Call today to book: (646) 485-7244

How It Works

How It Works

How Do Classes at NYC Guitar School Work?

Classes at NYC Guitar School are a little different than classes at other schools, so we want to explain how they work so that you can decide if they are a good match for you or not.

The basic idea of the classes is that they need to be simple to understand and motivating to attend. And the system works—we’ve taught 15,000 people how to play guitar because we know PEOPLE are more important than INFORMATION.

Let’s face it—you can start surfing the web right now and find multiple lifetimes of guitar information. You don’t NEED a firehose of information about playing guitar. You need a system where if you show up, and you keep showing up, you will definitely learn to play guitar.

And you need a system where it is easy to stay motivated and keep showing up. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about the information—it’s gotta work for the human being. It’s gotta work for YOU. 

So here’s what we did. We created a surefire system that takes beginners from barely knowing the big end of a guitar from the skinny end to to being proficient with songs, strums, chords, picking, barre chords, basic theory and scales and more. 

Enroll in a Group Class

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."—Goethe.


Here’s How Our Guitar Classes Work

In our classes there are nine beginner levels. Every level builds on the previous level. And every class includes a fun song to help focus and motivate you. Very importantly, every class also includes a human check in with your teacher and classmates, where you share your guitar successes and goals. And every class comes with lots of supplemental practice material so that you know exactly what to practice.

And then you just show up to class once a week. Magically, you will soon realize that you can confidently play everything in your level, and you will become ready to graduate to the next level. But it’s not a race–you move at your own pace depending on your experience and how much practice time you have. 

Here’s What to Expect

Level 1

Level One: Chords For Absolute Beginners is super basic and super broken down–that’s where you learn the very basics of reading chord charts and tablature, strumming, using nothing but fun and easy 2 chord songs. Perfect if you’re a total beginner!

Level 2

In Level Two: Strums For Absolute Beginners, you’ll get really confident at the most important chord changes for beginners, especially the ubiquitous G to C change, and you’ll learn the two most popular and common strum patterns.

Level 3

Level Three: Strums For Near Beginners, is where you really start to separate yourself from the masses. It’s all about rhythm, and you learn expressive rhythm techniques including the scratch, 16th note strums and bass-strums and the palm mute. 

Level 4

In Level Four: Chords For Intermediate Beginners is your chord vocabulary explodes–you learn four finger chords and you start to play your first movable chords, so that you can play flats and sharps. This opens up a wealth of songs.

Level 5

In Level Five: Strums For Intermediate Beginners, you gain the confidence to take all the chords and rhythms you’ve learned, and mix & match them in the same measure—individual bass notes, scratches, 16th notes and 4 finger chords all at the same time. 

Level 6

In Level 6: Precision Rhythm For Intermediate Beginners, it’s all about picking individual notes in arpeggios, alternate-bass patterns, bass-runs, vamps, riffs and of course you’re learning some scales. 

Level 7

Level 7: Master Guitar Moves For Advanced Beginners is where we cover really important topics you need to know, like the music theory underpinning songs and how songs are constructed. This is the place where you learn to understand music in a way that will allow you to easily memorize songs.

Level 8

In Level 8: Barre Chords I For Advanced Beginners you learn basic barre chord shapes and how to locate notes and chords up and down the entire fretboard. You also learn fretting hand damping techniques which allow you to play incredibly expressive rhythms. 

Level 9

Lastly in Level 9: Barre Chords II For Advanced Beginners, you learn movable chords based on different shapes and strings, and you even learn to use barre chords to easily transpose songs from key to key. You can now take part in rock bands and other advanced programs!

What Happens Next?

After these 9 levels you are DEFINITELY not a beginner anymore! You know a lot, you can DO a lot, and are ready to go into our rock band programs, lead guitar programs, or, heck, start your own band! In fact, lots of our students have done just that. And you don’t need to take all 9 levels—because even after just a few levels, you’ll know enough about guitar to enjoy it for the rest of your life.

No matter how far you want to go, or what your level is, all YOU need to do is the NEXT thing.  Just sign up and show up. 

ONLINE GROUP CLASSES

Reach Your Musical Dreams

Just $59 your first month.

Start Playing Today

STAY CONNECTED

Get the Latest Tips & News from NYC Guitar School!