★★★★★
I cannot imagine a better guitar teacher than Gregg. He is the best. Not only is he an absolute expert on all things music and guitar, he is also kind, patient, and a pleasure to be around. Taking guitar lessons from him was one of the most fun activities I’ve done and, had I not moved to the West Coast, I’d be back in DC taking lessons with Gregg every week. I cannot recommend him more highly.
★★★★★
I have been trying to learn guitar on and off for many years. I took a class in college for guitar 101, and have had two other teachers. Greg is the best thing that could have happened to me. He is very knowledgable about guitar. He gave me exercises to do daily that helped me get my fingers to do the right things. Within a two weeks, I could sort of play and sing four of the songs in the book that I brought with me of songs I wanted to play.
Now, just six weeks or so later, I can play almost all of the songs I wanted to learn. They are Christian Praise and Worship and not that complicated. I started bringing in other stuff that I found on a guitar tab website from the Beatles, The Eagles, Garth Brooks, and a bunch of other artists. Greg has helped me tackle them all.
On top of his skill as a teacher, he is just an all around good guy. He works hard for a nonprofit that works with at risk kids.
If you want a guitar teacher in DC, he is awesome and takes the time to teach you and help you learn what you want to learn. I now play my guitar every night and even might hit an open mic this summer to test the waters.
★★★★★
I’ve been taking guitar lessons from Gregg for several months now and I’ve found him to be a wonderful, patient, and caring teacher who is very generous with his time. He’s also a super nice guy!
He takes the time to find out what type of music you want to learn, and then creates a customized lesson plan so that you can reach your goals. I really liked how he teaches the proper form for playing the guitar (right and left hands) because it makes it a lot easier to hit the right notes and keeps you from getting sore fingers or arms.
There have been many occasions where I have gone over my allotted lesson time (when there is not another student arriving right afterwards) to keep learning new material and playing what I’ve already learned.
During one lesson, Gregg graciously changed my guitar strings for me while he had me practice my chords on one of his guitars. He was also explaining how to change the strings at the same time. No lesson time was wasted.
While Gregg does stress the benefits of practicing, he understands that many of his students are busy professionals who may not be able to practice as much as they would like to. So he doesn’t give you a guilt trip if you haven’t practiced much in between lessons.
He is very accommodating and tries to get me in for a lesson whenever it fits into my schedule.
I think that Gregg’s rates are very reasonable.
Gregg is fantastic artist in his own right. He has written a lot of his own original music, which he plays around DC, mainly to benefit the children’s music education non-profit organization he heads up, Guitars Not Guns.
I highly recommend DC Guitar Lessons for anyone who wants to get some guitar skills!!
★★★★★
Gregg is an amazing teacher! As an older beginner I was intimidated to try and learn guitar, something I had always wanted to do. Gregg however, put me @ ease almost instantly. He has a great skill set for teaching and is highly intuitive w/what I want to learn. I am all over the board w/my interests, from songs to scales to theory. He is patient and dedicated and doesnt judge me and what I want to focus on @ each lesson. Also, you can use his guitars. A great bonus!! I would highly recommend Gregg, he is a super guy, great teacher and most importantly a highly skilled and talented guitarist.
★★★★★
Before going to Gregg, I attempted to teach myself a few things. And gave up after a few weeks. And tried again. And gave up. And some many months of occasionally banging around on the guitar, I had still not yet made anything that sounded much like music. At the time, it seemed like there was just an enormous hump to get over before my attempts to make music would be as much fun as shouting along with music I like.
A lesson plan and a handful of lessons worked around my mostly insane schedule, and I am playing music! (And it’s rather more fun than just shouting along.) Gregg is endlessly patient, encouraging, and positive. And focuses on what I want to learn, while providing me useful exercises to build my technical ability. Taking lessons with him is fun, but it is also absolutely the best thing I could have done to jumpstart my playing. I plan on sticking with him to take my playing to the next level.
Helluva nice guy who does a lot of good work with Guitars Not Guns, and an excellent teacher.
★★★★★
Gregg Hammond is great. His style of teaching guitar makes you feel at ease and the encouragement he give helps you to to become confident in learning how to play the guitar from the very first lesson.
For years I have struggled trying to teach myself with books, videos and with other guitar instructors, all were unsuccessful.
Gregg’s patience and musical knowledge made me realize I not only have the potential to play the guitar but to became an artist. He makes learning the guitar fun.
★★★★★
Gregg is great; I started taking lessons with him 8 months ago and have really enjoyed my time with him. I was a complete novice when I first started and didn’t really know what to expect, given that I’ve never had a teacher before, but I have been very pleased with everything. Gregg creates custom lesson plans for me, and gives me new things to work on every time I come in. That said, I can’t stress enough the importance of practicing on your own. No matter how great the teacher, you’ll never get good without putting in the time. If you’re willing to do this, you can get really far really fast with Gregg as your teacher. I look forward to working with Gregg going forward. Just as a frame of reference, I couldn’t do anything 8 months ago, and now I can pretty much improvise (solo/jam, albeit at an intermediate level) to backing tracks with ease. Not trying to brag, just saying that working with Gregg, in addition to lots of practice, has gotten me pretty far.
★★★★★
I came to Gregg about a year ago having never picked up a guitar, let alone any musical instrument in my entire life. I was very apprehensive at first since I was a total beginner and had no idea what to expect, but that feeling was soon alleviated by Gregg’s welcoming and easy going nature.
Gregg has been able to make custom lesson plans based upon the pace at which I am progressing and what areas I desire to improve. I leave every lesson invigorated and motivated to try out the new tips and techniques reviewed in each session. I have continued to take lessons from Gregg for almost a year now and I can say that I have been extremely happy with the educational environment that he provides and would not hesitate to recommend him to any level of guitar player.
★★★★★
“Stop! Your search is finally over.” That was the same feeling I had once I spent 10 mins with Gregg as my new guitar instructor. I have been going to Gregg now weekly for a number of months. His instruction style / method is customized to you the guitarist. He does place the right amount of emphasis on technique (finger strengthening/chord training, etc.) , this includes homework. The 40 min session goes by quickly, most of that is because you’re having fun! Before every session ends, Gregg goes over my practice sheet and confirms that I feel comfortable. This is priceless for a student learning on his/her own time to maximize out of classroom practices.
Bottom Line: I have not only noticed that my skills have increased 3-4 fold over the last nine months, but everyone who has watched/listen to me play is amazed with my progress. Like any activity or hobby, you get out of it what you put into it! Gregg is a wonder guide and instructor but the learning and practicing is on me!
Lastly, I highly recommend DC Guitar Lessons if you’re interested in learning how to play guitar or taken your current skill set to the next level!
★★★★★
Gregg is an excellent instructor and I couldn’t recommend him more! I originally taught myself how to play the basics and Gregg is helping me take my playing to another level. In just a few lessons, I am already becomming more confident in my guitar soloing and starting to understand music theory.
Gregg is an extremely knowledgeable professional, not to mention friendly and patient. Don’t hesitate to call Gregg today, you absolutely won’t regret it!