,, John Miller - Teaching
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John Miller

Teaching

In addition to his work as a composing and performing musician, John Miller has close to forty years experience as a music teacher, having begun teaching privately while still in high school. He is available for private instruction in finger-picked Folk guitar, Country Blues guitar, Brazilian guitar, Music theory and chord voicing and composition. John offers private lessons in Bellingham and Seattle (see contact information), and can do lessons through the mail, as well.

John has extensive experience teaching groups, with many years service teaching at such music camps as Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Georgia Strait Workshop, BC Swing Camp, the California Coast Music Camp, the Port Townsend Country Blues Workshop, Augusta National Heritage’s Bluesweek and the Euroblues Promotions Limited's Bluesweek.

John has also done a series of instructional DVDs for Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop. For ordering and complete information, click on titles below.

Mississippi John Hurt Vol. 1 DVD
Mississippi John Hurt (vol. 1)
Mississippi John Hurt Vol. 1 DVD
Mississippi John Hurt (vol. 2)
Elizabeth Cotten DVD
Elizabeth Cotten
Bo Carter DVD
Bo Carter
Furry Lewis DVD
Furry Lewis
Robert Wilkins DVD
Robert Wilkins
Memphis Blues Guitar DVD
Memphis Blues Guitar
Texas Blues Guitar DVD
Texas Blues Guitar
Intro to Chord Theory & Chord Voicing DVD
Introduction to Chord Theory & Chord Voicing: 2 DVD Set
Jackson Blues DVD
Jackson Blues
Atlanta Blues DVD
Atlanta Blues
Expanding Chordal Horizons
Expanding Chordal Horizons
Improving Your Ear for the Country Blues Guitarist
Improving Your Ear for the Country Blues Guitarist (2 DVD Set)
Hillbilly Blues
Hillbilly Blues
St. Louis Blues
St. Louis Blues Guitar
Country Blues Guitar in Spanish & Vestapol Tunings
Country Blues Guitar in Spanish & Vestapol Tunings
Legendary Country Blues Guitar Duets
Legendary Country Blues Guitar Duets

John Miller's Country Blues Guitar Collection
(book + CD)
<Country Blues Musicianship DVD>
Country Blues Musicianship

Testimonials for John's Teaching

"John is the real thing. He met some of the Blues greats as a youngster, fell in love with the music, and, fortunately for us, has spent his life playing and studying it. He is a true expert in the Blues and a patient and effective teacher. He is the go-to guy if you love this music." Chris, Sand Springs, Oklahoma

"John's group and individual lessons are fun and instructive. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of country blues guitar and is an excellent teacher." Eric, Las Rositas, New Mexico

"John Miller makes the seemingly unfathomable understandable, whether it be via zoom class, book, or transcribed lesson." Laurence, Edinburgh, Scotland

"John breaks down the mysteries of the blues and your instrument into digestible chunks that will improve your playing--and your listening." Mark, Suquamish, WA

"John's lessons are as much about learning to listen as they are about learning to play. And while plenty of people are knowledgeable about the blues, John is deeply insightful about the music. His lessons will help you play better, sure, but you'll also come away with new ways of thinking about the music you care about. There's really nobody else like him." Ian D., CO

Country Blues/Jazz Standards/Original Compositions: Transcriptions by Artist

Here is a list of transcriptions that I have done that are not available on my instructional DVDs. The list for the Country Blues tunes is alphabetical by the first name of the musician and for the Jazz Standards, which have the playing positions/tunings listed for each song, alphabetical by the song's title. Please note: TABs are not sold, except as part of a lesson order. TABs are not sold separately. I do not do transcriptions of, or lessons on pieces recorded by present-day, living musicians or of performances posted on youtube by present-day musicians. And I do not do transcriptions of, or lessons on different versions of songs by an artist that I've already transcribed one version of, unless the requested version is played in a different playing position or tuning than the version I've already transcribed. And I do not take new transcription orders for songs that are played with a slide in the fretting hand.

I now offer lessons in two formats: hard copy or virtual. Hard copy lessons are available only for U.S. residents. For a hard copy lesson on a song I've already transcribed, the cost is $65 postpaid. Cost of a hard copy lesson that requires me to do a new transcription is $75 postpaid. Cost of a hard copy lesson that requires me to do a new arrangement is $90.00 postpaid. A hard copy lesson includes TAB plus an audio CD (not a visual DVD) on which I talk through the song in detail, including left and right hand efficiencies of motion, fingering and picking tips, etc. If you opt for the virtual lesson, it will be sent to you over the Internet, with the TAB on a .pdf and the talk-throughs on .mp3s, sent as attachments to e-mails. Cost of virtual lessons is $55.00 for a pre-transcribed song, $65.00 for a song that requires a new transcription, and $80.00 for a song that requires a new arrangement, with those fees applying worldwide. I am always available for consultation/questions after you've received a lesson, if some aspect of the lesson or transcription is unclear.

Payment for lessons must be made in advance in U. S. funds. If you wish to use a credit card to pay, make a deposit of the appropriate amount to my account at www.paypal.com. My paypal account is the same as my email address: john@johnmillerguitar.com . Paypal payment is required for all lesson orders originating from outside of the U.S. U.S. residents may choose to pay by a cashier's check or a money order in U. S. funds sent to my address, in lieu of credit card payment:

Please send me an email when you've placed a lesson order, letting me know you've placed the order and what song you would like the lesson on, and contact me in advance via email before ordering any lesson that will require a new transcription/arrangement of a song not included on the lists below. Turn-around time on lessons is generally less than a week, if I'm not traveling. I will add songs to the lists below as I perform new transcriptions and keep the lists updated.

