You may be picking up the guitar for the first time, starting again after years away, or looking for a way to develop your playing further.
Whatever stage of learning you are at, this is a place to begin.
What do you want to learn?
Everyone has a different reason for picking up the guitar. You may have songs you always wanted to play, learn to improvise, or eventually write your own music.
Your reason for learning guitar will influence what you focus on.
If you want to play simple songs, you may begin with chords and rhythm, work on strumming and playing the song comfortably.
If you like the blues, you can explore pentatonic scales, blues vocabulary, phrasing and improvisation.
With jazz, the learning can become more structured, involving harmony, chord substitutions and improvisation.
For songwriting, the learning involves understanding song structure, creating and developing melodies, harmonizing those melodies, and learning how different musical elements work together to create a song.
I teach both Western music and Classic Indian Songs, from the fundamentals of guitar playing to more advanced musical ideas.
Essential learning for guitar
Music is created from different elements that work together. The three main elements of music are melody, rhythm and harmony. Together, they shape the musical ideas you hear and play.
Melody is the tune we hear. It is a sequence of individual notes, usually drawn from a scale, arranged to create a musical idea. The same notes can sound very different depending on their rhythm, phrasing and the way they are played.
Rhythm gives those notes their timing and movement. It determines how long each note lasts, where the notes fall in the beat, and how a melody is phrased. Rhythm is also what gives chords and accompaniment their groove.
Harmony comes from combining notes that support the music being played. Chords are one of the most familiar forms of harmony, and understanding how notes relate to one another leads to understanding chords, chord movement and more advanced harmonic ideas.
These elements come together when you play music, whether you are performing a song, accompanying yourself, improvising or creating your own music through songwriting and arrangement. You can explore them at different levels depending on what you want to play and how your playing develops.
Questions you might have about learning guitar
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Yes. You don't need any previous experience with the guitar or knowledge of music theory. We can start with the basics and work towards what you want to learn.
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No. You can learn to play songs without studying music theory. If you become curious about how the music works or want to understand what you are playing, theory can be introduced along the way.
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Age by itself is not a reason you cannot learn guitar. What matters more is whether you can play comfortably, including having enough finger dexterity, and whether you have regular time to practice. These can affect how learning is approached.
I have taught students from 10 to 75 years old, with 75 currently being my oldest student.
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Yes, but the amount of time you can practice will affect how quickly you progress. Regular practice is necessary for learning guitar, so someone who practices less should expect a slower rate of development than someone who practices consistently for longer.
The important question is whether you are comfortable with the level of progress your available practice time is likely to produce.
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Not necessarily. It depends on what you learned previously and how much of that knowledge and ability you still have. Some things may come back quickly with a little practice, while gaps in your earlier learning may need attention.
You don't have to repeat everything from the beginning. The starting point depends on where your playing and knowledge are now.
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Sometimes the problem is not that you need to learn more. You may already know quite a lot, but still be unsure what to practise, what needs attention, or how to bring different parts of your playing together.
Improvement depends not only on how much you practice, but also on whether your practice is directed towards the concepts that need to develop.
Testimonials
"Sebastian is a patient and adaptive guitar teacher. His tailored approach makes learning enjoyable, and thanks to him, I've stuck to practicing."
— Saba Azad
I'm glad I found the best guitar teacher in Sebastian. His patient approach suits my temperament perfectly, and I look forward to each class.
— Sunny Hinduja
Explore What You Can Learn
Western Music
Play songs. Write music. Improvise. Study further.
Classic Indian Songs
Play songs. Play melodies. Explore music differently.