Dusan Kovacevic

When I begin working with a student, first thing I do is assesing his or her abilities, if there are any. Based on that, I will see what best to start with, depending on the strenghts and weaknesses that the student has.
Usually, with jazz and popular music, the problem is rhythm, since it is not common to devote much attention to it, and get in depth with the details of it, even if the student is classically trained. For this I use extercises and methods that I picked up along my educational path.
Other common issue is tehnique, for which also I have methods, that can be applied.
Also we will work on songs, pop, or jazz standards, depending on the level and the afinities of the student, improvisation, starting with blues scale, and then going more in depth, and possibly reading music, again depending on the level and afinities of the student.
All and all, there are some things that I believe every musicians needs to understand and internalize, but the way to do that is different for every studet, and therefore, my approach will always be customized and adjusted to each person that I work with. Other then that, I will always choose the repertoaire together with the student, and will be open to work on the music the student chooses, because I feel it's important that we all follow what attracts us, and is interesting for us. After all, that's why we are learning music after all, so we can play something we love at the end.