Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to common questions below...
What styles of guitar playing do you teach?

I specialise in teaching rock-based styles of music. This covers an extremely wide range of music that includes…

  • Rock
  • Pop
  • Blues
  • Blues-Rock
  • Classic rock
  • Hard-Rock
  • Metal
Are there any styles of guitar playing that you don't teach?
Yes. To offer the highest possible quality of tuition, I specialise in teaching rock-based styles of guitar playing. This means that I don’t teach styles such as…

  • Acoustic/Classical
  • Folk
  • Funk
  • Jazz/Fusion
  • Country
  • Finger-style
What levels do you teach?
I specialise in teaching guitarists who are at a beginner to intermediate level of playing.

Although I’ve taught some very advanced players over the years, my preference is to work with guitarists who are beginner to intermediate level players. (Side Note: If you’re an advanced level player, you’ll be better off approaching a virtuoso-level player that you admire and asking if they do private lessons).

What ages do you teach?
I specialise in teaching guitarists who are at least 18 years old. I enjoy teaching adults the
most, and find them very rewarding to teach. They usually understand that hard work is
necessary, and for the most part are good at turning up to lessons on time! 🙂
Why don't you teach all styles, all levels, and all ages?

One of the worst things a guitar teacher can do is to try and teach all styles, all levels and all ages.

Why? Because it’s simply not possible. Any guitar teacher making that claim in their advertising would need to be both a musical and teaching genius to do it effectively. I consider myself to be a good guitarist and very skilled teacher…but I sure ain’t a genius! 🙂

Rather than trying to do an OK job of teaching anyone and everyone, I  prefer to do a great job of teaching a much narrower range of students.

Where will the guitar lessons be held?

If you are an in-person student, the lessons will be held at my home teaching studio in Western Springs.

If you are a Skype student, we’ll have the lessons online via Skype.

What is your availability?

I am currently offering lesson time slots on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays, between the hours of 10:00am and 10:00pm.

What are your tuition fees?
  • I have four different pricing options that range from $54.00 to $75.00 a week.

Click on the link below to download my pricing information for 2024…

What is the lesson format?

All lessons are done on a one-to-one basis and can be either 45-minutes or 60-minutes long.

It’s important to say here that I don’t offer casual guitar lessons. Because of this, all my students commit to a regular weekly time slot.

Although I’ve done casual lessons in the past, I’ve found that weekly lessons work well for a few main reasons…

  • It helps my students to progress faster.
  • It helps my students stay motivated with their practice.
  • It helps me to keep my tuition fees affordable. (If I offered a lot of casual lessons, then my tuition fees would have to be a lot higher than they are now).
How many lessons will I need?

One million lessons! 🙂

If you want a serious and more detailed answer, then I’ve written a blog article that talks about this…

I just want a few lessons. Can you help?

My guitar tuition service is aimed at people that are willing and able to commit to the learning process. For this reason, I’m only wanting to work with people that can commit to a regular weekly time slot.

If you’re wanting to learn more casually, I recommend contacting some other guitar teachers. (You might find that some of them will be more than happy to take on casual students).

    Will I need to sign a contract?

    No. I don’t want to lock people into their lessons using a contract. Instead, I want my students to continue their lessons with me because…

    • They’re enjoying the lessons.
    • They’re happy with the progress they’re making.
    • They feel like they’re getting value for money.

    It’s not unusual for students enrolling with me to remain enrolled for years. So there’s absolutely no need for me to use contracts. 🙂

    How easy is it to stop lessons once I'm enrolled?

    Although most people tend to remain students for a fairly long time, I realise that at some point everyone will need to discontinue their lessons.

    Because of this, I make it painless for any student to their stop lessons at any time. All they need to do is give me two weeks notice via email. (This short amount of notice gives me some time to find another student to fill up their time slot).

    Too easy. 🙂

    How quickly will I progress?

    Because everyone progresses at a different rate, this question is impossible to answer. If I could accurately predict the speed of progress of a new student, then I’d start buying Lotto tickets and going to SkyCity Casino in the weekend. 🙂

    How quickly a new student progresses will depend on things like…

    • How much practice they do every day.
    • The effectiveness of the practice that they do.
    • How much experience on other musical instruments they’ve had.
    • How consistent they are in attending their weekly lessons.
    • How much natural aptitude they have for music and playing guitar.
    • How teachable they are.
    How much guitar practice will I need to do?

    The results you get from guitar lessons will largely depend on your practice habits. So setting aside time each week for disciplined and focused practice is essential.

    One of the most common questions I get asked by new students is this: “How much practice will I need to do?”. This is hard to answer, because it’s going to be different for everyone. It will depend on things like…

    • Your past musical experience.
    • Your current level of guitar playing.
    • Your goals and aspirations.
    • The styles of music you want to play.
    • Your natural aptitude for music and guitar.
    • How fast you want to progress.
    • How good you want to eventually get.
    • How much time each day you’re willing to set aside for practice.

