Adults only · One-to-one
Adult Guitar Lessons That Start With Your Goals.
Whether you're picking up a guitar for the first time or have been playing for years, we'll start with what you want to achieve and build your lessons around getting there — with clear direction on what to practise, how to practise it and why.
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Guitar Practice for Adults
Make your practice time count. Learn how to plan what you work on, solve problems when you get stuck, and keep moving towards what you want to play.
Making time
Finding realistic time to practise and making it easier to get started.
Setting the target
Working backwards from what you want to achieve to what you need to work on now.
Planning the session
Deciding what to work on before you pick up the guitar.
Practising effectively
How to work on problems, make them manageable, and use simple practice tools to improve them.
Worth remembering
What to expect while you're learning.
What happens next
What to do if you'd like my help with your playing.
Making time
Finding realistic time to practise and making it easier to get started.
Setting the target
Working backwards from what you want to achieve to what you need to work on now.
Planning the session
Deciding what to work on before you pick up the guitar.
Practising effectively
How to work on problems, make them manageable, and use simple practice tools to improve them.
Worth remembering
What to expect while you're learning.
What happens next
What to do if you'd like my help with your playing.
What adults tell me
Sound Familiar?
Some of the questions and concerns I often hear from adults before they start. Tap any thought to see what I'd say about it.
The good news
You Can Learn to Play Guitar.
You don't need hours every day or some special musical gift. People start in different places, but musical skills can be developed.
Make time for it
Give guitar a realistic, regular place in your week.
Know what you're working towards
A clear goal helps decide what deserves your attention.
Learn how to practise effectively
Have a plan, learn how to work through problems, and adjust when something isn't working.
Lessons provide the direction. Your practice puts it into action.
Inside a lesson
How Lessons Work
Every lesson follows the same six stages. At first, I'll give you more guidance on what needs work and how to practise it. Over time, the aim is for you to get better at recognising those things and making more of those decisions yourself — with more guidance again whenever you start something unfamiliar.
Start with what you want to play
What you are actually aiming at
We start by getting specific about what you want to achieve. The clearer the goal, the easier it is to work out what you need to learn, what to practise, and what progress towards it actually looks like.
For example
“I just want to get better at guitar.”
The first step is defining what “better” actually means to you. Instead of “I want to get better”, we might arrive at:
“I want to be able to play five songs I love from start to finish along with the original recordings.”
Now we have something specific we can work towards.
Want to Talk Through Your Goals?
Book a short call and tell me where you're at with guitar and what you'd like to be able to do. We can talk through what you'd need to work on and whether lessons would suit you.
Before you book
Progress Happens Between Lessons.
You Do the Work Independently
Between lessons, you take what we've worked on and put it into practice yourself. You'll know what to work on, how to practise it, and what you're trying to improve.
You'll Know What to Do
You won't leave a lesson with a vague instruction to “practise more”.
You'll leave with a specific plan, and an idea of what progress should look or sound like.
If You Get Stuck, Ask
Don't spend two weeks practising something you're not sure you're doing correctly.
Send me a quick message. If I can clear it up with a message or short video, I will. If it needs more time, we'll deal with it properly in the next lesson.
We'll Work With What Actually Happened
Didn't practise? Managed three days rather than five? Something turned out much harder than expected? That's useful information.
At the next lesson, we'll look at what worked, what didn't and what needs to change. If the plan didn't fit your week, we'll adjust it.
Practice
How Regular Practice Adds Up
You don't need hours every day. Short, focused practice sessions spread across the week can add up to a meaningful amount of time on the guitar.
One practice session
15–30minutes
A focused session with a clear purpose.
One week
4–5days
Enough regular practice to keep things moving forward.
One month
15–20sessions
Small sessions start to add up.
Over time
6+months
Enough repetition to build real skills and work towards the things you want to play.
Longer term
100 Practices
A simple way to see your practice adding up.
