John Sneddon

I am a past student of the Jazz School in Christchurch, New Zealand, graduating with a Bachelor of Music through the University of Canterbury. After finishing my studies I took up a busy lifestyle of regular gigs with numerous bands around Christchurch and New Zealand, along with teaching electric bass to many students. Nowadays I am based Melbourne and am seeking new students!

I make my lessons as relaxed as possible - I am fully aware of the fact that a healthy relationship between teacher and student is of fundamental importance to the learning process. I aim to calmly assist my students along their path, in an expectation free, reassuring environment, that maximizes the intake of information. I want to know how you learn and what you need from me in order to make our time together as comfortable and efficient as possible.

I aim to pass on my enthusiasm for music to my students, and believe that keeping a good level of positive motivation is an essential part of learning. I aim to keep my students smiling and in a positive state of mind :)

My desire is to really engage with you (or anyone you know) into a weekly tutoring relationship that DEFINITELY brings you solid results. Music is not intrinsically all that hard - its just unfamiliar! I am here to be your guide and show you the path, step by step, in a supportive and FUN environment. I can guarantee that if you stick to regular practice of the things we study together, you will see results, and experience a remarkable improvement in your abilities. Tired of that plateau or brick wall? Come get some lessons! Tuition really works.

I teach students of all skill levels - totally fine if you are a complete beginner!

Friendly, relaxed, flexible lessons, learning what you want to know:

• Blues/Funk/Rock/Pop/Jazz styles - I will teach you the ins-and-outs of music you already know and love, and guide you through new musical worlds.

• Technique - Get your hands working together, fingering and timing exercises, posture advice, and learn about your instrument.

• Ear training - Chord and scale recognition; learn how to teach yourself music by ear, and hear what is going on in music.

• Theory - Chord/scale relationships and how to use these for improvisation. Learn about harmonic progressions and what makes music sound good.

• Musical/rhythmic awareness and general musicianship.

• Improvisation - Putting all of this together in order to create music, jam with others, and to get an all new freedom with your instrument.

Lessons can be as full on or as easy as you like - I have pre-prepared material to teach but I also want to hear what and how you want to learn, and tailor our lessons to suit you as an individual.

I have been teaching electric bass to an advanced level for over 10 years. I have taught students of all ages and with a wide range of musical tastes. I am a multi-instrumental musician and am also available for lessons on Guitar and Keys/Piano.

I am also an electronic music producer and give tuition on music production/live performance through Ableton Live to an advanced level - for further info on this head over to http://snedmusic.com/ableton-lessons/

Rates - $60 per hour

Location - Lessons are taken from my studio in Hawthorn.

Availability - Any time day and night during the week, and weekend days. I teach 3-4 days/nights a week, and can be flexible with times to accommodate busy lives, so there are always openings most evenings. I encourage most students to arrange weekly lessons so a routine and workflow is established.

Get in touch and lets get you familiar with that fretboard!