From the studio
Guitar tips, guides, and local notes
Everything a Santa Rosa guitarist needs to keep growing: honest beginner advice, practice routines, gear guides, and a look at our local music scene, written by a working player with 30 years of experience.
Learning Guitar as an Adult in Santa Rosa: A Complete Beginner's Guide
You are not too old, too busy, or too late. Here is everything an adult beginner in Santa Rosa needs to know before their first guitar lesson, from buying an instrument to building a practice habit that sticks.
Read articleHow to Choose Your First Acoustic Guitar: A Santa Rosa Buyer's Guide
A bad first guitar is the number-one reason beginners quit. This guide explains exactly what to look for, what to skip, and where to shop around Santa Rosa.
Read articleGroup Guitar Classes vs. Private Lessons: Which Is Right for You?
Both formats produce good guitarists. The real differences are cost, pace, accountability, and how you learn around other people. Here is an honest comparison from a teacher who has taught both.
Read articleLearning Blues Guitar: What to Expect in Your First Six Weeks
Blues is the best gateway into lead guitar, improvisation, and feel. Here is an honest week-by-week map of your first six weeks of blues guitar, from your first 12-bar form to your first improvised solo.
Read articleHow Much Should You Practice Guitar? A Realistic Routine for Beginners
You do not need two hours a day. You need twenty focused minutes, most days, spent on the right things. Here is the routine and the reasoning, from thirty years of teaching.
Read articleHow to Learn Guitar by Ear: A Step-by-Step Method for Beginners
Playing by ear is not a gift you are born with. It is a trainable skill with a clear ladder, and this article walks you up it, one rung at a time, from hearing chord changes to picking out solos.
Read article10 Easy Acoustic Guitar Songs Every Beginner Can Learn
Nothing builds motivation like playing an actual song for actual people. Here are ten genuinely easy acoustic songs, what each one teaches you, and how to practice them so they come out sounding like music.
Read articleJazz Guitar for Beginners: Where to Start and What to Learn First
Jazz has a reputation for being the hardest music on guitar, and that reputation scares off players who would love it. Here is the honest beginner path through jazz guitar: real chords, real standards, no mysticism.
Read articleThe Santa Rosa Live Music Scene: Where to Listen, Play, and Jam
Sonoma County has one of the most underrated live music scenes in California. Here is how to use it: the venues worth your ticket money, the jams and open mics worth your courage, and how a beginner actually gets in the game.
Read article10 Common Beginner Guitar Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
Almost every beginner makes the same ten mistakes, and almost every one of them is fixable in a week once someone names it. Here they are, with the exact corrections I give students.
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