Private Lessons

Guitar

Guitar lessons Huntington Beach

HBSM provides students at all age of experience to work in a highly tailored, one-on-one environment with experienced guitar educators.

Beginners of any age are absolutely welcome! Young children have an option to start on a ukulele or a 1/2 size guitar. From classical to pop, think of any style you like and our amazing guitar teachers will teach you how to play it!

Beginner students can expect to work on chords, simple songs and melodies, sight reading, and theory. We balance musicianship and fun by making sure that each guitar lesson you are challenged with a new technical or theory concept, but always end with something fun such as your favorite riff or song. We use a variety of guitar method books to accomplish this and encourage students to bring CDs or their iPod to their lesson to learn their favorite tunes.

We always encourage and help our students to perform with other students. This can be accomplished formally through our annual recital, or informally by performing together with other students at our school's showcases or gathering events.

  • Free introductory guitar lesson & evaluation Book Now!
  • Performing opportunities at the Recitals held at our school (which are free!) throughout the year and at other events
  • Ongoing enrollment - stop by anytime
  • Flexible hours to accommodate your busy schedule
  • Guitar lessons tailored to meet the individual needs of students
  • Professional musicians providing quality education

Frequently asked questions

Are your children old enough for guitar lessons?

This is strictly a matter of personal preference. If your favorite entertainers play acoustic guitars and you love the sound, then you probably would want an acoustic guitar. An electric guitar is easier to play but your endurance and finger strength is improved with the acoustic. Electrics generally are more expensive at the beginner level but when you get into pro-line guitars the cost is about the same.

  • Don't leave your guitar in a car for several hours in hot or cold weather.
  • When you finish playing your guitar, wipe it off with a lint-free cloth and put it in your case (or on a stand).
  • Use guitar polish (available at the local music store) to clean your guitar. Don't use furniture polish.
  • Your strings will last much longer if you clean them after each use.
  • You may want to put a dab of lemon oil on the neck once a year to avoid cracking from the wood drying.
  • If you are storing a guitar for a long time, you may want to loosen the strings.
  • Have your guitar serviced by a professional guitar technician periodically.

You should experiment with different styles of picks and find one the feels right for you. Thin picks tend to be floppy and hard to control. Thick picks tend to be noisy when you are strumming chords. A medium to heavy gauge with the traditional shape is recommended. Nylon picks is better than plastic because they don't break and they have a texture that is easy to grip.

If the strings have a dull color, sound dead, muted, or are hard to tune, then it's time to change them. Many beginners don't realize their strings are dead until they hear how good their guitar sounds with new strings.

Guitar Teachers

Hugo Nogueira

Dr. Hugo Nogueira
Guitar, Ukulele

Hugo Nogueira is currently teaching guitar at Los Angeles Pierce College. Hugo won the 2011 American...

More about Hugo
Hang Nguyen

Hang Nguyen
Guitar, Piano

More about Hang

Ian Westerbeck

Ian Westerbeck
Guitar

Ian Westerbeck is a guitarist and teacher based out of Huntington Beach, California. He grew up around...

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Steven Dinh

Steven Dinh
Violin, guitar

I’ve been listening to music since before I was born. I was born into a home with both parents who...

More about Steven

Performance opportunities

Recitals boost confidence! Taking part in a recital helps performers to overcome shyness, fear, anxiety and stage fright. It gives students a chance to showcase all of their hard work, dedication, and progress throughout the year. As children experience getting on stage, performing for an audience, and being applauded for their efforts, they gain self-confidence that will carry with them in all aspects of school and life.

We offer a variety of opportunities for our students to perform in a confidence-boosting and supportive setting. We have many recitals every year, our two Annual Recital in the Summer and a Winter Recital at the end of the year to showcase our students' progress. Students will also receive a trophy at the annual recital.

In addition to annual recitals held at an outside venue, we regularly host mini-recitals at Recital Hall of the school. This will give our students many more performance opportunities throughout the year. We always make sure that students get to perform on a grand piano. For our students these recitals are free.

Please check this page for performance videos.

Refer a Friend and Get Rewards!

We love referrals! Because we have such happy customers, we get a lot of new students through referrals. Getting your child’s friends involved with the program lets them share in similar interests and makes it all that more fun. Or maybe you have friends with children that love music and may want to start learning an instrument? Either way, each time someone you refer signs up, both you and them will enjoy one free class! There is no limit to how many you can refer - the more the merrier!

We believe music lessons should be inspiring, social, supportive, and above all: FUN! Engaging music lessons in Huntington Beach