Acoustic Guitar Lessons

How Often Do You Hear Yourself Saying:
"No, I Never Learned To Play Guitar, I've Been Meaning To"?

(This page if for Acoustic Guitar Lessons in Edmonton. See here for Electric Guitar Lessons in Edmonton instead

Or call direct 780 637 0513

Or call direct 780 637 0513

Why some people get stuck when they start to learn guitar? And why for others it seems completely effortless?

And especially, what can you do to make it easy for you to learn to play?

First, let's see that are the most common problem that beginning guitar players face:

• Some of them simply do not know where to start, or are intimidated by the sheer quantity of things to learn after searching for tips on the internet. (In reality, playing guitar is much simpler than that!).

• Other get stuck on some specific techniques. Don't worry if you don't know what these are for the time being... but the most common problem areas are:

  • Changing chords in time/fast enough
  • How to play strumming patterns
  • How to play bar chords

Now, I have good news and bad news for you... (read below)

"As a beginner I tried various music apps on my smartphone which definitely did not suit my style of learning. Next, I subscribed to a half dozen YouTube guitar tutors. What was missing in both of the above examples is the instant feedback one gets with a face to face instructor. Simply stated, I have never enjoyed learning anything, more than I do at this school. From the front desk staff, to the instructors, everything fits nicely for me. Highly, highly recommended!"

Matthew C

"I came to Edmonton Guitar Music School with only a few basic chords and an immense desire to learn to play guitar. A few months later, and I feel my skills, confidence, and foundational knowledge growing every day. Overall, I'd highly recommend attending Edmonton Guitar Music School if you have a serious desire to learn or accelerate your guitar skills."

Kimberley K

"Awesome teachers, super helpful and friendly people with great tips for beginners. I've been taking classes with them for about one year now, and they tailor lessons to your skill level so as I start getting better, they give me more challenging exercises. The environment is always welcoming - it's easy to look forward to lessons every week!"

Caroline W

What Stops People From Getting Better At Guitar

Let's start with the bad news. Most people who get started on playing guitar never go anywhere: they simply get frustrated and stop playing. Statistics show that 90% of self-taught beginner guitar players will abandon the instrument in the first year.

You may have balked at the previous sentence. This is more than enough to get discouraged before even starting!

But before giving up, let's ask ourselves: why it is so?

There are a few reasons why someone who plays the acoustic guitar may feel frustrated and stop playing - or not even start playing at all! In fact you may recognize yourself in some of these:

• You may think that you do not have enough time to learn to play guitar in your life, and so it's not worth pursuing... in fact you may think that you need to dedicate hours and hours every day to learn.

• You may think that you are too old to learn to play guitar... even if you are not old at all (I even heard 18 years olds say that!) After all "everybody knows" that if you want to become any good you need to get started as a child, right? (in reality we successfully taught guitar to students that started well into their 80's... more on this below)

• Your fingers may hurt every time you try to play, either because you do not have any calluses, or because you are practicing in the wrong way and damaging them (and you may not even know how to tell the difference between these two!)

• You may have figured out something about guitar playing by yourself, but there are other aspects of guitar playing that are a complete mystery to you... and you do not know who to ask. For instance, you may have figured out a few chords, but not how to strum or fingerpick.

• Or again, you may simply not know where to start from or what is important. Without a clear direction it's normal to feel lost or stuck.

(Don't worry, I didn't forget about the good news.)

I Was Once Frustrated Too

If you identify in anything of the above, I want you to read carefully what comes next.

I know how you feel. Seriously. I spent years trying to learn the guitar by myself. I struggled for a long time with learning how to strum my favourite songs, and didn't feel really satisfied.

I spent my days reading every book that I could possibly find, and my nights searching for Internet lessons... and as I found later, I was only making my life more complicated!

The more I read the less I understood. My playing skills were always the same, and I started to wonder if I really had the talent for playing guitar.

("Talent". That's another myth we'll get to later...)

I know that you wonder if you have "what it takes" to play the guitar. I know that when you can't play the songs you like you feel like giving up. I know that you would like to have fun playing guitar, and not be frustrated!

I know, because I have been there too.

(The good news are coming, just a little bit more patience...)

