You might think this and in fact, so many people do – but the fact is,  I have students who are retired and in their 70s right now, and they are working towards being able to solo.

One student has worked on Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, you name it.

He now has branched out into soloing and comes to me with a list of riffs and solos he would love to be able to play – we are working through that list right now, and he is loving improvising, taking ideas from those solo’s as he goes!

I’ve heard this so many times. 

I’ll tell you a quick story, I once taught a friend of mine who had no clue how to solo.  I’ll be honest it was tough at the start as he wasn’t getting it – then we looked at how chords and scales all fit together, and slowly he could see the connection.  He’s now doing really well and coming on great after a slow start.

It just goes to prove if you stick at it,  it all works out in the end.

Many of my current students were frustrated with their lack of progress in previous lessons with other teachers. Very often they were learning from a “method book” or were overwhelmed with theory, which was unnecessary at that early stage when all they wanted to do was “play”.

I’ve had chats and heard students say how their previous teachers just didn’t seem to have the skills to show them in an easy-to-follow way the basics, expecting far too much, far too soon.

You see, unlike most professionally trained teachers, I never studied music at a university. While I did get my guitar grades for the most part, I am a self-taught musician.

That’s why my teaching style is VERY different from a lot of online and offline guitar teachers. I have a knack for breaking things down and making it as simple as possible because that’s how I had to learn to play. It’s something my students find (and tell me) makes their lessons so much easier.

We use simple solutions and never overcomplicate things, just working consistently on easy concepts that have quick results and keep them motivated to continue learning.

While you absolutely can learn to solo on your own, it usually takes a lot longer, and there’s a danger of developing bad habits that are very hard to unlearn. Some of my students started out with books that weren’t motivating, or they watched YouTube videos. But they often feel disorganized, or the videos move too fast to follow. Eventually, you’ll hit a plateau.

I studied the guitar on my own for 10 years, before YouTube was a thing, and I made some progress. But when I finally worked with a teacher, I learned more in 1 year than I did in the 10 years before that!

So, I can say from experience that following a structured program by someone who knows what he’s talking about will accelerate your progress immensely.

There’s no doubt that regular practice is crucial to learning the guitar. But how and what you practice matters.

Without a plan and routine to follow, how do you know what you are leaving out?

You’re likely jumping all over the place. It’s difficult as a beginner to know if you’re doing it right. When you don’t see much progress, you lose your motivation and throw your guitar back in the closet, thinking you don’t have what it takes.

It certainly doesn’t have to be this way!