Hello! I’m Wes Paul. I was born in Charleston, South Carolina and grew up in Camden county Georgia for most of my life. After moving around a bit, I ended up in Austin, Texas where I live for about fourteen years, during my young adult formative years.

Music has been a central part of my life for nearly three decades. Growing up in a household filled with Classic Rock and my stepfather’s band rehearsals, I developed a natural curiosity for the craft. I always thought live music was so great sounding, the way it had so much power and aliveness to it. I was hooked. Like most musicians, it started with hearing songs that made me want to figure out how those sounds were created.

Friends and I would hang out and listen to Rush and wonder how the heck three guys can make all those sounds! I had mastered the air guitar long before I ever picked up a real one. But I didn’t start with guitar. My stepfather played drums and had a full kit in the garage with PA speakers to listen and jam to, so that’s where I started around age ten. Eventually I became exposed to guitar through my cousin Thomas and had some friends that were playing as well.

This was around the time 90s alternative rock was in full swing. Riff masters like Tom Morello were inspiring. The guitar pyrotechnics of players like Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malsteem, and Steve Vai were Mount Everests, waiting to be climbed. (P.S. I’m still trying to climb that mountain…). I placed second in my High School talent show senior year, covering Joe Satriani’s “Love Thing”, from Crystal Planet playing along to a backing track my stepfather and I made from scratch.

Over the years that curiosity and passion has turned into thousands of hours learning songs, studying tone and phrasing, and playing with other musicians in live settings, on some big stages in front of great crowds!

My teaching philosophy is simple, starting with a couple of simple questions: What do you listen to? What inspired you to pick up a guitar? Who do you wish you could play like? From there, we start learning songs. I love all music and am happy to learn and teach whichever songs you want to learn!

Why?

This song-oriented approach makes learning scales, chords, and finger exercises — all the monotonous stuff that might other wise seem boring — more enjoyable and “sticky” because we apply them directly to the song we’re working on that week!