If you’re looking for a guitar teacher right now, I already know how you’re going about it. You’re searching for someone close to your house, and you’re comparing prices.
That’s it. Those are the two things you’re thinking about. Location and cost.
I know this because after 30 years of teaching guitar, almost every person who contacts me is asking about two things: how much and how far. And the ones who’ve already tried lessons somewhere else? They almost always picked their last teacher based on one of those two things — and they’re calling me because that decision didn’t work out.
Here’s what nobody tells you: choosing a guitar teacher is nothing like buying a candy bar. When you buy a Snickers, it doesn’t matter if you get it at the grocery store or the gas station—it’s the same product. Guitar lessons don’t work that way. The quality of instruction varies so dramatically from one teacher to the next that the decision of who you study with matters more than almost anything else you’ll do as a guitar player.
So if cost and location are the wrong way to choose, what should you actually be looking for? Let me show you some things you’ve probably never thought about.
The Thing Nobody Tells You About Guitar Teachers
Guitar teachers aren’t licensed. There’s no board, no certification requirement, no oversight of any kind. Anyone who can play a few songs can start charging for lessons tomorrow. And a lot of people do exactly that.
Think about that for a second. If you needed knee surgery, you wouldn’t pick a surgeon based on which hospital is closest to your house. You’d want to know they were trained, qualified, and had a track record of successful outcomes. But when it comes to guitar lessons, most people skip all of that and go straight to “how far is the drive?”
Here’s what typically happens: a guitar player gets pretty good, their friends start asking for tips, and eventually they decide to charge for it. They’ve never studied how to actually develop someone’s skills. They don’t understand how to sequence material so that one skill builds properly on the next. They don’t know how to diagnose why you’re stuck or how to fix it. They just show you stuff, the stuff everyone else who started teaching this way shows you, and send you home to figure it out on your own.
Most people have no idea this is what they’re signing up for. They assume that if someone teaches guitar, they must know how to teach guitar.
A good guitar teacher invests in their own development the same way they expect their students to. They study teaching methods, they train under mentors, they stay current on the most effective ways to build skills. When you’re talking to a prospective teacher, ask them what they’ve done to improve as an instructor — not as a player, as an instructor. If they don’t have an answer, that tells you everything you need to know.
Let’s say you own a high-end sports car and something goes wrong with it. Are you taking it to the highly trained tech who everyone in the know recommends — or the kid next door who seems pretty handy? Your guitar playing deserves the same kind of thinking. It’s valuable, and who you trust with it matters.
A Great Player And A Great Teacher Are Not The Same Thing
This is another thing most people get wrong. They find a teacher who can really play, is in a band, who has impressive chops or even a music degree—and they assume all of that skill will somehow transfer to them through lessons.
It won’t. Playing guitar and teaching guitar are two completely different skill sets. I’ve met incredible players who can’t explain how they do what they do. And I’ve seen players with advanced degrees who can lecture on theory for hours but have no idea how to get a beginner from zero to playing their first song.
Teaching requires knowing how to break complex skills into manageable pieces, how to spot exactly where a student is struggling—sometimes before the student even realizes it—and how to adapt your approach on the fly when something isn’t clicking. That’s a trained skill. You don’t pick it up just because you can play a mean solo.
So when you’re evaluating a teacher, stop being impressed by their playing and start asking about their students. What results have their students gotten? How long do students typically stay? Can they point to specific people they’ve taken from beginner to confident player? The proof isn’t in the teacher’s highlight reel—it’s in the students sitting across from them.
One Question That Instantly Reveals A Teacher’s Quality
Here’s something you can do right now that will tell you more about a guitar teacher’s competence than anything else. Call them up and ask this:
“Can you tell me how you would teach me?”
If they launch into an answer—“Oh sure, we’d start with basic chords, then move into scales, then learn some songs”—that tells you everything. They just admitted they teach everyone the same way. They have a script, and you’re going to get it whether it fits you or not.
A trained teacher’s answer sounds completely different. It sounds something like: “I can’t tell you that yet. I’d need to learn about your goals, hear you play, understand your experience level, and find out what styles you’re interested in before I could build a strategy that makes sense for you.”
That answer means the teacher understands that every student is different and that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. It means they have a process for evaluating where you are and building a personalized plan to get you where you want to go. That’s what you’re looking for.
Do Whatever Feels Natural” Should Make You Run
If you’re taking lessons and your teacher tells you to hold the pick “whatever way feels comfortable,” or to position your hand “however feels natural”—that’s not a laid-back teaching style. That’s a teacher who doesn’t know the right way and is hoping you’ll figure it out yourself.
For most fundamental techniques, there is a right way and a wrong way. What “feels natural” to a beginner is almost never the correct technique—it’s just whatever requires the least effort in the moment. And if you build months or years of practice on top of bad mechanics, you’ll eventually hit a wall where you physically can’t progress. Then you have to unlearn everything and start over, which is much harder than learning it right the first time.