    For people playing the guitar as a hobby, I recommend the following guideline…

    Do a realistic and enjoyable amount of practice on at least five days of the week. Make efforts to gradually increase this amount over time.

    Once you start lessons, I’ll be more than happy to give you some more specific recommendations.

    I don't want to play professionally. Can you still help me?

    Absolutely. While I do have some students who are pursuing a professional career in music, most of the guitarists who start lessons with me are playing guitar for a hobby. And I think that’s great, because learning a musical instrument is an incredibly fun, challenging and rewarding hobby!

    If you’re doing guitar as a hobby, it’s important that I mention that I still expect you to take the lessons seriously. This means that you’ll need to be willing and able to…

    • Attend the vast majority of our scheduled lessons.
    • Commit to a regular time slot.
    • Make time in your life for  guitar practice.

    It’s also really important to be realistic in your expectations about your progress. While you’ll certainly progress on a relatively small amount of practice, you definitely won’t progress as quickly as someone who practices a lot more. (A few of my current students are practicing at least four hours a day).

    In other words, the harder you work, the faster you’ll progress. But, you already knew that right? 🙂

    Do you provide guitar lesson handouts?
    Over the years I’ve created a huge number of handouts that I use for my professional guitar tutoring. Although this takes a lot of time and effort , I feel it is part of the reason that I am able to teach people successfully. But how do these handouts help you?

    I think it’s important to provide you with handouts for two main reasons…

    Reason 1: They save you time and money.

    By using handouts I don’t have to waste a lot of valuable teaching time during your lesson writing things out. And this means you’ll gain more value from each lesson. Which means ultimately, you get more value for money from each lesson.

    Reason 2: They help you learn better.

    Because you don’t have to write notes during the lesson, you are able to concentrate fully on what I’m saying. And this will mean that you’ll remember what I say better. They also help you learn better because you can use the handouts to refresh your memory when you are practicing at home.

    Do I have to read music?
    I think that learning to read music notation is an awesome skill to develop. And to be honest, I can’t remember a time in my life when I couldn’t read music. I was lucky enough to learn how to read music when I was young. And this skill has stuck with me.

    But do you know what?

    I’m not going to force you to read music!

    Why? Here are a few reasons…

    • There are plenty of incredible guitar players who don’t read music.
    • Your musical goals may not need this skill.
    • If you have very limited time for practice (like most adults), I feel that it may be best to focus on developing your technique and sense of pitch.
    • You may not want to learn how. If you have no desire to learn how to read music, then I would be an idiot for trying to force you!

    So I guess, I can summarise the above by saying…

    1. If you have a strong desire to learn how to read music, then I can definitely help you.
    2. If you have no desire to learn how to read music, then that is perfectly fine with me.
    Am I too old to learn guitar?
    In my opinion, the four main reasons why a lot of adults are unsuccessful with learning guitar are these…

    1. They fail to get regular help and high-quality feedback from a much more advanced player.
    2. They don’t know how or what to practice.
    3. They don’t make time for regular guitar practice. (i.e. At least five practice sessions per week).
    4. They don’t persist for long enough. (Although learning the guitar is incredibly fun and rewarding, it still requires consistent work over the long-term).

    Notice that none of these reasons are age-related?

    Over the years, I’ve taught many adults to play guitar well. So if you’re willing to attend your lessons like clockwork, put in the practice time, and be persistent, then I can definitely help you. But if you’re the sort of person who’s all about instant gratification, then learning the guitar won’t be the best choice for a hobby. 🙂

    Have You Downloaded The Info Pack?

    To learn more about how I can help you to improve your electric guitar playing, please download the info pack now…

     

     

    “Craig is one of the best teachers I have come across. I had been playing for over twenty years when I went to Craig. I was very frustrated with the lack of improvement and the lack of direction as well as that feeling of having plateaued.

    With Craig, I experienced the greatest amount of improvement in the shortest time ever. Following his curriculum gave me the grounds to rebuild my guitar playing techniques to achieve the freedom to take on some monster solos, to insights into what makes a guitar player a real musician and everything in between. Craig’s delivery is very friendly and casual but you are never spoon fed. Every session was inspirational and left me in a state where I couldn’t wait to take on the exercises.

    I highly recommend Craig for guitarists of all abilities as he will not only challenge you to become a better guitar player but he will also find and grow that musician inside of you”.

    Aymen Naim

    “I had been playing guitar for a few years, but found myself continually frustrated by glacial progress and semi-interested teachers repeating the same mantra: “Just keep practicing.”

    Craig has been coaching me for nearly 2 years now, and the improvements made to my playing have been amazing. I feel that I’m well on my way to becoming the guitarist I’ve always wanted to be.

    Craig’s lessons differ from others, as he actively works with you to help you achieve your goals. The lesson structure is flexible, and everything is explained in a clear and friendly manner. Whatever your goals as a guitarist are, Craig will help you develop the tools and knowledge to achieve them… his lessons cannot be recommended highly enough!”.

    Liam Conway

    Ready To Take Your Electric Guitar Playing To The Next Level?

    Click below now to arrange a free 30-minute goals and assessment session with me...