesson Details ***
Guitar teaching encompasses many disciplines. One has to be a bit of a psychologist in order to gauge a potential student's needs and musical sensibilities. The mathematical aspect of musical notation and rhythm makes us part mathematicians.  In the end, there is also a self-actualizing aspect to guitar teaching in the sense that we are always witness to those moments that made us decide a career on music.  
During my years of guitar teaching I have encountered many types of students, and I have learned from them as much as they have learned from me as they make me question aspects of music that I would have never thought about.  I have learned to not take for granted the definition of concepts such as rhythm and harmony, and to look at guitar technique from different perspectives as I find ways to accommodate to a student’s capabilities.  Ultimately, it is also a job that requires a lot of planning and structure.  My first step, generally, is to assess the student’s ability and interest to find material suitable for them.  Then, I proceed to familiarize with the student’s musical tastes and sensibilities to assign practice material accordingly.   For example, if the student is interested in rock or pop music, we will work on a particular song that fits his level and also solves a particular technical problem. During that process I will answer any of the student’s questions, and provide insight into musical terminology.  We will also work on basic concepts of rhythm, melody, and harmony.  My training as a composer and jazz guitarists also enables me to tap into the student’s creative side.  In that case, we would start with a basic blues progression and blues scales, and work on the basics of improvisation or songwriting.  

*** Studio Equipment ***
Basement studio w/ small keyboard, amp, acoustic guitar, 3 electric guitars, music books w/ seating for parents and lots of magazines!

*** Travel Equipment ***
I provide music sheets, students should have an instrument, tuner, paper, pencil, and a metronome.

*** Specialties ***
I teach fundamentals of music theory, principles of jazz improvisation, classical guitar technique and repertoire, song writing, pop songs, sight reading, and overall musicianship, as well as Jazz, Rock, Blues, Bossa Nova, and other Latin Styles.

In this class, we will cover the benefits of using the Segovia scales, plus debunk some of the myths which have made them difficult to learn by intermediate guitar students.

Warming Up With Segovia

Electric Guitar

Flamenco Guitar

Music Performance

Music Recording

Classical Guitar

Songwriting

Music Theory

Advanced

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a membership association of more than 480,000 US composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers. The ASCAP is committed to nurturing music makers throughout their careers. 

Composition Contest Award

Winner of the Emerging Composer Composition Competition

I was trained in composition and performance.

Master of Music

Teach all levels, all ages.  I specialize in standard classical guitar repertoire, developing sight reading skills, understanding harmony, music theory, and history.  With performance experience as a jazz musician in Miami, I also teach jazz technique, walking bass lines, comping, etc...

Teacher

Spanish

Japanese

Years of experience as a live musician and teacher.  I focus on bringing out your personal voice and to acquire the necessary technique to achieve your musical goals.

Juan is a fantastic teacher.
He has a fully built-out system for teaching guitar  in a way that is accessible and logical. It's a compendium of songs that includes important technique exercises and tunes that are super fun to play.

But the best thing about his system is that the songs are in an exceeding order of difficulty, so it's easy to get a sense of progress and achievement.

Juan is patient and very knowledgeable about how to explain guitar concepts best. And he did a great job helping me through the challenges I found in the pieces we looked at. 

When I told him that I wanted to learn a style that wasn't included in his songbook, he even went ahead and composed a tune for me that matched my skill set!

Overall, I highly recommend Juan as a guitar teacher for beginners and experts alike.

Juan has knowledge to share, and he picks up on areas to improve as well as introduces concepts to become a guitar player.

Juan is an ideal instructor and guide. I was extremely nervous going to my lesson as an adult with zero experience. He was very encouraging without being patronizing, and extremely patient. I’m very much looking forward to my future lessons with him.