How To Get Started On The Guitar The Easy Way... And Play Songs Almost Immediately

So far we have seen what does not work. Naturally at this point you want to know what does actually work! And after all... I did promise you some good news, didn't I?

So here's the lesson I learned the HARD way (but you don't have to) and that changes everything.

To get better at playing guitar effectively you need to have a coherent PLAN. And a plan is made of two things:

1. You need to know WHERE you want to go,

2. And especially HOW to arrive there.

On one hand you are definitely qualified to know WHERE you want to go. The kind of music you want to play on your guitar is completely up to you!

But on the other hand... you don't know HOW to get there yet. But we can remedy that easily!

The knowledge of HOW to get there is exactly what a great guitar teacher can offer you!

This all sounds terribly complex and/or a lot of work... but it's neither. By letting a great teacher take care of the HOW, you can focus on improving your skills on guitar - and nothing else.

The Solution Is To Take Lesson From The Right Guitar Teacher

But what of great musicians that say they are self-taught? The reality is that there is no such thing as a self-taught musician. All musicians take lessons at some point in their life. I am talking to beginners especially here. Don't be fooled! Learning to play the guitar by yourself is not easy! If you are frustrated, that's normal!

I've been there, shared all the frustration you are experiencing now, and I found ways to overcome it.

Together with my team of teachers, we put together the best teaching methods available not only in music education, but drawing also from sport pedagogy, psychology, and academic learning.

We tested these methods thoroughly, and we keep improving them to this day - because nothing is perfect and the sky's the limit.

Give us a chance to help you.

Imagine if we can help you by showing you exactly what is relevant you and what you have to do to play the songs you want to play. Imagine if we can be with you every step of the way, giving you helpful feedback on what you are doing right and on how you can play better. Imagine if we can make you have FUN while you are learning!

Now everything feels easier because you get immediate feedback on what you are doing. You can finally relax and play rather than worrying if you are focusing on the right thing, or if you are practicing it correctly.

Now you can get to use everything you learn to actually play songs and amaze your friends - right away - rather than spending time doing exercises that may or may not help you play the songs you want to play.

Now you can relax and have more FUN with your guitar because we take care of everything else.

Who Are We?

After reading all this, you may start to wonder who I am, and how do I know all this that you just read. Fair question!

My name is Tommaso Zillio, and I am the chief guitar instructor at the Edmonton Guitar Music School.

I have taught literally thousand of students, both in person and online. I write regularly for major guitar websites. I am a requested instructor and guest speaker at international guitar events.

I have published several successful guitar courses online. My YouTube channel on music theory has 80.000+ subscribers.

I have previous experience as a scientific researcher in the academic world, but I changed career to music because my greatest passion is teaching. I love to help people understand new things and make them grow.

My mission is to make guitar playing easier for everybody - at all levels. Together with my team of teachers, we want to help you play guitar the way YOU want. We teach acoustic guitar lesson in Edmonton and neighboring suburbs (St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Capilano, Stony Plain)

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: I am too old to learn.

  • A: We successfully taught people well into their 80's...and yes, they did become quite good at guitar! (If you are in your 90's or above, we accept the challenge!) Yes, we realize that you may have been told that if you are not a child anymore it's too late for you to learn... but this is simply not true. Many great players started later. It is never too late to start... and the best time to start is now!

• Q: A friend told me that I need to practice two hours a day to become any good. Is that true?

  • A: Not at all. At the beginning your priority is not to practice as much as you can, but reinforcing your fingers gradually so they won't get hurt (of course, we'll guide you through that). Secondly, what is important is not how much time do you practice, but how well you practice - and we'll make sure that you know exactly what to practice and how to practice it. 15-20 minutes of the right kind of practice are better than 2h of disorganized practice.

• Q: I work shift hours / I have an irregular schedule

  • A: That is no problem at all! Our guitar programs are offered with the exclusive Flexible Lesson Format (TM) that will allow you to never miss a lesson, it does not matter how irregular your schedule is, or if you have an emergency at the last moment, or even if you are taking an impromptu holiday. Either way, if you have an irregular schedule or anticipate in any way that you may not come regularly, then simply let us know when we meet, and we will take care of everything.

