Guitar Corner Academy
Somewhere to actually
get good at this
Two schools, one method of teaching. Classical guitar and fingerstyle ukulele, each with a structured path to follow, real teachers who know the repertoire, and a community of adults learning alongside you. Plus the books, the courses and the gatherings that have grown up around them.
Where to start
Pick your instrument
Each corner is a full school in its own right: a curriculum that runs in order, a teacher who built it, and people to play with. They share a philosophy and not much else, because a ukulele is not a small guitar.
Classical guitar
Classical Guitar Corner
The original. Fifteen years of teaching adults the classical guitar properly, built around one progressive curriculum instead of a thousand scattered lessons.
- The Cornerstone Method, taken in order from your first notes
- Graded exams with written feedback from a teacher
- Live seminars, open mics and coaching calls
- A forum that has been going for years, and is genuinely kind
Fingerstyle ukulele
Ukulele Corner
The ukulele taken seriously, which turns out to be the most enjoyable way to take it. Melody and accompaniment together, taught from Hawaii by Jeff Peterson.
- A graded fingerstyle path, from first tune to real repertoire
- Courses written and taught by Jeff
- Live sessions and a community of players
- Books for both GCEA and baritone tuning
Also here: 12 Bar Blues. A twelve-lesson standalone course on the shuffle, the turnaround and the walking bass line. No membership needed.
See the courseWhat the corners share
Why any of this works
There is no shortage of free lessons online. What is missing, almost everywhere, is an order to put them in.
A path, not a pile
One curriculum, in sequence, where each piece prepares the next. You always know what you are working on and what comes after it.
Teachers who play
Every course here was written by the person teaching it, and every one of them is a working musician. Nobody is reading from someone else’s script.
Company on the way
Adults learning an instrument for the love of it, encouraging each other. No leaderboards, no competition, no talking down.
CGC Publishing
Books worth keeping on the stand
Engraved in house to a proper standard, in print and as PDFs. The same material the Academy teaches from, so a book and a course fit together rather than pulling in different directions.
Method
The Cornerstone Method: Grade 1
The beginner method. Learn to read music, build technique step by step, and meet the concepts that everything later depends on.
Skills
Progressive Sight-Reading, Grades 1 to 8
175 pages drawn from more than a decade of research, arranged to turn sight-reading from a weakness into a habit.
Practice
20 Practice Routines for Classical Guitar
Ready-made sessions from beginner to advanced, so you sit down knowing exactly what the next half hour holds.
Reference
The Classical Guitar Handbook
Lessons and insights gathered into one reference you will keep coming back to.
Repertoire
Graded Repertoire for the Classical Guitar
The Academy’s graded collection, available in standard notation or in TAB.
Repertoire
Graded Duets, Grades 1 to 8
Duets from across the curriculum, for playing with a teacher or a friend.
Ukulele
Graded Repertoire for Classical Ukulele
The ukulele repertoire collection, with a companion volume for baritone tuning.
Free
Easy Classical Guitar, Vol. 1
Thirty pieces from the classical period, Grades 1 to 3, notation and TAB. Yours for nothing.
More than a video library
Things that actually happen
The part people are most surprised by. A year here has a shape to it.
Every summer, in person
Summer School
A week together with your instrument: ensembles, masterclasses, lessons, and evenings of playing. Places are limited and they go quickly.
One weekend in October
Guitoberfest
An online mini-festival. Two days of livestreams and workshops with guest instructors alongside our own teachers, open to the whole community.
Through the year
Seminars and open mics
Live performance seminars where playing gets discussed properly, and open mics where it simply gets heard, warmly and without critique.
Twice a year
Graded exams
Submit a recording and get real written feedback from a teacher against the grade criteria. A deadline, it turns out, is a wonderful thing for practice.
Who teaches here
The people behind the corners
Simon Powis
Classical Guitar Corner
Simon founded CGC and wrote the Cornerstone Method. He holds a doctorate from Yale and has performed at Carnegie Hall, though what he actually spends his days on is working out how to explain something clearly.
Jeff Peterson
Ukulele Corner
Jeff is a Grammy Award winning musician at the centre of the Hawaiian music scene, playing slack key, classical and jazz. He designed and teaches every course at Ukulele Corner.
They do not do it alone. A faculty of performing teachers runs the coaching calls, marks the graded exams and leads workshops through the year, each bringing their own corner of the repertoire.
Start wherever you are
Whether you are picking up an instrument for the first time, coming back after twenty years away, or quietly aware that some habits need fixing, there is a way in here. Have a look around and see which corner feels like yours.