You have all the guitar knowledge in the world at your fingertips, BUT...
That’s the blessing and the curse of the internet, right? Piles of information, but how do you know if you’re using it correctly? And what order should you learn things in? And how do you catch mistakes and bad habits if you don’t know what to look for?
So you end up bouncing from video to video, learning bits and pieces along the way, and then get frustrated because you don’t know how to put it all together and just play a song!
The 3 Ingredient Formula You Need To Really Learn Guitar Fast.
Skills
There are essential guitar skills you'll use every single time you pick up your guitar. And there's other stuff you'll only use once in awhile. Getting good fast means learning the 20% of skills you'll use 80% of the time. Not wasting time learning techniques you won't use very often and may not totally understand yet.
Order
There's a very specific order to learn new guitar skills in that makes learning the next technique easier. If it's done right you can easily pick up new skills while reinforcing the previous ones. Then you'll have a system for understanding how music works and how you can learn new songs and new skills quickly and easily.
Eyes and Ears
You don't know what you don't know. An experienced coach will help you catch bad habits before they start and show you hidden tricks to mastering new techniques quickly. Even the world's top musicians have a producer in the studio to provide feedback and an extra pair of ears.
With The Right Guitar Training You Can...
- Unlock your creativity and keep your brain engaged in a fresh way outside your job.
- Effortlessly get the music you hear in your head onto your guitar.
- Have the confidence to play for others whether friends and family or with a band in front of huge crowds.
Get 1-On-1 Lessons With Me To Become The Guitarist You Imagine
- Get on the fast track to learning guitar and have a system for understanding music so you can teach yourself new things without getting lost.
- Busy schedule? You'll learn how to maximize your progress and enjoy a creative outlet with personalized time-saving guidance.
- Soloing, songwriting, ear training, rhythm - all wrapped up in an in-depth training program that can be applied to any style of music you like.
Who's Phil Johnson?
Motivation, strategy, and problem solving have been the backbone of my teaching philosophy since I started in 1994. (That’s over 45,000 lessons…) I’ve helped hundreds of students reach their guitar goals, expand their musical world, and tap into their creativity. (Even the ones who claimed they had no creativity!)
As well as being a lifelong musician who’s played in everything from symphony orchestras to theater pits to rock bands, I’m also a nationally touring performer with dozens of releases. Real world, in-the-thick-of-it knowledge learned over thousands of shows that you can take advantage of.
Why Study With Phil?
Because you'll learn cool stuff like this...
- Why the most important finger is the one you aren't thinking about.
- How Michelangelo's sculpting technique can improve your rhythm playing.
- How to learn a new scale and immediately start making music with it in under 3 minutes.
- Why you never have to look at one of those giant headache-inducing neck chart posters ever again.
- Why there's no music in the notes and where it actually is.
- How to tell a story with every note.
- The single most important question to ask that will help you take every new skill and concept and make it your own.
- How to make music notation as simple as reading a comic book.
- Become a better improviser with just one note.
- How using the Legos of music will make you "musically psychic" about what's coming up in a song before you get there.
Membership Options
Standard
Premium
What My Clients Say
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Outside of your weekly lesson you’ll need to set aside 20-30 minutes per day at least 5 days per week for your practice schedule. I will show you exactly how to practice to get the most benefit out of that short amount of time.
Either and both. You’re welcome to come in-person to my studio in North San Jose, CA or we can work online. And we can switch back and forth as needed to accommodate travel, a late day at work, traffic jams, or “I just don’t feel like leaving the house today.”
I’ve done over 3000 online lessons since 2020 and most of my students have opted to stay fully online for the convenience. We use a platform custom built for music lessons. (No fuzzy Zoom audio!)
This program is built around accelerated learning principles to show you the most common and useful guitar skills you’ll use on a daily basis and leave the less common stuff for later. But the most important factor in how fast you advance is how often you’re playing your guitar and putting these skills to work. The more often you play, the faster you’ll reach your goals.
Consistency is the key. Your guitar skills will improve much faster if you’re playing 20-30 minutes per day than if you crammed in 6 hours of practice once per week.
The biggest failing of purely pre-recorded online music courses is that you don’t get expert feedback tailored to your exact situation. An extra pair of eyes to catch all the details. A coach to keep to motivated. With me you’ll have all that and more.
You’re never too old to learn! Learning an instrument is great for keeping your brain and fine motor skills sharp. I had a student named Carl who came to me at age 78, in a wheelchair, wanting to learn how to play Gypsy Jazz and he did great!
Yes! I built these course materials to create a great foundation for any style you’d like to play. No matter the genre, everyone uses the same 12 notes and the same 50 or so rhythmic building blocks.
Beyond just the course materials, we’ll introduce songs along the way, specifically in your favorite genres, so you can put all your new musical tools to work.
Plus, I’ll help you expand your personal style past just the cliches of the genre by helping you cross-pollinate from other styles and eras of music.
That said, there are a few things I don’t teach. See next question.
There are a couple things I don’t teach because they’re more specialized techniques and not a strong part of my skill set.
– Fingerpicking – Whether classical music or modern styles. I have loads of classical music knowledge, but it’s on other instruments. There is a bit of fingerpicking in my course materials, but it’s a basic overview. I teach the more common plectrum-style playing in depth.
– Slide Guitar – Same reasoning. I can show you some basics, but you’ll be better off working with a specialist on a technique like this.
– Other String Instruments – Ukulele, Banjo, Bass, Violin, Mandolin, Etc – While I can hack my way around these instruments when I need to, there are much better teachers available for them.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t work together. If you’d like to develop a solid working knowledge of the guitar before diving into specialized techniques, I can definitely take you there.
And don’t discount the idea of studying with a variety of teachers. I’ve studied with dozens of great guitar coaches over the years.
Are you ready to get that music out of your head and onto your guitar? Are you ready to finally understand how music works so you can just PLAY?
I have a very limited number of spots open for new students. So register for your FREE Strategy Session right now and get on the fast track to learning guitar!