Frequently Asked Questions

Your booking is confirmed and we will be in touch a few days before your first session.
You won’t need to read through or access any materials before the session. These are shared live in session and then with you afterwards.

Your booking is confirmed. If the workshop is online the Zoom link will be in your inbox 30 minutes before the session is due to start. We send it 30 minutes before the start because we get a lot of last-minute bookings. If you’re coming to the workshop in person then just turn up with a guitar at the start.

You won’t need to read through or access any materials before the session. These are shared live in session and then with you afterwards.

After the first session, normally the following day you’ll be sent a folder which contains all of your practice materials. See ‘After the session, what to expect’ for more details.

After the workshop, 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.

Yes. Each term we add new courses and workshops and some examples of past courses that we’ve done which are aimed at intermediate players are Modes, The CAGED system, advanced rhythms and Jazz blues to name a few. Get in touch if you’re worried a course may be too hard or easy for you.

Yes, our beginners’ course is 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.

An hour and a half in person and typically 30 minutes if you’re doing an online session

We tend to have between 7 and 12 people signing up to our courses. Beginners we cap at 8 so that you get the time and attention that a beginner needs.

To avoid showing up on the recording you’ll need to turn your camera off.

Yes please. We have one or two spare but these are hot commodity and the quality is deteriorating slowly

Yes please. Again, we have one or two spare but they are more often than not, not available

When we send the follow up material, we will detail out a recommended practice list and schedule. E.g. – spend 5 minutes working through these finger exercises then 3 minutes with this riff, 5 minutes working through this song etc.

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

We normally have 2 of the same level a week. If you can’t come on your day, if we have space you can come to the other session

We attest that little and often if way better than a few binge practice sessions. In our recommended practice schedule, we’ll details out about 20 minutes worth of practice per day.

Patreon is a content subscription site where you pay a monthly fee and in exchange you have access to our guitar tutorial videos, podcasts, resources, all events and all live courses and workshops.

We have 3 subscription levels from £10/month to £25 per month and what you get with each level is detailed here The Guitar Social is creating music and communities | Patreon

You choose the level that is best suited to your needs and take out the monthly subscription. You’ll be charged on the day you take it out and then all subsequent months, on the 1st day of the month.

Your membership gets you access to all Guitar Social courses and Workshops. A timetable and Zoom link for these is on the Patreon homepage

Your membership gets you access to all Guitar Social events. Once you have taken out tier 1 or above, head to the events page on the website and book as many as you like. Then read the FAQs on ‘Events’ on how to attend the events.

Log into Patreon and start exploring what we have. There are videos from many months ago which are always relevant, and we update Patreon every week with new content. We try to tier this content into levels. Level 1 is beginner, Level 2 improver and level 3, the more advanced stuff.

If there’s a particular topic you’d like to see covered by a video on Patreon, get in touch.

Come to our events. We run a couple a week, normally attended by between 30 and 50 TGS students 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 workshops 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.

Yes, if you’re on a course or a Patreon member, you can book to use our practice room for free. Just get in touch to see if it’s available

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.

You’ll need at least a tier 1 (TGS members) Patreon membership to come to events, or you can by an event at £5 per event. See the Patreon section for how to get this membership and what else it offers you.

We have fortnightly 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.

We have some daytime events and jams which we run for anyone and everyone. We want to encourage people to pick up their guitar every day and this is how we do it. We understand that not everyone can afford a Patreon membership which is why we run them for free. If you can afford a membership though, we’d love your support. Of, if you’d rather make some one-off payments, you can buy us a Ko-fee here https://ko-fi.com/theguitarsocial.

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. 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.