Tuition

In my one-to-one lessons I taught guitar to Harry, a pop drummer. Harry already had some prior experience and knowledge of playing guitar. As a result, we quickly covered some basics such as how to how the instrument and a plectrum, open chord shapes and their names and the anatomy of the guitar. We then swiftly moved on to a more advanced level of content.

Harry was already able to play basic chords and multiple songs, so having this substantial grasp of how to play the instrument, I thought what needed most attention was his technique. This is because, at no fault of his own, Harry had learned a lot of these songs from YouTube as the songs they are rather than what they are doing technically and musically. I have found this to be very common among guitarists. I believe it is due to the fact it is so accessible and unconventional in terms of its musical make up, i.e. in terms of notes, the piano is completely linear, where as the guitar overlaps many times with the same exact note having multiple locations on the fretboard. This makes the layout of the instrument very hard to learn, hence why many beginners learn songs as where to put their fingers rather than what notes or chords they are playing. While this is understandable and a fair method, this is rarely changed in a young, amateur guitarists learning journey. This is why I wanted to change that.

To begin our lessons, I did a brief recap of our previous lesson. If there was any misunderstanding or if Harry simply wanted to look over anything, we would spend the time required to fix any issues. I prioritised this as I wanted Harry to feel comfortable to ask questions and as though he was being listened to, rather than me not taking any notice of him and pushing on with what I had already planned for our lesson.

For some simple music theory, I explained the concept of how the third degree defines if the chord is minor or major. I did this by describing how minor means smaller and major means larger – with the minor third being closer to the root (root being the one) and the major third being further away from the root. Minor represents a sad sound and major represents a happy sound.

I created a simple exercise aimed at improving the musical ear of the student. I did this by playing chords while Harry had his eyes shut so he couldn’t see the chord shapes I was playing and asking him to identify if the chord was major or minor. The quiz-like style of the exercise was designed to make it fun and enjoyable for the student to motivate them in their learning while keeping it fast paced. Harry enjoyed this exercise and got most of his answers correct. Towards the end of the exercise, I began playing more colourful chords such as Lydian voicings to make it more difficult to distinguish if the chord was major or minor. This challenged Harry and made him more and more engaged in what we were learning. This method of audible learning proved to be very effective, and the number of mistakes Harry was making quickly decreased as we carried out this exercise.

I then went on to describe how to take a major chord shape with the root on the low E string and be able to change it to a minor shape, the example we used was A major to A minor. I began by highlighting where the third was in the shape. After this, I went on to show Harry how to change a chord from major the minor, the third needs to be flattened. In the case of the guitar the finger on the third needs to move down by one fret (a semitone). After some time of practicing this get to grips with the concept, I then repeated this but with chord shapes with the root on the A string. This is because the shapes are different and the third appears differently than in the shapes on the low E string. Some time was spent on studying this and Harry understood this concept quickly. I showed him links to videos on YouTube where guitar chords are played at random and he can practice this exercise at home by himself.

Firstly, finger independence is incredibly important when it comes to being able to play more complicated fingerings and faster tempos. “Not only will this enhance your technique and fretting-hand independence, but it will also open your ears to new phrases and ideas, and breathe life into your playing” (Barnard, 2023). Secondly, alternate picking is one of the most common and useful picking techniques that accelerate the efficiency and speed of the picking hand. Getting this technique so all notes are in time and projected evenly is crucial. “Alternate picking is a technique that every guitarist will encounter. From beginners and pros alike, a solid alternate picking technique is a must-have in your arsenal of techniques. Fast alternate picking is articulate and percussive and there’s a machine-gun like quality to it, unlike the smoother sound of legato slurs. Therefore, this technique is favoured by players in rock and metal styles where a strong and defined sound is required. It’s also the only way to play fast picked lines on single strings.” (Barnard, 2022). To address technique, I devised another simple exercise that if done correctly and consistently will improve finger independence and dexterity in the fretting hand and proficiency and accuracy of the picking hand. I called this exercise the chromatic alternate picking exercise. As the name describes, the exercise consists of a four-fret, chromatically ascending line starting on the fifth fret of the low E string to the eighth fret of the E string using alternate picking. This four-note chromatic line is then repeated sequentially up and down the string set at consistent quavers to a metronome at one hundred beats per minute. There are many variations of this exercise such as simply doing a descending line rather than an ascending one. This builds all round dexterity rather than movements in one direction.

