Nikolai Aristov

Thinking about that childhood dream of playing guitar, but your busy schedule keeps getting in the way? Want to relax and finally make some time for yourself?

• Start for free
• Incredibly flexible schedule
• Lessons from home
• Three different formats
• 10-15 minutes of daily practice

All of this will help you make progress despite your busy schedule!

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And once you dare to dive in…

1. We’ll make some tea, coffee, or whatever you like – just nothing stronger. I want our lessons to be associated with something pleasant:)
2. Then we’ll talk about the music you love. We’ll learn using the songs you actually want to play!
3. We’ll learn how to take care of your instrument and make it last: proper storage, tuning without relying on your ear, and even restringing if needed.
4. We’ll handle the chords for your first song. For electric guitarists and lead players, we’ll tackle your first riff.
5. Then talk about rhythm: how it works, why certain songs make you want to move your head, and how to apply it to your playing. By the end of it, you’ll be fretting and playing the strings in time.
6. Using what you’ve learned about rhythm, we’ll learn your first strumming pattern. Now everything starts sounding much more convincing – the song actually begins to sound like the original!
7. Then we’ll play with a drum machine. We’ll take your sense of rhythm to the next level and bring the song up to its original speed!

…and after a little more practice, I’ll congratulate you on your first finished song, while you feel your mood and self-esteem rise!

And most importantly: all of this will be useful for everything we do later. At a certain point you’ll start noticing patterns and similarities between completely different songs. And that’s when we’ll start breaking them down together – eventually, you’ll be able to figure them out on your own, right there in the lesson! 😎

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And there’s more to come!

Acoustic guitar and ukulele players:

• Master strumming to the point where we start coming up with patterns on the fly;
• Conquer barre chords;
• Polish all the chords you’ll ever need in life;
• Master all the ins and outs of fingerpicking, and practice coming up with patterns of our own;
• Learn to figure out any song on your own

Electric guitar players:

• Find our own sound;
• Learn to play crystal clear;
• Add the wildest techniques to our arsenal;
• Make terrifyingly fast solos our warm-up;
• Just like acoustic guitar players, find our freedom as musicians.

And everyone:

• Come up with the most relaxed practice sessions possible;
• Learn to read sheet music and/or tablature (tabs);
• Figure out how music works from the inside;
• Learn to write our first melodies and harmonies;
• Start improvising;
• Explore the world of fingerstyle, if you feel like it.

And by the end, you’ll:

1. Hear THOSE VERY SONGS coming from your own instrument;
2. Have a ready-to-play, well-practiced repertoire;
3. Stop getting nervous when playing in front of an audience – no matter how big;
4. Learn to play any song within 5–10 minutes after hearing it;
5. Be able to improvise and express your current mood through music;
6. Learn how to learn on your own;
7. Take your self-esteem to heights you never thought possible;
8. Surround yourself with the sheer joy of playing – even during practice.

And I’ll proudly set you free to sail the guitar world on your own – you’re definitely ready now!

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I’m Nikolai – your future guide to the world of everything guitar-like.

I’m personally obsessed with coffee, heavy music and rain. And even if you don’t like any of those things, well, you will I won’t force my tastes on you:) That’s the foundation of my approach to teaching and the atmosphere I want to create in my lessons.

I also work with students who are blind or have low vision, adapting the materials and my approach to make learning comfortable and accessible.

112 of my students have already learned everything listed in the sections above, inspiring me to keep doing what I do for the sixth year now. And half of them said they had no ear for music and were held back by doubts from people around them!

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Some of my professional achievements include:

• Student records: playing clean barre chords in a quarter of a lesson, learning 30 songs in six months, combining guitar practice with two jobs, learning to figure out songs on their own by the second month, one student coming up with 70 different strumming patterns, giving first performance after just four lessons, and understanding fingerstyle within six months;
• Successfully completing and thoroughly absorbing Andrey Aksyonov’s guitar-teaching course – Guitar Gurus School;
• Finding Zen through Groove Factory, also by Andrey Aksyonov;
• A music teaching course by Nikita Marchenko, covering music theory, reading music, and fresh perspectives on the profession and the teaching process;
• Around 4,500 lessons taught, approximately 4,000 of them online, so I know the ins and outs of this format and can help you get the most out of it;
• Occasional performances at open mics. Yes, it’s genuinely great! And I’m working towards bigger things, so I’ll help you move in that direction too;)
• After my lessons, people find it much easier to achieve other goals in life, learn to distinguish useful criticism from criticism that isn’t worth listening to, start believing in themselves, and build a clear path towards their dreams;
• Developing my own tailored teaching program for acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ukulele, and music theory, based on my experience and the courses I’ve completed.

And here’s how I approach my work:

• For each student, I listen to and work through the songs they actually want to learn, then prepare them in a convenient format. You don’t have to worry about changing your music preferences on the fly either – I’ll adjust your program accordingly;
• Help navigate the endless flow of information and, from my 179 tools, choose the ones that fit our particular situation;
• Prepare not only a long-term program, but also a plan for every lesson;
• Make every lesson count: you join without a skill, and leave already having it;
• Whenever possible, broaden my students’ horizons with new genres and artists;
• There’s always a way to find a time that works for everyone, and I keep the schedule as flexible as possible;
• When working with children, I update their parents after every lesson on what we’ve achieved and keep in touch with them about everything related to their musical progress;
• I check in throughout the day to answer questions about music and anything else that comes up.

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Time to take the plunge!

Write to me now – we’ll arrange a meeting and put the kettle on! And even if we turn out not to be a good fit, there’s no commitment – you’ll still get to try your hand at something you’ve wanted to do, and perhaps experience a new way of learning:)