Song of the Month

Each month I offer a "Song of the Month" lesson at a special reduced rate of $35.00, for which you receive TAB and a detailed technical talk-through of the song. The Song of the Month lesson for March, 2024 is Arthur Pettis' "Good Boy Blues", an exciting and richly varied blues played in C position in standard tuning. The transcription has the song's intro solo, verse one and four accompaniments, and concluding solo. Orderers will receive the lesson as attachments to emails, with the TAB on a .pdf file and the talk-throughs on .mp3s, as well as the lyrics to the song. Cost of the lesson during the month it is featured as Song of the Month is $35.00. Payment should be made as stated in the policies above. I hope folks will take advantage of this opportunity to learn this piece, one of the really great blues performances in C. PLEASE NOTE: These Songs of the Month are available at the reduced rate only during the month in which they are featured, after which they will be available at the pre-transcribed rate of $55.00 per lesson.

John Miller--First Degree Blues

This is a new feature at the website. I realized that I have never made a point of featuring my own original arrangements and compositions in my teaching here, and decided to make a special feature of transcriptions of songs from my first album, "First Degree Blues" recorded for Blue Goose Records in 1972, in the summer in between my junior and senior years at Cornell University. Here is a list of songs from that album that I have transcribed, all of which qualify for the pre-transcribed lesson rate. For each song, I'll also list the playing position/tuning. "I Never Cried"--Spanish tuning, "Spanish Breakdown"--Spanish tuning, "Mistake In Life"--cross-note tuning, "Shady Lane"--Spanish tuning, "Dirty Deeds"--A position, standard tuning, "Who's Been Here?"--Spanish tuning, "Rope Stretching Blues"--A minor and C positions in standard tuning, "Titanic"--Dropped-D tuning and "Chester County"--Open G minor tuning. In addition to these songs, I would be happy to transcribe any of the other songs on the album that I have not already transcribed. If you've never heard the album, you can find all of these titles on youtube--just search by my name and the song title and you'll find that the entire album, as well as my second Blue Goose album, "How About Me" have been put up on a channel by Michael Donaghey. And if you order lessons on four of the songs listed here, you'll qualify for the special offer described immediately below this paragraph.

Your Favorite Artists--A Special Offer

As you look at the list of songs transcribed below, you'll note that for many the Country Blues musicians you can find there, I have transcribed a large number of songs. If you have a favorite artist there, you can order lessons on four of his or her songs from the pre-transcribed list for the price of three lessons, at the pre-transcribed rate. That works out to $165.00 for four lessons on your favorite artist, where the cost would be a total of $220.00 if you were to order the lessons one at a time. I will complete the lessons you order at the rate at which you indicate you'd like to receive them--all at once, or one per week for four weeks. I hope you'll consider this option if you're really serious about digging into the repertoire of your favorite musician. PLEASE NOTE: This offer of four lessons for the price of three applies only in instances where all four songs were performed by the same artist and the order is placed for all four songs at the same time.

Mac FaceTime/Zoom Lessons

I now offer Mac FaceTime or Zoom lessons to teach songs and to offer technical pointers and trouble-shoot problems you may have encountered in the songs you've been working on. This kind of feedback is invaluable, for it provides the kind of guidance a good teacher would normally provide at follow-up lessons after having given you a new song to work on. To take a FaceTime lesson, you will need to have a Mac or iPad with FaceTime and have a camera in your computer, so that we can communicate visually. Zoom works on either Mac products or PCs. The rate for these lessons is $75.00 for an hour lesson. Send me an email if you would like to do a FaceTime or Zoom lesson and we can figure out a time when we are both available.

Zoom Classes--Expanding Your Blues Vocabulary and Learning Fingerstyle Blues Guitar By Ear

In Spring of 2023, I offered three Zoom classes on "Expanding Your Blues Vocabualary". These classes were designed to provide fingerstyle Blues players with the concepts you need in order to come up with your own arrangements of Country Blues songs or to re-arrange songs by your favorite players. The three classes are:

* How to Move Chord Positions and Licks Across the Neck--This class will show you a fool-proof method for moving chord positions and licks across the neck, either bass-to-treble or treble-to-bass, enabling you to play licks and transpose songs to places the original players in the style never played them.

* Understanding and Creating Turn-Arounds--This class will show you how turn-arounds function, looks at several commonly played turn-arounds, and shows you how to make up your own turn-arounds.

* Open tunings--Understanding Them and How to Voice Chords in Them--This class de-mystifies the structure of open tunings and shows how to structure the chords for Blues, I, IV7 and V7 in any open tuning.

In Winter of 2024, I presented a series of four more classes, focusing on Learning Fingerstyle Blues Guitar by Ear. The following classes in that series are now available for purchase.

* Hearing and Playing Blues Guitar Licks in E position, standard tuning--This presentation focuses on playing licks that E position makes easily available on the first five frets; both licks that you’ve heard before and new ones that we’ll make up in class, with a goal of hearing in your head what you want to play before you play it, and knowing where to go on the neck to find the lick.

* Blues Jamming-Keeping It Musical--This presentation focuses building skills that will equip you to participate in blues jams and add something to the musical mix. In addition to the film of the class you'll receive a film with several different blues with which you can practice jamming.

* Figuring Out Fingerstyle Blues By Ear--In this class, I figure out portions of two different fingerstyle blues by ear, and demonstrate a process with logical steps that will help you as you work on building this skill.

* Re-Arranging Fingerstyle Blues Classics--In this class we look at a variety of strategies for creating your own arrangements of classic fingerstyle blues performances

Each of these classes has been recorded, and they can be purchased for $40.00 apiece. Make payment as per the policies stated above, and I will send you the class(es) you've ordered via wetransfer, from which you can download the class to your computer.

Country Blues

Jazz Standards

John Miller Originals