This is when Harry had to take more time to focus on getting the notes even, consistent and in time and where we spent the bulk of our time in the lesson. After seeing Harry was struggling slightly, I suggested some changes in his technique that could improve his playing. This included a change in the way he was holding his plectrum and by telling him to focus on his picking hand more than his fretting hand as the left-hand work in this exercise is very simple and did require him to be watching that hand. After making these changes, he found more success in the completing the exercise. I maintained an encouraging tone and demeanour throughout to reassure Harry and relieve any pressure he may have been feeling in the lesson so he could carry out the exercise to the best of his ability and improve his playing as much as possible. Once Harry had successfully completed one whole round of the exercise, I used a formative method of assessment to help solidify Harry’s learning and to see the progress he was making. This was simply just running the exercise through until he completed it two consecutive times. There is considerable research evidence which demonstrates that effective feedback leads to learning gains (Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). A meta-analysis by Black and Wiliam (1998) of 250 studies revealed that feedback produced significant benefits across all content areas, knowledge and skill types. Formative assessment improves student outcomes including increased academic performance, self-regulated learning and self-efficacy, with formative feedback having been shown as the single most important factor in learning (Broadbent, Panadero and Boud, 2017; Hattie and Timperley, 2007), preparing students for summative assessments, especially innovative assessments.

As this is a difficult exercise, I suggested that Harry could spend ten to fifteen minutes on this exercise at the start of each time he practices. This is because it would serve a great warm up and would build a good habit that over time would massively improve and benefit his technical skills. This was at the end of our lesson, and I made sure Harry understood everything we had covered and was clear on what he was to practice until we had our next lesson.

In our most recent lesson, Harry brought in a part of one of his favourite songs that he had learned. This was a simple chord progression of A minor, B minor and E major in a Bossa Nova style. After expressing an interest in improvisation from enjoying Bossa Nova and Jazz music, as a relief from the all the technical work we had been doing previously, I moved the lesson on to something more musical. Harry also mentioned he had a brief knowledge of the pentatonic scale. As a result, I went over how to play the A minor pentatonic scale with by demonstrating it, playing it with him and the getting him to play it on his own. This was a step-by-step method which proved quickly successful. I also describe how the pentatonic scale is a five-note scale with degrees one, minor three, four, five and minor seven, linking this back to our previous learning of the third degree and how it works in chords. After eliminating any previous confusion he had about the scale, Harry started to feel confident in the scale and felt ready to use it in some improvisation. I demonstrated to simple ways to use the scale musically in the style of music we were playing and suggested some listening for Harry to spend some time on to give him a better idea of how to stylistically approach this time of music. This included Kenny Dorham’s version of “Blue Bossa” and John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucia’s version of “Manha de Carnaval” for some more advanced language and playing. This was also in hopes to inspire him further.

I started by playing the part of the song Harry had learned at home and allowed him to come in and out with improvisation using this scale as he felt. Harry found great enjoyment in the exercise, and this allowed me to praise his efforts. Towards the end of this exercise Harry accidentally played an Ab – the major seventh of A – which is not in the pentatonic scale. While he thought he made a mistake and felt embarrassed, he actually by chance played that note over the E major chord of the progression. This then allowed to explain to him how while he did not mean to play that note, it wasn’t technically a theoretical mistake. I went on to highlight how the major third of the E chord (Ab) was the same as the major seventh of A that he played (Ab) which meant that choice of note was correct. In the interest of time and information overload, I continued on only to describe the relationship between notes in a scale and the chords they are played over and how this can differ. This left Harry with a deepened interest in this subject, with him asking to spend more time on this in our next lesson. While accommodating my already existing plan, I added this into out trajectory for our next lesson.

Lesson Plan

Name of Student:		Harry Aston			Name of Tutor	Harry Marsden
Date	22/04/26	Time	11:30	Room	303
						

Aims	Build finger independence and dexterity
Objectives	Chromatic four-fret ascending and descending up and down the string set using alternate picking. (Chromatic alternate picking exercise)
ExtensionIf the learner progresses particularly well they may also be able to:	After being able to successfully complete this exercise to a metronome at 100bpm, Harry can begin the developed exercise. This is the same concept but with one finger staying in place on the first note while the others play the exercise as normal, each time going from one finger to the next.