A good teacher corrects you immediately. Not next week. Not when it “gets worse.” Right now, in the moment, before the bad habit takes root. That’s one of the biggest things you’re paying for—someone who can see what you can’t see and fix it before it becomes a real problem.
Beware The Teacher Who Claims To Teach “All Styles”
Guitar teachers who say they teach every style of music are everywhere. And in most cases, what that really means is they don’t specialize in anything. A jazz guitarist who ‘also teaches rock’ isn’t going to teach you rock. They’re going to teach you something that sounds close enough to your ears right now — but to anyone who actually plays and loves rock, it’s going to sound off. The feel, the attack, the tone, the attitude — these things are stylistically specific, and a teacher who doesn’t live in that world can’t give them to you because they don’t have them to give.
You want a teacher who lives and breathes the style you want to play. Someone who isn’t pulling from a textbook but from decades of real playing experience in that genre. The nuances, the tone, the way you attack the strings—a specialist teaches you things a generalist doesn’t even notice.
And if your interests change later? A good teacher will either adapt with you or be honest enough to point you toward someone better suited to your new direction. That kind of honesty is a sign of a teacher who cares about your progress more than their paycheck.
So What About Cost And Location?
I’m not saying they don’t matter at all. They do. But they should be the last things you consider, not the first.
On price: inexperienced teachers tend to charge less, and there’s a reason for that. They’re still figuring out how to teach. You’re not getting a deal—you’re paying to be their experiment. Every lesson where you make no progress is money you’ll never get back. A slightly higher investment in a trained, experienced teacher saves you time and frustration in the long run—and it actually gets you playing.
On location: I have students who drive 30 to 45 minutes to study with me. They don’t do that because there aren’t closer options. They do it because they tried closer options and the results weren’t there.
When you find a teacher who makes every lesson count, the drive becomes a non-issue. But if you’re lucky enough to find a trained, experienced teacher who specializes in your style of music and happens to be five minutes from your house? Count your blessings.
At The End Of The Day, Look At What Their Students Can Do
Everything I’ve just told you boils down to one thing: does the teacher actually produce results?
Josh works outdoors and takes down big tress and had zero musical background. Within a couple of years, he was hosting open mic nights and playing in front of crowds. Elliot started as a teenager and became Nashville-ready in under four years. Andy was an experienced worship leader who needed lead guitar skills fast—he came to me because he understood that the right teacher would get him there faster than anything else, and he was right.
Some students take it even further. Jonah started young, became a seriously skilled player by his teens, and now tours and records with Mr. Gnome. Dan wrote and released his own CD while still in high school — and when there weren’t many places for a kid his age to play, he started promoting his own shows at venues that don’t usually host live music. He ended up loving the business side so much that he now helps run the Inkcarceration Festival in Mansfield, Ohio.
Then there are the students who play in their church worship bands every weekend, and people like Debbie and Kim who just love guitar and play at home for their own enjoyment. No stage, no audience — just the satisfaction of being able to pick up their guitar and actually play.
None of these people had natural talent. They made a smart decision about who to learn from, and that decision made all the difference. The point is, it doesn’t matter what your goal is. What matters is that you have a teacher who can actually get you there.
When you’re evaluating a teacher, ask them: ‘What are your students actually doing right now?’ If they can give you specific stories about real people with real results, that’s a teacher worth your time. If all they can offer is vague claims about how great their lessons are — keep looking.
The Real Cost Of Choosing Wrong
You are wasting money with the wrong teacher — even cheap lessons add up fast when you’re making no progress. But the biggest cost isn’t the money. It’s wasting time. It’s spending a year with the wrong teacher, making little progress, and walking away believing you’re just not cut out for guitar — when the real problem was never you. It was the instruction.
I hear this all the time — at cookouts, at the hardware store, wherever it comes up that I teach guitar. People tell me they used to play, or they tried to learn once. These people wanted to learn, gave it a shot, and quit — not because they couldn’t do it, but because nobody taught them properly and they gave up. I know they could have done it because I’ve helped so many people just like them.
You don’t have to be one of those people. You just have to stop choosing a teacher the way you choose a gas station, and start choosing one the way you’d choose a surgeon — based on training, results, and the ability to help you specifically.
If you’re in Geauga County or Northeast Ohio and you want to see what high quality guitar instruction looks like, your first lesson is free. No obligation, no pressure. Just a chance to experience the difference for yourself.
About The Author
Brian Fish is a professional guitarist who has been dedicated to helping other guitar players in Northeast Ohio pursue their musical dreams since 1994. He’s passionate about guiding others on their musical journey! He is the Guitar Playing Transformation Specialist, instructor, mentor, trainer, and coach at
Guitar Lessons Geauga.
Brian has also assisted people from around the globe in developing a solid sense of timing and enhancing their creativity through the fantastic rhythm course, “Ultimate Rhythm Mastery,” available at MusicTheoryForGuitar.com.
If you live in Geauga County / North East Ohio, Guitar Lessons Geauga can help you become the player you’ve always wanted to be.