Overview: Guitar Lessons
Guitar lessons in Canada mostly happen in two places: the small rooms at the back of a music store, and a teacher's own home. Stores often rent instruments by the month, which takes the sting out of a child who loses interest after a season. Group classes are around too, and some kids keep coming just for the band feeling.
Styles split early. A classical teacher works from notation and may prepare students for the Royal Conservatory's guitar exams, which test sight reading and ear skills alongside pieces. A rock or folk teacher leans on chords and tab. Both are real teaching. Ask which one you're getting before the first lesson.
A few Canadian specifics. The Canada Revenue Agency treats music lessons as exempt from GST and HST. In Quebec, music schools fall under the province's course rules, so you can cancel a registration and pay only for lessons given plus a small capped penalty. And winter matters: furnace-dried air can shrink an acoustic guitar's wood and crack the top, so keep it in its case away from the heat vents.
Our listings show what each studio states on its own website about styles and lessons. Choose your province, then your city, to see the guitar teachers listed there.
Frequently asked questions
Should guitar lessons come with GST or HST added?
Normally no. The Canada Revenue Agency treats music lessons that develop playing skills over time as exempt. A structured course with goals and some check on progress fits that description. A drop-in jam night or a party that includes a bit of strumming probably doesn't, and tax can apply there. If a plain lesson package shows GST or HST, it's fair to ask the studio why.
What if my child quits guitar partway through a term?
In Quebec, a music school registration is a course contract, and you can cancel it in writing whenever you like. Cancel before lessons start and you owe nothing. After that, you pay for the lessons given plus a small penalty set by law. Gear bought from the school with the course, above a modest price, can be sent back within ten days of delivery or the first lesson, whichever is later. Elsewhere, read the studio's policy first.
Can guitar exams count toward high school credits?
In Ontario, they can. A high school principal can award optional music credits for upper Royal Conservatory levels, practical and theory together, and any examined instrument counts, guitar included. The credits sit with electives and can't replace the compulsory arts credit. For a teenager already working through RCM classical guitar, that's recognition for effort they're putting in anyway.
Does a guitarist need to read music?
Not to play, and tab gets beginners into songs quickly. Reading matters once a student wants formal exams. The Royal Conservatory's classical guitar exams include sight reading along with pieces and technique, so a student on that track has to read standard notation. Tab also hides rhythm, which trips up a lot of self-taught players. Ask what the teacher starts with and why.
What gear is actually needed to start?
A guitar, a clip-on tuner, some picks and a strap. Electric players add a small practice amp with a headphone jack and a cable. Canadian winters add one item: a humidifier that sits in the case or the soundhole of an acoustic, because dry heated air shrinks the wood and can lift frets or crack the top. Most studios supply amps in the lesson room, so ask before buying.
Can a parent sit in on a child's lesson?
Ask before you book. Teaching guitar means moving a student's fingers onto the frets, so hands get touched, and a lesson room with a window in the door shows the studio has thought about it. A studio can ask its teachers for a vulnerable sector check, which adds a search for pardoned sexual offences to the usual police check. Ask whether the teachers who work with children have one.
