Beginners, advanced musicians, adults, and pre-college students are welcome to enroll in 1-0n-1 guitar lessons in Philadelphia, PA at our studio in Queen Village. You will study with an experienced guitarist and teacher, and whether you want to play for fun, prepare for auditions or demo tapes, or get a holistic foundation in music, we would love to work with you.
In short, we’ll help you learn the music you want to play and give you the fundamental skills to learn any song or piece (and even write your own music).
Our guitar students enjoy lessons catered to their goals and preferences. We do not enforce a strict curriculum or set of goals on you, and we encourage you to communicate your specific goals to your teacher. We want you to enjoy music - from Allman Brothers enthusiasts to folk singer-songwriters, our students learn the music and techniques that they want to pursue.
Our studio at 621 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Meet Your Guitar Instructor
TJ McGlinchey earned an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a Masters in Education from Goddard College. He has been an active private lesson instructor for over 20 years, and he has also taught fine arts and led ensembles in regional classroom settings for the past 6 years. He has also taught at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia.
TJ is an active blues and folk singer-songwriter, and he teaches piano, ukulele, electric bass guitar, and upright bass. He bases his teaching philosophy on Montessori, Dewey, Kodály, and Orff, and he loves to work with students on their particular goals on the guitar.
Examples of What Our Guitar Students Can Learn
Our lessons are unique to each student, but here’s an idea of what you could learn:
Major, minor, pentatonic scales
Basic chords, power chords and more
Rhythm guitar technique
Finger picking technique
Read tabs in no time at all
Learn your way around the fretboard quickly
How to build a solo
How to write your own songs and hooks
Techniques specific to blues or rock and more
Note reading
There’s so much more!
What Kinds of Guitar Lessons Do We Offer?
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
Most of our students own an acoustic guitar since they are accessible, versatile, and easy to travel with, and you do not need a high-end electric guitar or amp to enroll in lessons.
If you’re a beginner, we can start with the basics of playing the guitar. Note reading, proper playing technique (how to hold the guitar, how to pick, etc.), chords, and scales are often covered in the first month of lessons. Please let your teacher know what you want to accomplish in your guitar lessons - we are here to help you reach your goals.
If you already have experience with the guitar, we can teach you how to play more advanced music, how to play a melody line with accompaniment, and more. Many of our students fall into one of the following categories.
A child whose parents want them to have a musical foundation
An adult who would like to play tunes at social gatherings or with friends
An adult who wants to participate in worship
Someone who wants to take the guitar to a higher level, like advanced classical playing or joining a band
Rock, Jazz, and Pop Guitar Lessons
Are you brand new to the guitar, but you want to get into rock or other contemporary genres? We’d love to teach you. Or have you already taken lessons on an acoustic guitar or earned a level of competence on the instrument?
Whether you are a beginner or experienced guitarist, we can teach you style-specific techniques on the guitar. Learn how to bend pitches easily on one or multiple strings, and practice other techniques like finger tapping, sweep picking, power chords, fretted hammer-ons, and much more.
We’ll introduce tunes and techniques from actual rock bands, and you will play actual music in your lessons. We also invite you to tell us about your favorite music - we can use that in your lessons and practice materials.
Guitar Lessons For Kids and Adults in Philadelphia
Philadelphia Guitar Lessons for Kids
We will help your child learn how to count, identify time signatures and key signatures, read chords, and practice on their own at home. We enjoy instilling musical fundamentals in our young students, and we set kids up for success on their guitar. If your child is a bit young for a full sized acoustic guitar, we can get them started on the ukulele - this is very common for elementary, and even middle school-aged, students.
Lessons will be fun and engaging, and we use real music in lessons (we know endless drills, flash card practice, and scales can be a drag!).
Adult Guitar Lessons
We enjoy working with adults here at the Philadelphia Piano Institute, and we understand that adult guitar students often bring a unique set of needs to lessons. Many adults start lessons after retirement as a bucket list item, or perhaps you are a young professional looking to music for an expansion of your social life.
If you want to learn to play a set of rock songs, please let us know. If you want a deeper music education that includes music theory, sight reading, and more, tell us that as well. We take your suggestions seriously, we will answer your questions, and we will create a specific learning plan for you.
About Our Guitar Studio Location
Located at 621 S 2nd Street in between South Street and Bainbridge, our location is in the heart of the Queen Village neighborhood. We’re a 15 minute walk from Old City and Pennsport, and we’re accessible from all of center city. During lesson hours, you won’t have trouble parking in Headhouse Square or right outside our door on 2nd street.
Our studio currently has two beautiful rooms with plenty of natural light, grand pianos, and a restroom. We want our students to feel uplifted and comfortable in our studio.
Guitar Lesson Pricing
If you would like to take a trial lesson prior to enrollment, please contact us for a one-off lesson. Once you enroll, lessons are charged on a monthly basis (payment due in the first week of the month). Pricing is as follows:
30 minutes: 40.00
45 minutes: 59.00
60 minutes: 78.00
Do You Need a Particular Kind of Guitar to Get Started?
We do ask that you have some kind of instrument, because you will 1) need a guitar for lessons, and 2) need an instrument at home so you can practice your lesson materials.
That said, we do not require any particular level of instrument. Swing by South Street Sounds around the corner from us, or visit Bluebond Guitars for an affordable acoustic or electric guitar. We don’t teach electric guitar lessons on an amp in our studio at this time because of noise considerations, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn rock, pop, or other contemporary genres.
Get Started With Guitar Lessons in Philadelphia Today
We can’t wait to hear from you, and we are confident that you will love your time in our studio. We always put your goals and needs above any musical dogma that we might hold, and we would love to work with you each week to help you learn how to play music at a high level.
In addition to guitar lessons, we offer piano lessons and voice lessons to kids, teens, and adults.