Strings & Things: Beginner 12-Week Program
Start Playing. Build Confidence. Make It Yours.
Learning guitar shouldn't feel like working your way through a textbook.
You picked up a guitar because you want to play music.
Maybe there's a song you've always wanted to play. Maybe you've always wanted to play around a campfire, join a band, play blues, learn fingerstyle, write songs, or simply finally become comfortable with the instrument.
Whatever brought you to the guitar, we'll start there.
This 12-week one-to-one beginner guitar program is designed around you—your musical interests, your goals, your pace, and the kind of guitarist you want to become.
You'll learn the essential foundations of guitar while playing real music from the beginning.
Rather than giving you a fixed list of exercises and expecting you to work through them alone, we'll build your skills gradually and apply them immediately to songs, riffs, grooves, and musical situations.
The goal isn't to become an expert in twelve weeks.
It's to become someone who can pick up a guitar and actually play.
Your First Twelve Weeks on Guitar
You don't need to know exactly what kind of guitarist you want to become before you start.
Part of the journey is discovering that.
Over the twelve weeks, you'll explore the foundations of guitar while getting a taste of different ways to play:
Chord-based rhythm guitar
Riffs and melodies
Blues
Fingerpicking
Lead guitar
Improvisation
Playing with backing tracks
Playing with other people
As you discover what you enjoy, we'll use that information to shape the rest of your lessons.
You might discover that you love fingerstyle.
You might find yourself drawn to blues.
You might realize that you just want to learn songs.
Or you might discover that improvising is what really excites you.
There's room for all of it.
A Personalized Start
Everyone arrives at the guitar with a different starting point.
Some students have never held a guitar before.
Others have owned one for years but never really learned how to play.
Some can already play a couple of chords.
Others have tried online lessons and become frustrated or overwhelmed.
So we don't assume you're starting from a particular place.
Your first lesson gives us a chance to figure out:
What experience you already have
What you'd most like to learn
Which music excites you
How much time you realistically have to practice
What feels difficult
What comes naturally
What kind of guitarist you'd like to become
From there, we'll build your path through the twelve weeks.
The core foundations stay the same, but the songs, examples, exercises, pace, and practice routine are adapted to you.
How You'll Learn
Every new skill follows a simple process.
PLAY
We'll get your hands on the guitar and make something musical as quickly as possible.
UNDERSTAND
Once you've experienced the idea, we'll break down what's happening so you understand what you're doing rather than simply copying it.
PRACTICE
You'll have a small number of focused things to work on between lessons.
Your practice will be realistic and designed around the amount of time you actually have.
USE IT
We'll put the skill into a song, riff, groove, backing track, or musical situation.
MAKE IT YOURS
As you become more comfortable, we'll adapt the idea to your interests and start encouraging you to make your own musical choices.
This means you're not spending twelve weeks preparing to play music.
You're playing music throughout the twelve weeks.
The 12-Week Journey
The program moves through four stages.
Each stage introduces new skills while continuing to develop the things you've already learned.
STAGE ONE — GET COMFORTABLE WITH THE GUITAR
Weeks 1–3
The first goal is simple:
Make the guitar feel less intimidating.
We'll focus on getting comfortable with the instrument, developing basic technique, and learning your first pieces of music.
Week 1 — Your First Sounds
We'll start with the fundamentals:
Holding the guitar comfortably
Fretting notes cleanly
Basic picking
Simple rhythm
Your first chords
Changing between chords
You'll also begin learning your first song or musical piece.
The objective isn't perfection.
It's getting you to the point where you can pick up the guitar and make something happen.
Week 2 — Chords Into Music
We'll build on your first chords and begin putting them into progressions.
You'll work on:
Chord changes
Basic strumming patterns
Keeping a steady pulse
Playing along with a song
We'll choose material appropriate to your interests and ability.
The more you can connect your exercises to music you actually enjoy, the more useful your practice becomes.
Week 3 — Riffs, Melodies & Rhythm
We'll introduce the idea that guitar isn't only about strumming chords.
You'll learn a simple riff or melody and begin exploring the relationship between rhythm and individual notes.
We'll also continue developing your chord vocabulary and strumming technique.
By the end of this stage, you'll already have several pieces of music you can play.
STAGE TWO — FIND YOUR GROOVE
Weeks 4–6
Now that you're becoming comfortable with the instrument, we'll start developing your rhythmic vocabulary and introduce some of the sounds that make guitar so much fun to play.
Week 4 — The Blues
We'll use the 12-bar blues as a practical way to learn about rhythm, chord movement, and musical structure.
You'll learn a simple blues progression and begin playing along with it.
We'll introduce a basic scale and use it to create simple musical phrases.
This is also your first opportunity to experience the idea of playing with other musicians—even if the other musician is a backing track.
Week 5 — Groove & Feel
We'll explore different strumming feels and rhythmic patterns.
You'll work on:
Keeping steady time
Accents
Subdivisions
Muting
Shuffle rhythm
Playing with a backing track
The focus is not on how many strumming patterns you can memorize.
It's on developing a sense of time and feel.
Week 6 — Power Chords & Riffs
We'll introduce power chords and explore how they're used in rock and other styles.
You'll also work with:
Simple riffs
Hammer-ons
Pull-offs
Single-note lines
Combining riffs with chords
This gives you another way of thinking about the guitar:
You can create music with chords, rhythms, and individual notes—and combine them in different ways.
