Like anything worth doing, learning to play guitar takes time.

Whether you’re in guitar lessons or learning on your own, there is no such thing as a shortcut.

But this should be seen as good news!

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Playing guitar is a lot of fun even at the beginning stages. If you enjoy the process, there is no need to try to speed things up.

That being said, it can be tempting to look around and decide that you are somehow behind.

Whether you’re looking at friends who have been playing longer than you, or watching the 9 year old shredding the blues on youtube, there is always something out there to make us want to take our playing further.

One mistake I see is when people try to “catch up” by working on several things at once and trying to multitask in their guitar practice.

The idea that you can just do more and speed up your progress is tempting to buy into - but unless you have several hours a day to practice (and the attention span/stamina to match), it just doesn’t work out that way.

The best way for you to make progress in your guitar playing is to be patient, and work on one thing at a time. 

Consistent practice (picking up the guitar most days) is your fastest path to improving your guitar playing.  

While this may sound like a no-brainer, many guitar players and students I come across don’t follow this simple idea. 


It’s easy to let life get in the way, especially when you have a busy schedule and don’t feel like you have time to practice.

When you let too many days go by between practice sessions, you’ll start to get rusty - even if you practice for long sessions on days that you do play your guitar. 

This is typical even with more serious students at the college level.

They will tend to practice a lot just before an impending deadline - whether it’s a lesson day, or a performance - and then put the guitar down for a couple of days until the next deadline pops up.

With a little effort you can build a habit of playing your guitar on more days than you don’t - and keep your guitar skills moving in the right direction.

​The more often you pick up your guitar to practice, the faster you’ll improve (and it will be much less stressful to get ready for your big performances)!

Listening to great guitarists is an essential part of learning to play guitar. Hearing great players will give you ideas, inspiration, and help you develop your own unique sound.

Below you'll find a list of some of my favorite guitar players in a variety of styles, with links to recordings of their playing. This list will get updated regularly, so check back often.

If there's a guitarist that isn't on this list that you think should be or any of the links don't work for you, contact me and let me know!

When it comes to playing guitar, you are what you listen to. So keep listening to great guitar players of any style you like.

Keep checking back to see what's new on the list, and feel free to contact me to let me know what you're listening to!

​Learning guitar is something that most of us want to do at some point.

Whether you want to be able to play the chords to your favorite song in your own room or perform with a band on stage, you’ve probably thought about learning to play guitar.

While it seems simple enough on the surface, guitar can be a complicated instrument to learn on your own.

​An overflow of free lessons and conflicting information on the internet can make it even trickier. 

If you want to learn to play guitar, your best bet is to take some guitar lessons with a good teacher.

Lessons with a great guitar teacher will give you a range of benefits while helping you become a much better guitar player than you could if you tried to learn on your own.

Accessories are the little "extras" that every guitar player needs to buy at some point. 

Guitar accessories can range from essential to your ability to play the guitar, to making it easier to take care of your instrument, to giving you different ways to make sound with your guitar. 

Below is a list of accessories that I recommend to my students when they ask about strings, picks, or other accessories. Take a look, and use this guide as a starting point for your own guitar accessories.