Lessons
Private lessons with an instructor
Lightning Joe’s Guitar Heaven offers private, one-on-one lessons with an instructor on the top floor of our shop. We have spacious rooms that offer a comfortable and rockin’ environment for each student to reach their preferred level of learning. Our teachers have years of experience, both as working musicians and as instructors, and can tailor each of their student’s lessons to their needs. We offer beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons from guitar to bass to ukulele and more. We have students as young as 8 all the way up to 80! If you can sit for half an hour, you can do lessons!
What you need:
We require each student to provide their own instrument. Each lesson room is equipped with all of the additional gear needed. We have a media library packed with instructional books; your teacher can make a recommendation on books for purchase that fit your learning needs, should you need any written material for practice at home.
Types of lessons:
We offer half hour and hour lessons. We also offer the opportunity to try a lesson so you can see if it’s a right fit for you, which would just be the cost of a single lesson. If you are someone with a fluid schedule and aren’t able to commit to the same day and time every week due to that, we offer on-the-fly hour lessons, subject to teachers availability.
*Pricing listed below
To schedule lessons with one of our instructors, please reach out to Marelene Wednesday through Saturday at (805) 481-2226 or fill out the form below for inquiry:
Instructors
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Charlie Foppiano
Charlie is a second generation working musician that graduated from Musicians Institute in 2008 with an Associates Degree and has made a living playing and teaching for over 15 years here on the Central Coast. His self described “Musical ADD” has aided him in absorbing a variety of genres and styles over the years, and takes pride in his ability at teaching and communicating what he’s learned to brand new beginners to more advanced players. Charlie teaches guitar, bass and ukulele, and prefers to work with his students to craft a curriculum suited specifically to their interests, as well as the musical theory and techniques required to achieve their goals. Also, with Charlie’s many years of studio recording experience, he is the perfect choice for students interested in learning the ins and outs of home recording and the knowledge necessary to teach themselves what they need to know to get started. Anyone looking to improve their skills will have a great time learning with Charlie, whatever they’re trying to accomplish.
*Charlie teaches beginner to advanced guitar, beginner to intermediate bass, beginner ukulele and beginner keyboards
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Toan Chau
Toan is a working professional musician and has over 35 years experience as a guitar player. He plays in a variety of local bands including Cuesta Ridge, The Gipsy All Stars, Shantastics and more, in addition to solo performances. Over the past 23 years, Toan has taught private lessons off and on, which makes him a great addition to the team. Styles/genres of music that he likes to teach are blues, slide blues guitar, rock, country, bluegrass, gypsy jazz, funk and classical, and teaches acoustic and electric guitar (beginner to intermediate), bass (beginner), and banjo (beginner). Toan has a open and flexible approach to teaching, where he helps the student focus on what they like to learn and play while providing knowledge and insight to help you reach your musical goals.
*Toan teaches beginner to advanced guitar, banjo, and ukulele
Pricing
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$135 monthly
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$225 monthly
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$225 monthly
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$33.75 per half hour lesson
$56.25 per hour lesson
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$67.50 per lesson
Lesson Policy
We try to be accommodating to the daily grind that is life, but we do have a few policies set in place so your lesson time with your teacher is maximized and not wasted. We understand that there are certain situations that are out of your hands and we will try to work with those circumstances whenever possible. We don’t have our students and their families enter into a contract with us and we feel these policies are reasonable and are set in place to make lessons run more smoothly.
Lesson Times:
Scheduled lessons will be the same day and time each week
It is the student's responsibility to be on time. If you will be arriving late, please give as much notice as possible. If you are more than 5 minutes late without prior notice, your slot may be forfeited for that lesson. If you are late, you will only finish out your lesson to your regular scheduled lesson time and will not be able to go the full half hour or hour.
There are four lessons scheduled each month with the same instructor. Should your scheduled day happen to fall into a fifth week of the month, that lesson will be included free of charge.
We have a 24-hour cancellation policy. If you have given more than 24 hours’ notice to cancel or modify your lesson time, we can make arrangements with you for a makeup lesson. If you need to cancel or modify your lesson within 24 hours of the scheduled time, you forfeit your lesson for that week. Exceptions will be made for sudden illness, family emergencies, weather conditions, and instructor absences.
In the event that you are unable to attend one of your lessons in any given month, we will reschedule your lesson within that month. If the available make-up days/times do not work out with your schedule, and you have that fifth free lesson remaining, that fifth lesson will be considered your make-up lesson. Otherwise, the lesson you’re unable to make will be forfeited. There are no refunds for missed lessons.
Recurring no-shows may result in your scheduled lessons being dropped
On-the-fly lessons are scheduled per the instructor’s availability
Payments:
Lesson payments are due the first lesson of every month, before your scheduled lesson time
Missed lessons will not be refunded
On-the-fly lessons are to be paid before your lesson, not after
Instruments and Literature:
It is the student’s responsibility to bring their own instrument(s), in good working order. We do not loan out or have instruments available for rent. Additional materials may be required as per the teacher’s request and are the student’s responsibility to bring. We do have materials available for purchase.
Policy effective April 4, 2024