Online Guitar Lessons
Welcome to Darin Bergsven Guitar Studio!
Located near Chester Creek in Duluth, Minnesota, I offer high quality online guitar lessons for students of all ages and abilities.
Contact me to schedule your guitar lessons today!
A Lifelong Adventure
Learning to play the guitar is a lifelong adventure and I take it as an honor to guide you along your way. It is immensely cool to see my students realize their personal guitar goals, do things they never thought they could do, and push themselves toward mastery.
You will learn as much about yourself and your ability to rise to a challenge as you will about playing the guitar. This instrument will show you the incredibly dedicated and hard working person you are. You have so much to look forward to!
Skill Level
I encourage anyone of any ability, age, or experience to take up the guitar. Whether you are a total beginner unsure how to even hold your guitar right, or an advanced player looking for a new direction, I would love to have you as a student in my studio!
Beginner Lessons You’ve got to start somewhere and I recommend the beginning! As a beginning student you will practice proper posture, hand position, and technique, learn to read music in standard notation as well as guitar tablature, and master basic chord shapes and strumming patterns.
Intermediate Lessons You’ve learned enough on your guitar adventure now that you’ve got some questions! How do I use all these other frets? Why do the right notes sound right and the wrong ones sound wrong? How do I figure out this tune I have in my head? As an intermediate student you will practice scale patterns and chord inversions that move your hand up the neck of the guitar, learn about chord/scale relationships and basic music theory, and explore your own favorite styles, songs, and artists.
Advanced Lessons You’ve got skills, but you’ve hit a roadblock and aren’t sure how to get around it. How do you keep this adventure going? Advanced students work from a range of topics, depending on where you’ve been and where you’d like to go next. We may focus on a specific style or technique that you’re interested in, or, perhaps, you’re a theory nut and want to know more about inversions, harmonic substitutions, extended harmonies, or non-major/minor scale systems. Could be you’d like to work on improvisation, composition, or songwriting. I am happy to help keep your guitar adventure going!
Lesson Format
Guitar lessons include songs to learn, practice, and master, exercises to facilitate good technique, and chord and scale patterns to understand music theory and harmony and how they apply to the guitar. I help students find practice routines and habits that work for them and help them reach their personal guitar goals.
I host guitar lessons on Zoom. Each of my students has a personalized electronic guitar notebook that is updated weekly with new music, exercises, demo videos, and assignments. Students learn to use free web-based recording and notation software to augment their learning experience.
My Education
I started my own guitar adventure when I was 8, taking lessons with Lou Samsa in the basement of the Melody Shop in Bemidji, MN.
I studied with Lou for 12 years before moving to Duluth in 1998 to study with Billy Barnard at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, where I completed a degree in Music Education in 2002.
My Experience
I have two decades experience as a professional guitar player. I’ve been lucky to share the stage with many amazing musicians, including: Big Time Jazz Orchestra, Tangier 57, Owls Club Big Band, Maxi Childs Trio, Sing! A Women’s Chorus, Woodblind, Father Hennepin, and Wayne Newton and perform solo jazz guitar regularly.
I have spent the last twenty years teaching music in k-12 public schools. Currently, I teach guitar at Darin Bergsven Guitar Studio and am Adjunct Guitar Instructor at College of Saint Scholastica. I’ve taught it all, from classroom music, to band, choir, and orchestra, to the Music Resource Center, Duluth, an after school music program I helped create. I’ve worked with musicians of all ages, from 6 to 16 to 64.
Student Testimony
I’ve been taking guitar lessons from Darin for over a year now and I think he is an excellent teacher, patient, and organized. He also has a fun sense of humor and is very encouraging. In addition, I think Darin knows his stuff.
~ Claire
My 8-year-old daughter wanted to learn how to play guitar. Darin offers live online sessions and is able to effectively engage with her and help her learn the basics. She LOVES attending class every week. Thank you so much, Darrin, for sharing your talent and passion!
~ Melissa
I take a weekly half-hour lesson with Darin Bergsven; I am a novice, elder guitar student. Darin is patient, encouraging, supportive, and fun to work with. I am very happy and hope to continue learning with Darin.
~ John
Darin is the perfect blend of professional and laid back as a teacher – he meets students where they are at and provides incredibly knowledgeable instruction. His enthusiasm for music is contagious and we couldn’t be happier with our experience so far!
~ Annie