I Am A Total Beginner Guitar Player. Can I Take Online Guitar Lessons With You?

That depends on what you mean by "total beginner”.

There is an objective “can-look-it-up-in-the-dictionary” definition of a total beginner (I’ll define it for you below.)

…and there is “I-feel-like-a-beginner-but-I-can-play-some-stuff” subjective definition of the word. Usually told by guitarists who are NOT beginners at all, but are comparing themselves to guitarists way better than them. And by guitarists who think they ought to be really hard on themselves. :)

Here is the objective criteria of a *total* beginner:

You have played guitar for less than 6 months in TOTAL. (Example: If you played guitar for 3 years and took a 25-year break, those 3 years count as 3 years :) )
You don’t know any scales
You can’t play barre chords
You can’t play hammer ons or pull offs.

If you are past even one of these levels you are likely NOT a beginner. To be 100% sure, email me at hess@tomhess.net and let’s talk.

(If my lessons are not right for you, I’ll be the first one to tell you.)

But if *all* of these are true for you, you are beginner. And that means my Breakthrough Guitar Lessons are not for you yet.

That’s ok.

It simply means you need a guitar course that specializes in taking guitar beginners off the ground quickly.

A course that helps you avoid all the common problems and frustrations most beginner guitarists face. And helps you avoid overwhelm and confusion that comes from learning from local guitar teachers, beginning guitar books or unqualified online teachers.

Here is a guitar course for beginners I highly recommend.

It gets you from “never-played-before” up to the level where you can call yourself a guitar player with a straight face.

This includes: playing chords, scales and other guitar techniques without crippling bad habits most beginners end up with.

This course is made by a guitar teacher who was my guitar student and whom I trained to teach guitar.

After you complete it, you will be ready for customized electric guitar lessons inside my Breakthrough Guitar Lessons online.

When that happens, go to this page to tell me more about yourself.

Then I will create a personalized guitar lesson strategy for you and we will get started.

When you work with me, I'm most active in helping you in between the lessons (when you need my help the most).

For example:

You can show me your playing every single day if you want – just post a recording of your playing on my student forum.
You can also send me recordings separately for in-depth feedback on your playing and practicing on a regular basis.
You can ask me questions and show me your playing every week in live video Office Hours. I hop on Zoom for an hour to help you with whatever you feel stuck on. You show me your playing (and ask about your guitar playing challenges) during this time and I help you.
Every week I do live video training classes where I can see you play guitar as well and give you more personal help with your playing.
Depending on what you write in your feedback form about each lesson (I ask you to leave me feedback about each part of what I teach you) I sometimes may ask you to send me a yet another recording of your playing. This way I get to see you play whatever you struggle with and can adjust your lesson strategy (if needed) to help you improve faster.

Get started with online guitar lessons right now.

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Look at the results I’ve helped my students achieve:

Watch even more of my guitar students play at:

Student Spotlight Page

Student Feedback Page:

Student Playing Page:

Get started with online guitar lessons right now.

Go back to the main FAQ page.