Juan is really the most lovely teacher.  He is patient, kind, understanding, and wildly talented.  He knows how to help you identify your weaknesses, as well as build upon your strengths.  If you have something you want to work on, he will structure his lessons around that, and if you're clueless where to start, he can work with that too.  He is as flexible as he is brilliant, working with the client to ensure that everyone can find time for a lesson when it works for you.  Beyond all of that, Juan is an absolute joy to play with; you can see and feel his love for the instrument.  Whatever style of guitar you want to learn or whatever your level of ability is, your search for that perfect teacher is over.

Juan a an incredible guitar teacher.  He inspires a love for music and builds confidence quickly through targeted songs .  Our son has really enjoyed his lessons and our little one now wants lessons too, especially after Juan composed a song about our puppy and his bone 😁

Juan is a wonderful instructor: he is knowledgeable, structured, instinctive, kind, patient and I am learning so many technical, practical skills. He's excellent and what he does, and a lovely person!

Juan is an exceptional teacher. His method of teaching keeps a student engage and pretty easy to pick up... Not yo M e nation, fun. I've seen continuous interest and effort out of my child after each class, would highly recommend.

Juan went through many fundamentals of classical guitar, how to place your hands over the strings for articulation and economy of movement. Very useful.

Juan is wonderful and very knowledgeable in music. He is very patient and makes you feel comfortable. I leave a lesson feeling like I am accomplished and relaxed.  It nice to see progress in such a little time.  I go home with enthusiasm to learn more and want practice to do so.

With a patient and intuitive approach, Juan tailors each lesson to fit not only the student’s skill level, but also desire for depth of understanding. When I first began taking lessons, I was only able to plunk a few chords and play along with a few basic songs. However, over the course of a year and a half with Juan, I gained a foundational knowledge of the classical guitar, as well as the confidence to site read and play a range of other styles of guitar music. He seamlessly integrated music theory concepts into song studies, helping me learn major/minor scales and chord shapes, and then apply this knowledge to better understand song structures and composition. It has been such a great experience learning from Juan, especially because he is both an exemplary teacher and guitar player!

Juan is awesome.  He makes learning guitar easy and never complicates it .. and makes it fun.  He's a great teacher.

I have spent one year locking myself up in my room, every day for a few hours at a time, stumbling my way to learning the guitar. On my own, I have made it far enough to be familiar with a repertoire of chords, able to learn songs and even develop the mindset for habit forming. But after one year I felt my own limits and decided to discard my ego and find a teacher.

From his profile here I could tell that Juan was not only a skilled musician, but a keen and pensive instructor. After a single session Juan was able to properly asses my abilities and my shortcomings and tailor-designed an approach that matches my personal and musical nature. He uses my strong affinity for technique and uses that to discourage my hesitancy toward theory. He has a comfortable and approachable presence where mistakes and flaws are encouraged as learning footstools. With humble discipline he pushes me to -want- to be better.

With Juan I am absolutely confident in not merely becoming an apt guitarist, but a genuine musician.

Excellent Guitar teacher!!

Juan is an amazing teacher. He balances lessons with fun and work. My daughter has not only learnt so much, but comes out of each lesson with a smile.

Outstanding teacher

I am 35 and this is my first foray into music. I have always wanted to learn to play the guitar and finally got one last Thanksgiving. I tried to learn via online resources but quickly realized one needs hands on personal instruction as one starts out. Juan had great reviews and I decided to get some lessons to get started with him last January. That has been the best decision I could have taken, even better than buying a Guitar! He is a thorough professional who totally understands students needs, limitations, and learning curve. I am a busy professional and am frequently traveling or entertaining business partners. Juan structures my learning according to my interests and time available, and is flexible about scheduling. He is very encouraging and makes a newbie feel comfortable about his bumbling yet evolving guitar skills. If you read his profile on this site, you would understand the thoughtful mental process that he employs to help students reach their individual goals. I would recommend Juan not only as a guitar teacher but a solid individual in all respects.

Warming Up With Segovia - Guitar Class

About Juan C.

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