Guitar lessons in London
Acoustic, electric, classical, bass and ukulele: one-to-one guitar-family tuition for every age and level in our Islington studios.
Guitar is the instrument that almost everyone has tried, and that a frustrating number of people give up on in the first six weeks. Our guitar lessons in London are designed to get you past that wall, by teaching you songs you actually care about, fixing the technical problems that hold beginners back, and giving you a clear, satisfying sense of progress lesson by lesson. Lessons are in Islington, four minutes from Highbury & Islington station.
What you'll learn
Posture, hand position and pick technique: the basics that make everything else easier
Chord shapes: open chords, barre chords, voicings up the neck
Strumming and picking patterns: for every genre that uses them
Scales and modes: pentatonic, blues, major, minor, modal, where to use what
Fingerstyle technique: folk, classical-adjacent, modern fingerpicking
Soloing and improvisation: feel, phrasing, vibrato, bending, target notes
Reading guitar music: TAB, standard notation, chord charts
Theory through guitar: keys, the circle of fifths, why songs work
Effects, amps and tone: getting the sound you hear in your head
Trinity / Rockschool grades if you want a structured pathway
Guitar lessons for every kind of player
Total beginners
This might be most of you. The first 10 lessons are about building your hands into instruments. We pick songs you'd actually want to play, teach you the chords and rhythm patterns that get you there fastest, and quietly build the technique you'll lean on for years.
Stuck beginners
Maybe you learned three chords years ago. Almost everyone who picks up guitar plateaus at the same place: you know G, C and D, maybe Em and Am, but barre chords are torture and you can't keep time. We'll fix both of those in a handful of lessons.
Rock, blues, jazz, folk
Tell us what you want to play. We have tutors specialising across genres: pure blues players, jazz improvisers, fingerstyle folk specialists, metal guitarists.
Children
25-minute lessons with songs they know. We use both acoustic and 3/4-size guitars depending on what's appropriate.
Bass guitar lessons
We also teach bass guitar and double bass. Bass might be the most under-rated instrument in popular music, the one that, when it's right, makes everything else feel right too.
What you'll learn on bass
Right-hand technique: fingerstyle, pick, slap/pop, palm muting
Left-hand technique: fretting, position shifts, intonation
Time, feel and groove: locking in with a drummer
Reading bass clef notation: for those who want it
Walking bass lines: jazz, blues, swing
Funk, rock, metal, soul and Latin bass styles
Soloing: when, why, and how to do it musically
Double bass (upright) for students specifically interested
Bass lessons are 50 minutes, £49 per lesson for adults: same membership structure as everything else. Children's bass lessons are possible from about age 10, depending on the child's size and reach.
Book a bass taster →Ukulele lessons
Ukulele is the friendly instrument we teach: four strings, soft on the fingertips, and you can be playing a recognisable song within 20 minutes of holding one for the first time. Brilliant first instrument for children from age 5, and a lovely low-pressure way for adults to start making music.
We teach ukulele as part of our guitar-family teaching.
What you'll learn on ukulele
Open chord shapes: the eight or nine chords that unlock 80% of pop and folk songs
Strumming patterns: different feels for different songs
Fingerpicking patterns: for slower, gentler arrangements
Singing while playing: for those who want to combine voice and uke
Reading chord charts
Stylistic flavour: Hawaiian, indie-folk, jazz uke, pop
Ukulele lessons are perfect for absolute beginners of any age. Adults often pick uke as a "test instrument" before committing to guitar, and many stay with the ukulele permanently because it suits the kind of music they want to play.
Book a ukulele taster →Acoustic or electric?
Honestly, either. The "you should learn on acoustic first" advice is a hangover from the 1970s; there's nothing inherently better about learning on a steel-string. If electric is what's exciting you, learn on electric. You'll practise more, which is the only thing that matters.
We have both available in lessons. If you don't own a guitar yet, your tutor will help you buy one without overspending.
How to start
1. Book a guitar taster
£27 for children, £49 for adults. One 1-to-1 with the tutor who'd teach you ongoing.
2. Pick a membership
Children's, adult or shared. All include free practice room slots and free concert rehearsals.
3. Play
Two seasonal student concerts a year, where you can perform with the in-house band. Optional but addictive.
Who teaches guitar, bass & ukulele at Planet drum
Four specialist tutors lead our guitar, bass and ukulele teaching, all working musicians with deep experience across genres.
Vladimir Gilis
Vladimir studied classical piano first before graduating at a jazz guitar conservatory: a rare combination that makes him equally at home teaching across acoustic, electric and bass guitar. Since moving to London he's played at the Royal Festival Hall, Womad, the London Jazz Festival and worked with artists including Cerys Matthews, John Reynolds and Paprika. He also writes and produces his own original music, which means lessons naturally extend into songwriting and composition for students heading in that direction.
Vladimir also plays guitar and sings in the in-house Planet drum house band, which performs every summer and Christmas alongside students at our seasonal concerts.
Antonio Celotto
Antonio is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer from Italy who joined Planet drum in 2019. He began classical guitar training at six and expanded into jazz, blues and rock. He's composed for a range of music projects, including the jazz/electronic fusion project Aiguille, which financed his cinema degree in Paris. His teaching is particularly strong for students who want classical foundations with the flexibility to explore other styles.
Peter Bakaja
Peter studied both bass guitar and double bass at the Liszt Ferenc University in Budapest. With over 20 years of teaching experience, he plays bass in the in-house Planet drum band, which performs every summer and Christmas alongside students at our seasonal concerts. He has covered everything from jazz and funk to rock and metal as a session musician, giving students a strong harmonic and rhythmic foundation.
Filippo Galli
Filippo is a drummer, producer and multi-instrumentalist who also teaches ukulele and guitar. He brings students from never having picked up an instrument to confidently playing songs with chords and a strum pattern within a few weeks. Filippo also teaches music production, and his teaching style favours hands-on, practical progress you can hear from lesson to lesson.
All four teach at Planet drum. You can read their full bios on our Teachers page.