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The Practice Room Community music school · Madison

Lessons · Guitar

Guitar lessons

Guitar students learn songs from lesson one — the theory arrives inside the songs, not instead of them. Acoustic, electric, or the family heirloom in the closet: Devon teaches the player, not the dogma.

Guitar teacher helping a young student place fingers on the fretboard of an acoustic guitar

Who this is honestly for

Honest start age: 7 — hand size is real. Ages 5–6 usually thrive on ukulele or a half-size guitar first; we'll size honestly at the trial.

Adults: no age note applies to you, only the reassurance that about a third of this studio is grown-ups, several on their first instrument ever. Under five entirely? Little Notes is the right room, at $228 per 12-week session.

The first 90 days

What actually happens, week by week

  1. 01

    Weeks 1–3 — open chords G, C, D and a song you actually know

  2. 02

    Weeks 4–8 — clean changes at tempo, strumming patterns, first riffs and tab

  3. 03

    Weeks 9–13 — a three-song set list; electric players meet the amp politely

Timelines assume the honest practice minimums from the FAQ — five focused minutes a day for the youngest, twenty for teens and adults. Slower is fine; we adjust the plan, not the kid.

Your teacher

Who teaches guitar here

Devon Marsh

Guitar · Rock Band Lab · Adult Band Night · 12 years teaching

  • BM, Jazz Guitar — Milton College of Music
  • Rock Band Lab founding coach (2017)
  • Background-checked annually, like all staff

Devon gigged for years before deciding he liked Tuesdays better than tour vans. He teaches acoustic, electric, bass, and the ukulele-first path for small hands, and he runs the Rock Band Lab like a band, not a class — because that's the point.

When they teach

  • Tuesday 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday 4:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
  • Friday 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
  • Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

These are the same slots the trial booker offers — one schedule, no bait.

Elsewhere in the building

The other five doors

Try guitar for free — 25 minutes, zero strings

Pick a teacher and a real slot from their actual schedule. If the honest answer at the trial is 'wait a year' or 'different instrument,' you'll hear it there, free, instead of three paid months in.

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