Note: Skype guitar lessons are subject to availability. My schedule can change from one month to the next, so its best to shoot me an email and I'll let you know my current availability. Cheers!

I've been offering Skype guitar lessons for a few years now and they have been such great fun. I have met so many really cool students from all over the world and it is always a blast to sit down and talk with people that love music and want to play. I have limited space available, so if you're interested in signing up please contact me using the contact form on this website with the subject heading "Guitar Lessons". I look forward to meeting you and getting started!

Why Skype Lessons?
YouTube/online tutorials can be wonderful learning resources, we certainly live in an age where we have such incredible access to information and there is some amazing free material out there. But, it can be a somewhat haphazard approach to learning. Tutorial videos don't actually listen to you play and point out how you can best improve. It is a great help to get real-time feedback on your playing, technique and help with your own compositions or song arrangements and have someone to whom you can ask all the questions that you have.

First Thing's First:
I know it can be intimidating taking lessons and trying new things like this. I sometimes get emails from people who don't think they're 'good enough'. Well, look, that's the whole point of taking lessons! I'm not expecting Steve Vai to call me up for a lesson here. :) I want to help you reach your goals as a musician in whatever way I can. I'm not a harsh critic or anything like that. This isn't American Idol or something haha. I don't expect you to dazzle me with perfect technique or anything. We are just a couple of music-loving guitar players hanging out and learning together. I try to create an environment where you are comfortable to ask me anything - there are no silly questions. I want to support you and help you grow and improve as a musician. I'm generally a pretty easy going guy. If you do have any questions or concerns, shoot me an email and we can talk about it.
 
Click here to read what some of my kind students have said about our lessons.
 
Cost - Individual Lessons:
$60 for a singe one-hour lesson or $40 for a single half hour lesson. (US currency)
 
Lesson Packs
You can save money and time by purchasing a lesson pack. Having a consistent lesson time encourages a certain focus that can really help you to make great strides in your practice.
It's very easy to get sidetracked by our increasingly busy lives. Knowing you have a lesson coming up can be great motivation to practice. Purchasing multiple lessons means we have some more time to dig in and really get to work and get you reaching your goals as a guitar player and musician, not to mention you save money doing it this way!
 
5 x One-Hour Lessons - $250 SAVE $50!
10 x One-Hour Lessons - $450 SAVE $125! ***BEST VALUE***
 
So…here’s what you’ll need:

• The latest version of Skype application (available here)
• High-speed Internet connection
• Webcam/Microphone/Headphones
• A PayPal account
• A Guitar!

The Lessons:

I vary the lessons to suit your needs as everyone is at a different level and has different goals but here are some of the topics that I can cover:

• Learn Songs - We can go step-by-step your favourite songs or just focus in on the parts you're having trouble with. Obviously, if you're interested in learning any of my own original songs, I can definitely help you. If there's any questions you have about any of my tunes be they about technique, fingerings or the writing process, well...there's probably nobody better to ask! 
   
• Technique - I have a bunch of exercises that will help build strength and dexterity in both the left and right hand. We can work on some common fingerpicking patterns and gaining that important independence of the thumb and fingers on your picking hand. I have lessons that work on introducing percussive thumbslaps, adding a variety of articulations, cascading notes, harmonics and much more.
   
• Music Theory -  Theory is nothing to be scared of, even if you're new to it. I personally enjoy it. We can start right at the beginning if need be. I find it useful to have an understanding of things like keys, scales, chord construction, harmonic function and being able to understand written music notation and follow chord charts. This will not only help your knowledge of music and your playing, but also help you 'speak the language', so you can better understand terms/concepts when you read about them and it may help you to better communicate with other musicians too.
   
• Arranging/Composition - If you write your own music, put together your own arrangements of your favourite songs or want to start, I can help. Some of this overlaps with theory to a degree, but we can cover functional harmony, chord substitution, borrowed chords (modal interchange), harmonizing a melody, putting a melody to an existing progression, counterpoint and writing in multiple voices, thematic development, working with odd times and more. Please don't be intimidated by these complicated-sounding terms. I will explain everything starting at the beginning, in simple language and we'll progress in an sequential and orderly fashion and there will be plenty of musical examples along the way. It will be fun!
   
• Anything Else - Over the years of doing this, the lessons have covered all kinds of areas. Sometimes it is literally sharing my screen and going through something in a Pro Tools session or the same with Guitar Pro when someone needs help notating something.  If you’ve heard my music and seen my videos etc you’ll have a pretty good idea of what I do. Basically, if there’s ANYTHING you think I can help you with please let me know. I want to help you become a better musician.

I do my best to make the online guitar lesson as close to a face to face lesson as I can. I keep a detailed log of what each of my students is currently working on, what we have covered and what we'll be working on next. This helps me to chart your progress and also plan the best way of helping you to reach your goals. I also have numerous PDF worksheets that I will email to you either before, during or after a lesson so you will have material that you can read and work through in your own time - just like a regular classroom!

Occasionally I might refer to an external text. It can be advantageous if we own the same book and I can point you to specific chapters, pages and paragraphs to read up on to supplement the topics we covered in our lesson. 
In addition, I am available to all my students via email in between lessons for all those little questions that pop up once in a while during your practice like "Hey Dylan, What does that symbol on top of the G♯ in bar 7 mean?" and will do my best to reply in a timely fashion.

There is certainly a lot we can accomplish over Skype!

Please note that I am only able to offer these lessons in English.
 
How To Register:
Contact me here with the subject heading “Guitar Lessons”, let me know what time zone you are in, how many lessons you are interested in and give me your Skype information. I will then get in touch and we can schedule a time for the lesson.
 
Payment must be received via Paypal a minimum of 48 hours before the lesson.
 
Time Zones:
Please let me know what time zone you are in and we can co-ordinate a time. I am in Eastern Standard Time.
 
Terms:
If you have to cancel a lesson for any reason you must let me know 24 hours in advance to schedule a make up or you will lose the lesson. If I have to cancel for any reason I will let you know in advance and we will reschedule. I know the internet can be unstable at times so if we experience drop-outs, power cuts or something like that don’t worry, we will reschedule your lesson.
 
If you have any other questions, please contact me.
 
Okay…let’s get to work!