Guitar players—especially new students or folks thinking about joining—will sometimes hit me with a question like this: “So here’s my background… I’m self-taught, I’ve played off and on for a few years, I mostly strum chords… am I gonna be your WORST student ever?” And every time, I want to

After 30 years of teaching, I can usually tell within the first lesson whether someone has been a dabbler.   They’ve “played” for a long time — sometimes over ten years — and they can barely play the basics. Their rhythm is shaky, and most of the time they don’t

If you’ve been playing guitar for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed something: some weeks everything clicks. Your fingers land where they’re supposed to. The song you’ve been working on finally sounds right. You walk away from practice thinking, “I’ve got this.”   And then the next week? Nothing

I have a sign in my teaching room that says “There is no such thing as falling behind.” Students read it every week. Some of them need to read it more than others. Because here’s what I’ve watched happen over 30 years of teaching: the students who quit almost never

Do you ever catch yourself wondering if you really have what it takes to play guitar well? Maybe you’ve asked yourself: “Am I wasting my time?” “What if I hit a wall and never get past it?” “Do I even have enough talent to do this?” If so, you’re not alone. Every

Most guitarists practice by giving themselves as much freedom as possible. Full fretboard. All six strings. Any rhythm. Any tempo. The logic makes sense — the more options you have, the more creative you can be.   But that’s not how it works. In practice, too many options leads to

I’ve noticed something over 30 years of teaching guitar. Every one of my former students who had a band in school still gets together with those people. Years later. Still playing together. All the students who played in worship bands? Still playing at their churches. Jim was in a band

Watch any interview with a famous guitarist and you’ll notice something interesting. When they’re asked how they got so good, the answer is almost always some version of “I don’t know, I just picked it up.” Or “I never really practiced — I just played.” Or my personal favorite: “I

The goal every guitarist should be working toward is this: being able to play whatever you hear in your head. Not just executing someone else’s part — actually expressing what you feel, in the moment, through your instrument.   That sounds like a destination only the greats reach. But it’s

Students ask me this all the time: “Should I be spending more time learning songs?” The answer depends entirely on what you’re trying to accomplish. If you just want to play songs – covers at open mics, jamming with friends, playing around the campfire – then yes, spend most of

I met a guy at an open mic night in Newbury a while back. We’ll call him Steve to protect his identity. He told me he’d been playing for years, had a lot of really nice guitars, but could use a little help cleaning some things up. He called me

(And Why It’s the Key to Playing Things You Think Are Impossible) I’m going to tell you about the single most resisted change I make with new students. Not a chord. Not a scale. Not some advanced technique. How they hold the guitar. I’ve been teaching for over 30 years.

In today’s digital age, the availability of countless guitar learning resources—YouTube videos, online courses, books, and forums—may seem like a blessing. However, while access to many learning sources is beneficial in some fields, when it comes to mastering an instrument like the guitar, too much information from different sources can

Two guitarists play the same song at a jam session. Same notes. Same structure.   One sounds professional. The other sounds… okay.   What’s the difference?   Not years of experience – some players sound great early on, while others struggle for years. Not gear – expensive equipment doesn’t automatically

I can usually spot them within the first five minutes of an intro lesson.   They sit down, and before they even pick up the guitar, they start talking. They tell me about modes. They mention the pentatonic scale. They drop terms like “relative minor” or “circle of fifths.” They’ve

I’ve been teaching guitar since 1994. In that time, I’ve watched too many people walk into their first lesson excited to learn — and carrying a guitar that’s going to fight them every step of the way. A $90 Amazon “deal” that won’t hold a tune for thirty seconds. A

I see students get overwhelmed by effects pedals constantly. They go online, see videos of pedalboards with 15 pedals, and think “I need all of that to sound good.” Or they buy a bunch of pedals randomly without understanding what they actually do or how to use them. Here’s the

If you play guitar — any kind of guitar, any style — you need legato technique. Period. Most players hear “legato” and immediately picture someone like Richie Kotzen blazing up and down the neck at 200 beats per minute. And yeah, legato is a huge part of fast lead playing.

You’ve learned the songs. You’ve rehearsed with the band. You feel ready.   But playing a gig isn’t the same as playing in your practice room. Things happen on stage that you can’t predict, can’t control, and can’t pause for. How well you’ve prepared for those moments is what separates

If you’ve been playing guitar for a while, you’ve probably noticed something frustrating. Every time you solo, you play the same licks. The same patterns. The same shapes in the same positions. You know you should be more creative, but when the moment comes, your fingers default to what they

Greg from Burton had been playing guitar on and off since his twenties. Let’s just say that was a long time ago. He’d bought the books. He’d taken some lessons — not with me. He’d watched more YouTube tutorials than he could count and purchased a few online courses. And

Two of my newer students, Joseph and Stephen, both came in recently wanting the same thing: to play that big 6th-string major barre chord. The F chord. The one that makes many people want to throw their guitar out a window. They could get the shape. They could put their

You know the scales. You’ve learned licks. You can play fast enough. But when you solo, something’s off. It sounds like you’re running through patterns instead of playing music. The notes are technically correct, but they don’t say anything.   This is one of the most common problems intermediate guitarists

Every week, another YouTube video promises “the exercise that will transform your playing.” A new speed drill. A new finger independence pattern. A new scale sequence that some guy with close to a million subscribers swears changed everything for him.   So you try it. You add it to the

After 30 years of teaching guitar, I’m still amazed at how much information kids can commit to memory when they’re learning an instrument. It’s truly impressive. A child can memorize five or six complete songs – that’s hundreds of individual notes, dozens of chord changes, multiple rhythm patterns, all held

Most beginners struggle with chord changes because they’re doing one thing wrong: They place their fingers one at a time instead of all together. This makes chord changes slow, hesitant, and inconsistent. You’re always behind the beat, fumbling to get fingers in place. The solution: Train your fingers to move

If you play guitar and sing, I need you to hear this — because it might be the single most important thing standing between you and actually sounding good. I had two students — Tom from Bainbridge and a guy named Carl from Concord (not his real name, but you’ll

Most parents assume private lessons are better than group lessons. One-on-one attention. Customized pace. No distractions from other kids. Then I tell them about the kid who was running his own lessons. The Student Who Was Running His Own Lessons This 11-year-old’s private teacher would start each lesson with “What

Here’s something that happens to almost every guitar player at some point.   You sit down to practice. You start working on a scale, a riff, a chord progression — whatever you’ve been assigned or whatever you’re trying to get better at. You play it over and over. Somewhere around

A mom brought her 11-year-old son to me last year. He’d been trying to learn guitar from YouTube for six months. Smart kid. Motivated. Practicing an hour every day. And making zero progress. His mom was frustrated. “He loves music. He really wants to learn. But he keeps saying ‘this