Time	Activities	Assessment Methods	Resources
5 mins	A couple of minutes will be spent at the beginning of the lesson to check-in with the student to make sure they are getting on okay with playing outside of the lesson, had a good week and are ready to move onto to something new or if they would like a recap of last lesson or to go over any content from the previous lesson. Starter Activity – Alternate picking warm-up. Simply alternate picking constant quavers on unfretted strings at 150bpm to a metronome. Moving between strings a focusing on a smooth transition and even projection between the notes. This will allow the student to warm up and prepare for the exercise we will be doing later in the lesson.  I will give a brief overview of the contents of the lesson and describe the exercise we will be focusing on (Chromatic alternate picking exercise) and talk about how this will improve their playing and what it will directly focus on – finger independence and dexterity and alternate picking.	As this is a relaxed part of the lesson where the only task to be completed is a warmup, I will make sure the student is able to complet the exercise at the highest tempo that is comfortable. This will very much a formative assessment for learning. The same method of brief assessment will be carried out for the content of the previous lesson to make sure it was understood and practiced sufficiently. I will ensure to make this very light-hearted and brief, so the student does not feel pressure or stress to complete the task perfectly. If a recap is needed, that is no problem and we will go over the previous work.	As this is a simple exercise, no additional learning material such as books and websites will be needed. All that is required is a guitar for myself to use and demonstrate the exercise, and a guitar for my student to use if they did not provide their own instrument. A metronome is required; this can include a physical metronome or simply a digital one found on apps or websites.

Time (approx)	Activities	Assessment Methods	Resources
10 mins	Main Part of the Lesson The main focus of this lesson will be to develop finger independence and dexterity. This will be done through various exercises.  The first exercise will be the chromatic alternate picking exercise. This targets both fretting hand dexterity and picking hand efficiency and accuracy. This exercise consists of a four-fret chromatic ascending line starting on fret five of the low E string. The is simply ascending in semi-tones (one fret) up to fret eight. This is repeated on each string, first moving up the string set and once the high E string is reached, moving down the string set. This will always be completed to a metronome as quavers with a target of 150bpm. Once Harry has got the hang of that, I will introduce some variations of the exercise. This will include an exercise of the same contents; however, a descending chromatic line will be played from fret eight down to fret five.  Depending on how well this exercise goes, we will step it up to the next development of the exercise. This includes holding a chosen finger in place on the E string and carrying out the previous exercise as normal. Once each round is complete, swap fingers. This is to be done at a slower tempo as it is more difficult and will require more precision and concentration.	For this exercise, I will use a more structured, formal method of formative assessment. This will include completion of the exercise two times in a row to metronome at 150bpm. If not completed successfully, we will look at areas to improve and try again. After this is completed successfully, we will then move on to the developed, more difficult exercise.	No additional resources or equipment will be required. I will continue to use a guitar to demonstrate the exercises and will provide one for the student in necessary.  A metronome will also be required.

Time	Activities	Assessment Methods	Resources
5 mins	I will summarise the aims and objectives if this lesson.  Aim – improve finger independence and dexterityObjective – to successfully carry out the exercises to a metronome. I will reiterate how to carry out the exercises and how they will benefit Harry’s technique, along with how much and how often it should be practiced. You should aim to practice this exercise and its variations for 15 minutes before each time you practice your instrument – it will serve as an effective warmup.

Barnard, S. (2023) These guitar finger exercises will improve your finger independence and dexterity, and make you a better player, Guitar World. Available at: https://www.guitarworld.com/lessons/guitar-finger-exercises-independence-dexterity (Accessed: 06 May 2026). 

Barnard, S. (2022) 5 alternate picking exercises that will speed up your guitar playing, Guitar World. Available at: https://www.guitarworld.com/lessons/alternate-picking-technique-workout (Accessed: 06 May 2026). 

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice,5(1), 7–74.

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback: Review of Educational Research,77(1)

Nicol, D.J., & Macfarlane-Dick,D. (2006). Formative assessment and self‐regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice: Studies in Higher Education,31(2), 199-218.