STAGE THREE — EXPLORE THE GUITAR
Weeks 7–9
At this point, you'll have a basic vocabulary.
Now we'll start exploring what else the instrument can do.
Week 7 — Fingerpicking
We'll introduce basic fingerpicking patterns and explore how individual fingers can create rhythm, harmony, and melody at the same time.
Depending on your interests, this might lead into:
Folk
Blues
Country
Singer-songwriter styles
Fingerstyle arrangements
We'll keep the techniques practical and musical.
Week 8 — Understanding the Neck
We'll begin developing your first real map of the fretboard.
You'll learn how notes are organized and start recognizing simple relationships between:
Notes
Chords
Scales
Frets
This won't be a theory-heavy week.
The goal is simply to start making the guitar feel less like a collection of dots and more like an instrument you understand.
Week 9 — Your First Steps Into Lead Guitar
We'll introduce simple lead-guitar concepts and begin using a scale to create melodies.
You'll learn how to:
Find notes within a scale
Create short phrases
Repeat and vary ideas
Leave space
Play along with a backing track
We'll introduce improvisation gently.
The goal isn't to produce a long guitar solo.
It's to experience the feeling of creating something that wasn't planned in advance.
STAGE FOUR — BECOME A GUITARIST
Weeks 10–12
The final stage brings the different parts of your playing together.
You'll start moving from learning guitar skills towards using the guitar musically.
Week 10 — Creating Your Own Ideas
We'll build on your first experiences with improvisation.
You'll learn how to take a simple musical idea and develop it through:
Repetition
Variation
Rhythm
Dynamics
Space
You'll also begin connecting your chord playing with simple melodic ideas.
Week 11 — Playing With Feel
We'll introduce techniques that can make your playing sound more natural and expressive.
Depending on your interests, this might include:
Accented strumming
Palm muting
Chord embellishments
Slash chords
Combining chords and melodies
More expressive picking
Basic blues techniques
The emphasis is on making the guitar sound musical, not simply technically correct.
Week 12 — Your Music
The final week is about bringing your first three months together.
We'll choose something that reflects what you've enjoyed most during the program.
You might:
Play a complete song
Perform a fingerstyle arrangement
Play a blues progression
Create a simple solo
Combine chords and melody
Play along with a backing track
Write a simple chord progression
Begin creating your own song
The project doesn't need to be complicated.
It simply needs to be yours.
We'll also look at what you've enjoyed most and create a clear direction for what you should work on next.
Your Practice Plan
One of the biggest challenges for a new guitarist isn't knowing what to practice. It's knowing how much to practice, what to practice, and what to do when something feels difficult.
That's why your practice plan is personalized. We'll build your routine around:
Your available time
Your current ability
Your goals
Your interests
Your progress
If you have an hour a day, we'll use it.
If you have fifteen minutes, we'll make those fifteen minutes count.
You'll receive a small number of focused tasks rather than an overwhelming list of exercises.
The goal is to create a practice habit that you can realistically maintain.
Your Learning Materials
You'll receive resources selected to support your particular learning path:
Chord diagrams
Scale diagrams
Fretboard references
Song sheets
Chord charts
Tabs where appropriate
Video demonstrations
Backing tracks
Personalized practice plans
Recommended songs
Practice exercises
You won't necessarily need every resource.
We'll use the ones that make the most sense for your goals and the way you learn.
The Weekly Coaching Experience
60-Minute Individual Lesson
Each week we'll work together one-to-one.
We'll introduce new material, work through your current challenges, answer questions, develop your technique, and adapt the program according to your progress.
If something isn't making sense, we'll approach it differently.
If you're ready to move ahead, we won't hold you back.
And if you need more time with something, we'll give it the time it deserves.
There's no race.
15-Minute Follow-Up Zoom Session
You'll also have a short weekly check-in between lessons.
We'll use it to:
Answer questions
Review your practice
Troubleshoot problems
Check your progress
Adjust your practice plan
Keep you motivated
Sometimes a small correction or bit of encouragement is all you need to keep moving.
What You'll Be Able to Do
By the end of twelve weeks, you won't know everything about the guitar.
You shouldn't.
But you should feel dramatically more comfortable picking it up and playing.
You'll be able to:
Play several complete songs
Change between essential open chords
Strum with greater consistency
Keep time with a groove
Play basic fingerpicking patterns
Play simple riffs and melodies
Use power chords
Understand the beginnings of the fretboard
Use a simple scale musically
Play along with backing tracks
Begin improvising
Practice independently
Play with greater confidence
More importantly, you'll understand how to keep learning.
Your Next Chapter
Twelve weeks is enough time to build a foundation. It's not enough time to reach the end of the guitar—and that's exactly the point.
By the end of the program, you'll have a much clearer idea of what excites you.
Maybe you want to learn more songs.
Maybe you want to explore blues.
Maybe fingerstyle has become your thing.
Maybe you want to start improvising.
Maybe you want to play with friends.
Maybe you've discovered that you want to write songs.
Or maybe you simply want to keep becoming more comfortable with the instrument.
Whatever direction you choose, you'll have the skills and confidence to continue.
You won't just have learned some guitar. You'll have started becoming a guitarist.
Start Playing. Build Confidence. Make It Yours.
12 Week Program - $2,000