Guitar Lessons
The instrument most people mean to learn.

Guitar is portable, it plays the music people actually listen to, and a beginner can play a recognizable song within weeks. It is also the instrument most often abandoned, almost always for the same reason: a student learns four chords from the internet, stalls, and has no idea what comes next. We teach acoustic, electric and classical guitar as three related instruments with a shared foundation, and we build that foundation in an order that keeps a student moving past the point where self-teaching usually stops.

Acoustic guitar in warm light, ready for a lesson
Acoustic, electric and classical guitar share tuning and most of their theory. In the hand they are three different instruments, and we teach them that way.

Start with the right guitar, not the one in the cupboard

The single most common reason a beginner quits is an instrument that fights them. A full-size dreadnought with high action and heavy strings will hurt a ten year old’s fingers and convince them they have no talent. The same student on a three-quarter size instrument, set up properly, plays a clean chord in the first month.

The evaluation lesson exists to prevent that. We look at hand size and reach, what music the student wants to play, whether they have an instrument already and whether it is playable as it stands. Many guitars that families own need nothing more than a setup and lighter strings to become a good teaching instrument. Some need replacing, and it is better to know that in week one than in month six.

Guitar leaning against a wall, waiting for practice
Every guitar student begins with a no-commitment evaluation lesson. We check hand size, reach and prior experience before recommending an instrument or a starting point.

Who takes Guitar lessons here

The complete beginner
First chords, clean changes between them, and a strumming hand that keeps time. Within the first months a beginner plays real songs rather than exercises, because the fastest way to build a practice habit is to sound like music.
The self-taught player who stalled
The most common student we see. Usually the gaps are barre chords, rhythm reliability, and knowing the fretboard past the fifth fret. We find the ceiling, name it, and build the technique that lifts it rather than starting over from scratch.
The adult returner
Adults who played years ago come back faster than they expect, because the ear and the musical memory survive even when the calluses do not. Evening and weekend lessons, in person or online.

What the curriculum covers

Every student gets a plan built around the music they want to play. These are the strands that plan is assembled from.

Chords and changes - Open chords, power chords, barre technique, and the changes between them at tempo.
Right hand - Strumming patterns, pick technique, fingerpicking, palm muting and dynamic control.
Fretboard theory - The CAGED system, scale patterns, intervals across strings, and why a progression goes where it goes.
Reading - Tablature, chord charts, lead sheets, and standard notation for students who need it.
Playing with others - Keeping time with a drummer, holding a part in a band, and the ensemble skills school and church groups actually ask for.

Three instruments, one family

Acoustic guitar is self-contained: steel strings, no amplifier, no cables. It suits singer-songwriters, folk, country, pop and worship playing, and it is the most portable way to accompany a voice. It asks for a firmer fretting grip early on, which is the one place beginners feel the difficulty.

Electric guitar is physically the easiest to fret, because the strings are lighter and the action sits lower. It is the lead voice of rock, blues, funk, metal and fusion, and it brings gear knowledge with it: amps, pickups, and the effects that shape the sound as much as the hands do.

Classical guitar uses nylon strings and a wider neck, played fingerstyle with no pick. It is gentle on the fingertips and builds the most precise right hand control of the three, which is why it transfers so well to the other two.

A student can move between them. The tuning is the same, most of the theory is the same, and the choice at the start matters far less than starting at all. See acoustic guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar or jazz guitar for what each programme covers in depth.

Guitarist performing, fingerpicking on stage
Folk, blues, rock, pop, worship, classical and jazz all sit on the same six strings. The technique built in lessons travels between them.
What to buy, and when

A first guitar does not need to be expensive, but it does need to be playable. Action that is too high, a neck that is warped, or strings that are too heavy will hold a student back no matter how well they practise. Bring whatever instrument you already own to the evaluation lesson and we will tell you honestly whether it needs a setup, a string change, or replacing.

Children usually need a half or three-quarter size instrument before a full size one. The fretting hand has to reach around the neck and press a string cleanly, and no amount of teaching gets around a neck that is too wide for the hand holding it.

Practice tools for guitar students
Free interactive tools - no login required. Use them every day.

Frequently asked questions

Should I start on acoustic or electric guitar?
Both work, and the choice is about the music you want to play rather than a difficulty order. Electric is physically easier to fret, because the strings are lighter and the action is lower. Acoustic needs a firmer grip early on and suits songwriting and singing along, since it needs no amplifier. Classical, with nylon strings and a wider neck, is the gentlest on the fingertips.
What age can a child start guitar lessons?
Most children are ready between seven and nine on a smaller instrument. The limit is physical rather than musical: the fretting hand has to reach around the neck and press a string cleanly. We check hand size and reach at the evaluation lesson before recommending an instrument.
Do I need to read music to play guitar?
No. Most guitar music is written as tablature or chord charts, and students play real songs long before they read standard notation. We teach notation to students who want it, and to anyone heading for school ensemble or classical repertoire.
How much practice does it take?
Fifteen to twenty minutes a day beats two hours on a Sunday. Guitar progress is built on muscle memory in the fretting hand, and muscle memory responds to frequency rather than duration. Every student leaves with a specific weekly assignment rather than a vague instruction to practise.

Lesson details

Private 1-on-1Standard format - weekly, in-studio or online
Group programsAvailable after evaluation
Online lessonsAvailable - all levels
Ages7 and up, on an instrument sized to the student
StylesFolk, rock, blues, pop, worship, classical, jazz
First step30-min private evaluation
PricingDiscussed on call

The right place to begin.

The evaluation is 30 minutes. No commitment, no pressure. We tell you exactly where you are and what the right path forward looks like - for this student, at this level, with these goals.

Free resources for guitar students

Soul Music Lessons offers private and group guitar instruction across Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Suwanee, Cumming, Roswell, Milton, Duluth, Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Sugar Hill, Buford, Woodstock, and the broader North Metro Atlanta area. Online guitar lessons available worldwide. Schedule your evaluation.

Free resources