Our minimum age is 8 years old, with occasional exceptions. If your child is under the age of 8 and is interested in guitar, please contact our office to discuss enrollment options.

Tuition for private guitar lessons is charged per semester with 45-minute and 60-minute lesson options. Each semester is 18 weeks weeks long, with the exception of Summer Semester. Learn more here.

Classical (also called nylon string) guitars are nice for beginners and younger students because they don’t hurt your fingers as much and require less force to press down the strings. Electric guitars also don’t require as much finger pressure, but they do have metal strings which can be hard on a beginner’s fingers. The most difficult to start with would be an acoustic (also called steel string) guitar, as these require the most finger pressure. At the end of the day, the best type of guitar for you depends on your age, goals, and what type of music you are interested in.

Tab is not a part of our curriculum. Although tab is an excellent shorthand for writing music, it also leaves a lot of important things out. Our program challenges students to learn standard music notation, so that they can be fluent in the system used by performers of all instruments, not just guitar.

Yes! Hoffman Academy is different than most guitar programs in that 100% of our students learn to read music. Reading music can be difficult on guitar, but by breaking it into small, manageable steps, almost any student can be a successful reader. Our curriculum supports students as they learn to read and helps them develop a set of skills that most other young guitarists miss out on.

Hoffman Academy offers guitar lessons at our location in the Cedar Mill neighborhood (near Bethany / West Hills / Forest Heights). Not a Portland resident? You can enroll in remote guitar lessons and learn with a live teacher from anywhere!

That depends on how much you want to learn! While our goal is to guide students to become independent musicians who can continue learning and growing on their own throughout a lifetime, a good foundation takes time to develop. To become proficient at the guitar, plan to study for at least 3-5 years with a professional teacher.

Most students find good success with taking guitar lessons once a week. The biggest key to success is to practice every day!

It is never too late to start learning an instrument. Adult music students with a desire to learn and the dedication to practice every day can make amazing progress in learning to play the guitar and will soon be playing some of their favorite songs!

While there’s no one right answer to this question, many people can get a quick and satisfying start on the guitar with basic chords (typically called open chords or cowboy chords). This is often a good way to go for teens and pre-teens, but for younger kids it can be challenging due to their smaller hand size. Younger students usually start with single notes, for example, the bassline from “Seven Nation Army.”

Find our complete FAQs here, or contact the office!