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Online jazz guitar lessons · New York

Jazz guitar lessons from New York, in your living room.

I'm Jure Slapar, a Slovenian guitarist living in New York. In the last few years I've played with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Lionel Loueke and Kendrick Scott. I teach one-to-one over Zoom, starting from the tunes you already play.

Book a trial lesson Hear me play

Your first lesson is 30 minutes. The calendar shows times in your own time zone.

Jure Slapar with his sunburst guitar in front of a graffiti-covered doorway, in orange tones
Photo: Arjun Ajith

Who it's for

Which of these sounds like you?

“My solos sound like scales.”

We take a tune you already know and build lines over it that follow the chords. Keeping your place in the form is part of it too, so you stop getting lost halfway through a chorus.

“I'm preparing for an audition.”

I auditioned my way from Ljubljana to Berlin, Basel and Boston. My groups also won Slovenia's national competition, TEMSIG, twice. We choose your pieces together and get them solid at the tempo you'll play them on the day.

“I want that modern New York sound.”

You've been listening to Kurt Rosenwinkel or Lionel Loueke and want to know how they do it. I've played with both. We break the voicings, the wide intervals and the rhythm down into pieces you can practise this week.

How it works

What a lesson looks like

  1. Pick a time

    My calendar shows open slots in your time zone. You pay by card when you book, and the Zoom link arrives by email.

  2. Play me a tune

    Lessons are an hour. You play first and I listen. Then we pick two or three things to work on, and you play it again to hear the difference.

  3. Practise with the recording

    Within a day you get the video of the lesson and a PDF of the lines and voicings we worked on, in notation and tab.

  • Lessons on Zoom
  • A recording of every lesson
  • PDFs in notation and tab
  • A practice plan for the week
  • Questions by email between lessons
  • English or Slovenian

Watch

Hear me play

Live recordings from Basel, Berlin and Ljubljana, including one with Kurt Rosenwinkel.

Video still: Jure Slapar on stage at Jazzcampus Basel
“Use of Light” with Kurt Rosenwinkel Live at Jazzcampus Basel, May 2024 · 3:03
Video still: Jure Slapar quartet live in Berlin
“Fall” (Wayne Shorter) Live in Berlin · 1:03
Video still: Jure Slapar playing solo guitar
“My Foolish Heart”, solo guitar 1:20
Video still: Jure Slapar with his guitar on a dimly lit stage in Ljubljana
Jure Slapar Kvartet Live in Ljubljana · 0:40
Jure Slapar with his guitar over his shoulder on a tree-lined path
Photo: Arjun Ajith

The story

From Ljubljana to New York

Jure grew up in Slovenia, where he studied jazz at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet. In 2019, his last year there, his quintet Mood Lab 5et won first prize and a gold plaque at TEMSIG, Slovenia's national competition for young musicians.

Then he moved to Germany for a bachelor's at the Jazz-Institut Berlin, and spent time at Jazzcampus Basel. In 2023 he was one of nine musicians picked for Focusyear Basel, which paid their tuition and living costs for a year while they played in one band with visiting coaches such as Lionel Loueke, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Miguel Zenón, Kendrick Scott, Linda May Han Oh and Django Bates. In June 2024 the band went on tour and played the A-Trane in Berlin and Porgy & Bess in Vienna.

In 2025 he won first prize at TEMSIG for the second time, now with a quartet: Samo Hude on piano, Gal Golob on bass and Gaj Bostič on drums.

“One of the most notable young jazz ensembles.”

Ljubljana Festival, on the Slapar/Hude/Golob/Bostič Quartet, 2025/26 season (translated from Slovenian)

A year later he finished his master's at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in Boston, the programme Danilo Pérez founded. He lives in New York now.

He has played with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Lionel Loueke, Kendrick Scott, Linda May Han Oh, Miguel Zenón, Aydin Esen, Peter Evans, Django Bates, Ingrid Jensen, Anders Jormin and Doug Weiss. Back home in Slovenia he has been a guest soloist with the RTV Slovenia Big Band.

Studied with

Lionel Loueke · Wolfgang Muthspiel · Peter Bernstein · Aydin Esen · David Friedman · Kalle Kalima · Paulo Morello · Jani Moder

Pricing

What lessons cost

Prices are in US dollars. Your bank converts them when you pay.

Trial lesson

$35 / 30 min

  • We set up your sound on Zoom
  • You play me a tune and we fix one thing on the spot
  • If you want to keep going, I'll suggest a plan for the next three months
Book the trial

Best value

Monthly

$320 / 4 × 60 min

  • The same time every week, kept for you
  • Recording and PDF after every lesson
  • First pick when you need to reschedule
  • Send me questions between lessons
Start monthly lessons

Single lesson

$90 / 60 min

  • Book whenever you need one
  • Recording and PDF included
  • Good for audition or competition prep
Book a lesson

If the trial isn't what you hoped for, tell me and I'll refund it. You can move any lesson for free up to 24 hours before it starts.

Students

What students say

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“Three sample sentences from a student about what changed in their playing after a few months.”

First name, city, level
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“A quote that names a concrete outcome: an audition passed, a tune finally played at tempo.”

First name, city, level
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“A quote from a fellow musician or teacher about Jure's playing and how he explains things.”

Name, instrument

Questions

Before you book

What level do I need to be?

If you can play a 12-bar blues and get through the melody of one standard with a metronome, you're ready. Just starting out? Book the trial anyway. I'll tell you whether lessons with me make sense yet, and if they don't, where to start.

What do I need at home?

Your guitar, a laptop or tablet with Zoom and a decent internet connection. An audio interface helps, but you can start without one. We'll turn on Zoom's “original sound for musicians” setting together in the trial.

How do time zones work?

The calendar shows my open times in your own time zone, so you don't have to convert anything. I teach from New York, which usually means afternoons and evenings for students in Europe and daytime for the Americas.

How much of the lesson do I play?

Most of it. I'll play to show you an idea, and then it's your turn again.

I haven't played in years. Is that a problem?

No. We start from what your hands can do today.

Can I reschedule?

Yes, for free, up to 24 hours before the lesson. After that the lesson counts as taken. If the connection drops on either side, we make up the time.

How do I pay?

By card when you book, through Stripe. PayPal works too if you ask. The monthly package renews every four lessons. You can cancel it any time.

Do you teach in Slovenian?

Seveda. Lessons are in English or Slovenian, whichever you prefer.

Book

Bring the tune you're stuck on.

Pick a time in the calendar and pay in one step. Want to ask something first? Write to me and I'll reply within a day.

jureslapar.mgmt@gmail.com

Times will be shown in your time zone: your local time