London guitar lessons

Guitar lessons in London: how to get started?

You can learn how to play the guitar pretty much anywhere. You can decide to teach yourself, thanks to the myriad of videos and free sheet music you can find online, or you can choose to take music lessons.

In London, you have a wide range of possibilities. Acoustic guitar lessons, classical guitar lessons, electric guitar lessons, and so much more. Everything is possible. And that’s regardless of your geographical location in The Big Smoke. You’ll be able to find guitar instructors in practically every neighbourhood of London. And that’s for all levels, too.

Here are some examples, scattered throughout London.

Where to find guitar lessons in London

The answer is simple: everywhere.

But when the time comes to decide who’s going to teach you bar chords and bass lines, you’re going to have to make a choice. Either you opt for private guitar lessons with a personal tutor who comes to your home, or you decide to learn via online guitar lessons.

Guitar instructors in London: a wide variety of tutors to choose from!

If you choose the most common option, you’ll be spoiled for choice. The process is simple. If you want to take weekly lessons, you can check out the personal ads, or sites like Superprof, which regroups most independent tutors in London all on one platform.

Depending on your specific needs, you can choose the instructor that best suits your needs. Once you’ve made your choice, just contact them! It’s as easy as that. You’ll be able to plan your lessons directly with them, either at your home, the instructor’s home, or in a studio or music school.

Most private tutors are scattered throughout London and Greater London, so you’ll be able to easily find those that live near you.

What will truly make the difference when making your choice, though, is the chemistry you have with the instructor you choose, their availability and how close they are to you, geographically. These are the three main things to take into account.

The rest, all of the technical details, can come second. Things like learning how to read sheet music or learning contemporary music pieces can always be discussed with whatever instructor you choose.

Learning to play the guitar online in London

In 2019, if you want to learn to play the guitar, you can choose not to hire a private music instructor that will come to your house.

Instead, you can choose to teach yourself. In London, you can also easily make the right connections to make progress on your own.

You can find free courses on online discussion forums that provide an easy way to perfect your music theory and sight-reading skills. Then, you can head on down to Denmark Street, where you’ll find London’s most popular music stores, such as Musicroom and Wunjo Guitars.

Inside, you’ll be able to browse through the different instruments on display and buy a wide range of music books and printed music.

Books on musicology, the history of the guitar, and a large collection of guitar tabs from your favourite artists and bands. Of course, you’ll be able to choose the guitar tabs most adapted to your level.

You can also find free sheet music and guitar tabs online, if you want to practice some easier pieces first, before committing to more complex covers.

Guitar lessons in London: why you should get started now

Artistically and, thus, musically speaking, the British capital has its fair share of opportunities.

From a discovery point of view, you have access to all of the different musical styles. So, you’ll be able to choose what type of guitar you prefer to master (steel-string guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar, etc.), based on your favourite musical genre. That’s the first step.

Once your choice has been made, you’ll be able to choose your preferred learning style. Do you prefer to take guitar lessons with a private guitar instructor at your home, for example? Or would you rather integrate a music school and learn in a group?

There are, of course, pros and cons to each learning method, so it’s up to you to decide which suits you best.

Whatever you choose, it’s important to weigh your options, since committing to regular guitar lessons can be a real investment! That’s why, at Superprof, most of our instructors offer the first lesson for free.

This way, you’ll be able to test out whether or not an instructor’s teaching styles fits your needs and musical objectives before signing up for weekly lessons.

Guitar instructors in London: how to get started

If this is your first time studying music, you need to start with the basics. No matter what type of guitar you choose to play, your first step is to learn music theory and how to identify the different notes and chords.

Music theory will teach you everything you need to know so that you can then be comfortable reading guitar tabs and sheet music and adapting yourself to the different rhythmic variations you may come across.

Once you’ve mastered music theory, you’ll be able to tackle your favourite compositions, from the latest pop songs to more classic rock guitar solos or folk songs. And, who knows, maybe you’ll even start to improvise.

And to get you started, our London tutors are there to help, no matter where you live in the British capital.

Learning to play the guitar in London

In the United Kingdom, if you’re looking for a first-class education, it’s likely that you’ll find it in London. And that’s in any field, with music being no exception. Whether you just want to learn music as a beginner, or you’re looking to train to become a professional guitarist, the best schools are in London.

The national conservatoires in London to learn how to play the guitar

With six of the eleven national British conservatoires located in London, the city has a large offer when it comes to studying the guitar at a prestigious conservatoire.

Of the six CUK (Conservatoires UK) members in London, four of them offer studies in music. The other two are specialised in dance and/or theatre.

You’ll be able to pursue your guitar studies in all four national conservatoires in London, and all of them offer programmes for undergraduate (BMus) and postgraduate (MMus, MPerf, MA in Performance, etc.) study, as well as doctorate students.

Each family of instruments are taught within pre-defined modules, whether it’s woodwinds, string instruments (including the guitar) and brass and percussion.

And, if you want to concentrate more specifically on the guitar, the proposed curriculum is incredibly rich, taught by true professionals and expert musicians.

Basically, everything you need to succeed.

How are guitar lessons organised in the British conservatoires in London?

The education system in a London conservatoire is pretty straight-forward and very well-organised. You’ll typically be grouped with your instrument type (strings, brass, woodwind, percussion, voice, etc.) and will train in solo, chamber and ensemble performance. You’ll be learning with the cream of the crop, with a list of professors coming from the LSO, the Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, among others.

The curriculum is made up of a mix of individual lessons (which can add up to about 40-50 hours of one-on-one tuition in a year), group training, and some electives of your choice, where you can choose to perfect your technical or professional skills. The diploma you’ll receive at the end of your undergraduate (or postgraduate) career can then allow you to, why not, become a music instructor yourself! Most conservatoires also offer the option of pursuing a specific music education degree, so you can obtain the pedagogical skills you’ll need to then move on to giving guitar lessons to beginners and professionals alike.

If you’re not ready to invest 4 or more years in a first-class musical education, some of the conservatoires also offer short courses and workshops for beginners of all ages. Starting at the age of 3 or 4, children can join a Saturday school at the Guildhall School or at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Both of these conservatoires also offer some courses for adults. The Guildhall School offers a large variety of music theory classes, as well as some performance classes, organised by genre. These courses typically take place during the summer and last about a week. The Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance also gives amateur musicians the option of obtaining a Certificate for the Practice of Music Making. This is a one-year online programme that gives musicians with no formal qualifications the opportunity to perfect their musicianship and performance skills.

Whatever you decide, you can see that, in London, you have a wide variety of options and are truly in the best hands to learn how to play the guitar and make quick progress.

And, if you decide not to integrate a professional conservatoire, you can also opt to learn to play the guitar on your own, or through a private music school. In that case, you also have a large catalogue of choices to choose from, from music associations to private structures where industry professionals who are passionate about what they do can help you become a killer guitarist.

And while you may not be aiming to become the next Hendrix or Clapton, once you learn how to use a guitar tuner, start nailing your arpeggios and are able to play a couple of different styles on your Fender or Steinway, it’ll already be a great start!

What’s great about the guitar is that, as a practical and universal instrument, there will always be something new to learn. The more progress you make, the better you’ll want to get until you become one with your instrument.

Eddie Van Halen once said, “if you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play! And eventually, you’ll get to where you want to be.” And what a better place to get started than London.