At the start of a longer-term goal, write down what you're working towards. Each day you practise, mark one box — whether you had five minutes or an hour.
There's nothing magical about the number 100. It's simply far enough away to give you a meaningful milestone to work towards and enough time to see what consistent practice can do.
By the time you reach it, the aim isn't just to have filled 100 boxes. It's to be able to look back at where you started, what you can do now, and how much your playing has changed along the way.
A realistic approach
Lessons Don't Have to Be Forever
Learning guitar requires time and regular practice, but that doesn't mean it needs to become the centre of your life — or that you need to take lessons indefinitely.
For many adults, the goal isn't to become an advanced guitarist. It's to reach a point where you can pick up the guitar, play music you enjoy and feel confident enough to keep playing on your own.
Getting there does require a period of commitment. You need to make regular time for the guitar, practise with purpose and give yourself long enough for those skills to develop.
But that commitment can fit around a normal adult life. You don't need to practise for hours every day. What matters is being consistent with the time you can realistically give it.
Give yourself a meaningful period of focused lessons and practice, work towards something you genuinely want to be able to do, and see how far you can take it. When you reach a point where you're happy with your playing, pause the lessons. Enjoy what you've learned. Play the guitar.
And if, six months or three years later, there's something new you want to learn, you can always come back with a new goal and start the process again.
What you'll play
What Do You Want to Play?
Whether you're interested in acoustic, electric or classical guitar, the music you want to play helps shape the lessons.
Rock, pop, folk, blues, classical and more
The style you enjoy helps decide which songs, techniques and skills we focus on.
Acoustic guitar
Songs, strumming, accompaniment and fingerstyle.
Electric guitar
Riffs, rhythm guitar and lead playing.
Classical guitar
Classical repertoire, technique, reading and interpretation.
What you'll learn
Skills We Can Develop
What we work on depends on what you want to play, but the same broader areas come up across acoustic, electric and classical guitar.
Technique
Develop the control and coordination needed to play cleanly, comfortably and reliably.
Rhythm
Learn to play rhythms accurately and consistently, keep a steady beat and stay in time with the music.
Fretboard knowledge
Understand where notes, chords, scales and patterns are across the guitar.
Music theory
Understand how the music you're playing works — chords, keys, scales, harmony and how they connect.
Playing by ear
Learn to recognise and work out notes, melodies, chords and other parts of the music you hear.
Reading music
Learn to read standard notation where it supports what you want to do.
Musical expression
Learn to interpret the music you play and make deliberate choices about how it should sound.
Learning and practising effectively
Learn how to break music down, solve problems and practise efficiently when something isn't working.
Why me
Experience You Can Trust.
300+
Students Taught
More than 300 students taught through one-to-one lessons and group classes.
8
Years Teaching
Teaching guitar since 2018, working with students across different ages, levels and musical goals.
3×
1st Place Awards
First place in the Bridget Doolan Award and two Feis Ceoil guitar competitions.
1st
Class Honours
BA (Hons) in Music, with classical guitar performance as a major and composition as a minor.
In their words
What Students Say
A few words from students I've worked with over the years.
Lessons and Pricing
Lessons & pricing
€60
per one-hour lesson
Weekly
Every week
For students who can make a consistent time commitment to guitar each week.
Weekly lessons give you regular feedback and direction, with enough practice between lessons to keep building from one week to the next.
10-lesson block
- Recommended
Fortnightly
Every 2 weeks
The best fit for most adult students.
A fortnight gives you more time to fit meaningful practice around work, family and everything else that comes with adult life, while still having a regular lesson to keep your playing moving in the right direction.
5-lesson block
Flexible
When it suits
For students who can't commit to a regular lesson time.
Book individual lessons from whatever times are available, without committing to a regular slot. Availability varies, with recurring students having priority on regular lesson times.
Single lessons
Ready to Get Started?
Book a short call to talk through where you're at, what you'd like to achieve and which lesson option would suit you.