Frequently Asked Questions

Your email will be added to Studen’ts corner within 24 hours of signing up, in there you’ll find a sheet where you can add your name to the sessions you want to sign up to. Or you can email fiona@theguitarsocial with your choices. Check the level that the workshop or course is listed at and see our guide on the courses page for how to know which level you are.

Once you’re a member you’ll be added to Student’s corner, where we store all the session materials including song sheets, worksheets and practice videos. After the session, normally the following day you’ll be sent an email with some follow up materials and a suggested practice guide. See ‘After the session, what to expect’ for more details.

Of course. Feel free to get in touch with us via email or phone and we can talk you through your current level and what you’re wanting to get out of a course. With your membership you can also come to more than one course so feel free to try out a couple of different levels

Yes. We run courses from beginner to advanced plus workshops in home recording and songwriting to help take your playing to the next level. Get in touch if you want help deciding which level is right for you

Yes, our beginners’ courses are aimed at the player who has never picked up a guitar before. If you can play a few chords you’re welcome too. Much beyond that and you’ll probably want to look at some of the other courses we offer.

Many can only come on one day a week. At £80/month, this still works out at around £20/session which is still cheaper than you’ll find elsewhere

Membership can’t be paused and if you want to cancel this is something you’ll need to do yourself through Cademy

Not to worry, you’ll still receive the follow up email so you know what to practice, plus the song sheets and videos.

Times vary from 30 minutes to an hour and ten. When booking onto a session, check the start and end time

We tend to have between 7 and 12 musicians. Beginners we cap at 10 so that you get the time and attention that a beginner needs.

Yes please. We have one or two spare to rent out for £4 per session but we can’t guarantee that someone else won’t have nabbed it

Yes please, we don’t have any spare amps

When we send the follow up material, we will detail out what was covered in the last session and what will be covered in the next one, so that you know what to focus on

You’ll receive short videos detailing specific aspects to practice and any related written materials e.g. tabs, chords or scales.

If you’ve signed up to one of the 8 week courses then not to worry, just watch through the follow up videos we send.

We attest that little and often if way better than a few binge practice sessions.

Come to our events. We run a couple a week, normally attended by between 30 and 50 TGS members and that is easily the best way to connect with other musicians.

For all courses we set up a dedicated WhatsApp group which you’re welcome to join. This is a place to ask questions to your tutor and fellow students or just have general conversation about guitar and music.

WhatsApp is for the more social side of The Guitar Social. We ask that any questions specifically for your tutor of TGS managers come directly to us via email.

We don’t create a WhatsApp group for one off jams so go ahead and sign up for a course if you want to be in a WhatsApp group, or come along to an event if you want to get to know other guitar players.

We run a range, from musical performance to bingo and quizzes. All events have a musical element and the purpose of them is to have fun and get people connecting. The quizzes are never serious and the prizes most likely are something you don’t want in your home.

Some events are free to anyone and everyone, such as our weekly open mics. Some event’s come with a small ticket price, and some events are members only. Have a look on our events page to find out what’s coming up

We have weekly open mics and a monthly event called candlelight live where players of all levels play a song, either their own or a cover. We encourage everyone who wants to try playing live to give it a go. Even if they’ve only been playing for 5 weeks. You’ll find yourself amongst a very receptive and appreciative audience.

Normally between 30 and 50 people.

The price quoted for any trip covers the cost of the planning, the organisation and carrying out of the trip, including group equipment, supplies, accommodation, administration, workshops and staff, except for the following, for which you must be responsible: vaccination fees, travel insurance, cost of travel to and from the start / return point of your trip including your international flights, cost of passport and visas, personal equipment and personal expenses while on the trip and any other expenses specifically excluded on the trip description.

Unless otherwise stated on the particular retreats page on the website, travel to and from the holiday destination is not provided by us, nor is travel within the destination.

Unless otherwise stated, food and drink is not provided during the holiday or retreat. The only food and drink that is provided is that which is listed on the information page where you book the holiday. If coming on bandcamp, all of your food and drink is provided by us, so go mad.

No. The itinerary is a guide and will often change a bit based on things like the weather, the mood of the people on the retreat and other factors related to the place we’re in. The plan may not always be adhered to, but we can promise that we’ll do everything in our power to ensure you have a good time.

Yes, all of our retreats have a schedule of workshops and jams which you can take part in if you wish to. The full schedule of workshops and jams will be given closer to the departure date.

You won’t be alone in that I promise and there will be ample selection of the finest vegetarian or Vegan food for you.

Chat to us. If we can cater for you, we of course will but we don’t want to put you at risk by giving you anything we shouldn’t so we’ll work together to see what we can offer you.

If you are unable to make it for personal reasons we have a cancellation policy.

If you cancel 12 weeks or more before the retreat you get 80% back minus the deposit

If you cancel 12-6 weeks before the retreat you get 70% back minus the deposit

If you cancel 6-4 weeks before the retreat you get 50% back minus the deposit

If you cancel any less than 4 weeks before the retreat you get no money back

We can’t offer refunds on deposits unless we choose to cancel the trip

We recommend everyone take out travel insurance in case you need to cancel or in case we need to cancel and cannot provide a full re-imbursement.

Yes you can. You’ll need to arrange this between the two of you.

We try to offer a range of accommodation options but some of the retreats we go on have limited sleeping arrangements so normally require a shared room. Read the retreat description to understand better the sleeping arrangements and then get in touch if you’re still unsure.

It varies. Some of our holidays are for those on a budget and others are for those looking for a bit more luxury. The price will often reflect this. Get in touch if you want to talk through the amenities.

We normally have a couple of workshops on offer, an evening jam, we tend to prepare and eat meals all together and people like to form their own jam groups during the day. Each day will normally consist of some sort of trip or activity such as a visit to a local sight-seeing spot or a walk somewhere.

Above 18. There is no maximum age and we have people spanning all the ages coming to retreats.

How long is a piece of string? The textbook answer is that you’ll never stop learning. The TGS answer is you will be playing a song by the end of your first session with us. And by the end of the 4 week beginners course you’ll have played 4.

Stick with 20 minutes of practice a day and play stuff you enjoy and you’ll find yourself progressing very quickly.

We also recommend finding other people to play with (when allowed) as this helps keep you motivated and you’ll learn off each other.

It depends on the guitar you have. Some hurt more than others but we promise the finger pain will go away.

Some tips for how to prevent the pain – don’t play after just washing your hands; try not to put your fingers in your mouth to lessen the pain and do little and often practice to help your fingertips to harden.

Whether you have an electric, acoustic or classical all will work fine in these sessions. Just make sure it’s in tune.

Get in touch with us, telling us your budget and whether you’re looking for acoustic, electric or classical. Also have a read of our blog page where we recommend acoustic guitars below £130. We don’t recommend spending any less than about £100 on a new guitar as it won’t be fun to play and you’ll probably either end up stopping all-together, or buying another one in a few months. We’ll help you find a good one in your budget.

It’s a peg like device bought for about £10 that you put across your stings to change the key of the guitar. You won’t need one in the beginners course but it’s useful to own one as a lot of the songs you’ll want to play will call for a capo.

There are two main types of tuner: a clip on one and an app. Both work by listening to the sound of, or feeling the vibration of the string and telling you when that string is in tune. Head to YouTube for instructional videos on how to tune or get in touch and ask for our help.