• Q: I have no talent for music. Can I still learn how to play?

  • A: Of course! In fact, let me tell you a "secret". (No, it's not really a secret, all my students know this). I have no natural talent either. Not even a speck of it. And most of the best guitar players I know are exactly the same. And most of my students are in the same situation too! The thing is, natural talent is just a myth. Nobody is born knowing how to play guitar. And everybody who has ten fingers can learn to play it (even if I taught a few people with less fingers too... but that's another story). What makes you a good guitar player is not talent: it's the correct practice. By teaching you in the right way, we 'install' natural talent into you.

"I have a teach-yourself guitar book, and I couldn’t really get it. Coming in and having someone show me was really helpful. Tommaso really shows you how to do it. I really like the group lessons format."

Krista P

"Right from the beginning, every time I came to class I learned something that's helped me make new songs, I enjoy the music more. After taking lessons, it just exploded, I was picking up on stuff really quickly, it really works for me, it was great!"

Steve B

"Lessons with Tom made a huge difference in my playing, within two weeks actually. It was pretty amazing. Tom was teaching me the skills I needed to learn to play the songs I wanted to play."

Nicole Ringuette

But Wait... There's More!

• Beyond our 'regular' acoustic guitar lessons in Edmonton, we also offer a variety of seminars and workshops on various guitar-related topics:
  • Guitar Maintenance: learn to change the strings of your guitar and do a basic setup that will make your guitar play better.
  • Songwriting and Composition: learn how to write your own songs and express yourself.
  • Performing and gently overcoming stage fright: ideal if you always secretly fantasized to be on stage but are too shy to play in front of others.
• We have several performance opportunities for all students who want to put in practice their new-acquired skills. This is a way for you to have fun and you can even invite your friends and family over! Performances are optional and not compulsory
• Did I mention the free coffee and tea in our waiting room? :-)

Your Next Step

Now that you have seen what you works and what does not work, and that you have seen how you can avoid confusion, frustration, and wasted efforts, here's what I propose to you.

Come to meet one of our teachers for a free, no-strings-attached guitar consultation.

We will talk about you, your present musical situation, your musical goals. It's ok if you are just starting or if you know something already. And it's ok if you have big ambitions in the music industry or if you 'just' want to play to have fun with friends.

By the end of your free consultation we can recommend the right solutions for you... and then we'll go from there. No obligations, no strings attached. Sounds good?

The only thing I recommend... is that if you are considering taking lessons with us, book your free consultation it as soon as possible. Not only it's better for you (why wait when you can get started right now?), but also we do get a lot of requests for lessons, and we do not have many spots left.

And just to be clear: this "we do not have many spots left" is NOT a marketing trick to get you click on the button below. The truth is that we are very selective on our teachers. We hire only the best, we train them constantly, we really invest a lot in the quality of our lessons.

This means that we have only a few choice teachers, and they can only manage so many students. We pick quality over quantity all the time... the downside is that - as I said - we do not have many spots available.

Here Is What You Have To Do Right Now

You liked what you have read so far and you want to come for your free no-strings-attached consultation. What do you have to do? Here it is:

1. Click on the orange button below that says "Book your free session"
2. On the next page you will find a contact form. Tell us everything you can about you, your situation, your musical goals and click on the "Submit" button. The more you tell us, the better we can help you.
3. We will review your submission and be back to you as soon as possible via email or phone (you will be able to choose how you want to be contacted). From there we will set up for you a free 30m consultation with one of our teachers (we will pick the one most suited to you based on what you tell us in the contact form).

Or call direct 780 637 0513

• P.S. Remember, the whole point is that we can help you making guitar playing fun and easy, and save you literally years of frustration. We do this every day for all our students, and we are positive our acoustic guitar lessons in Edmonton can do the same for you.

• P.P.S. We get a lot of students who tell us: "I wish I had started to play 20 years ago". While it is never too late to start... why wait? If you want to play your guitar - and you want to play, otherwise you would not be reading this! - click on the button above right now... you will be glad you took this step forward now and not in 20 years ;-)

Disclaimer: Edmonton Guitar Music School, Inc. is not in any way affiliated with Facebook Inc.