GUITAR INSTRUCTION
Lessons built around where you are and where you want to go.
Guitar instruction with Holbrook Gracia — producer, engineer, and guitarist. In-person in Boston and online. Beginning through advanced, including working musicians.
THE APPROACH
Instruction that meets you where you are.
Guitar lessons at SoundSmith are not a curriculum. They are a conversation about where you are, what you want to do, and what stands between you and doing it. The instruction is built around that conversation.
Students at every level — from complete beginners to working professionals — bring different goals, different gaps, and different timelines. The lesson is shaped by those specifics, not by a fixed syllabus.
Holbrook has been teaching guitar for over two decades alongside an active career as a producer, engineer, and performing musician. That combination — deep practical experience in the studio and on stage, alongside sustained teaching practice — informs every lesson.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Beginning through advanced.
Beginning
Students who are new to the guitar or returning after a long break. The focus is on building a solid foundation — technique, posture, basic chord vocabulary, reading rhythm, and developing the ear. The goal is to get you playing music you care about as quickly as possible, while building habits that will serve you for years.
Intermediate
Students who can play but feel stuck — limited by technique, theory gaps, or a narrow repertoire. The focus is on identifying what is holding you back and addressing it directly. Common areas: barre chords, scales and their application, chord-melody, fingerstyle technique, music theory as it applies to the guitar, and learning to learn more efficiently.
Advanced & working musicians
Experienced players and working musicians looking to expand their vocabulary, address specific technical or conceptual gaps, prepare material for recording or performance, or develop a more deliberate practice. Lessons at this level are highly individualized and often resemble a coaching relationship more than a traditional lesson.
IN-PERSON & ONLINE
Lessons in Boston and remotely.
In-person
In-person lessons are held at the SoundSmith studio in Boston. The studio environment — quiet, acoustically treated, with access to multiple instruments and recording equipment — makes it possible to incorporate recording and listening into the lesson in ways that are not available in a typical teaching space.
Online
Online lessons are available via video call for students outside Boston or those who prefer to work from home. The format works well for theory, repertoire, and coaching work. Technical setup guidance is provided to ensure the audio and video quality supports the lesson.
WHAT WE WORK ON
Acoustic, electric, fingerstyle, theory, and more.
Acoustic guitar
Flatpicking, fingerstyle, chord-melody, and acoustic technique across folk, blues, classical, and contemporary styles.
Electric guitar
Lead and rhythm technique, tone, phrasing, and style across rock, blues, jazz, and country.
Fingerstyle
Classical and contemporary fingerstyle technique, including Travis picking, chord-melody arrangement, and solo guitar.
Music theory
Theory as it applies to the guitar — scales, modes, harmony, chord construction, and how to use theory to understand and create music rather than just describe it.
Ear training
Developing the ability to hear what you play, identify intervals and chords, and transcribe music by ear.
Recording and studio work
For working musicians and advanced students: how to perform in a recording context, work with a producer and engineer, and get the most from a studio session.
HOLBROOK GRACIA
Producer, engineer, guitarist, and educator.
Holbrook Gracia has spent his career at the intersection of performance, production, and teaching. He has worked as a producer and engineer at SoundSmith Boston, as a performing and recording guitarist across a wide range of styles and contexts, and as a guitar instructor for over two decades.
His teaching draws directly on his experience as a working musician and producer. The practical knowledge of what it takes to perform, record, and develop as a musician — not just the theoretical knowledge of how music works — is at the center of every lesson.
More about Holbrook's performance and recording work is available at HolbrookMusic.com.
Ready to start?
Reach out to discuss your goals, your current level, and what you are looking for in a teacher. The first conversation is free.