Guitar Lessons · Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

Webster's Guitar Academy

With Andy Webster · BA (Hons) Applied Music · Based in Canning, NS

Personalized lessons for all ages and skill levels. From Celtic DADGAD to Classical technique, Pop & Rock to Praise & Worship — learn the music that moves you.

Explore Lesson Styles Book a Lesson

Your Instructor

Andy Webster

Andy Webster brings nearly three decades of professional teaching and performing experience to every lesson. Originally from Lanarkshire, Scotland, he holds a BA (Hons) in Applied Music from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and has built a career spanning continents as both performer and educator.

His teaching spans an unusually wide stylistic range — from Classical technique to Celtic DADGAD; Folk, Pop and Rock to Praise & Worship — making him equally at home with a beginner finding their first chords and an advanced student seeking to deepen their musical understanding.

BA (Hons) Applied Music — University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Glenalmond College — Private school music faculty, Scotland

Hutcheson's Academy — Private school music faculty, Scotland

Renaissance School of the Arts — Waterloo, ON

Leahy Music Camp — Faculty instructor

International performer: Celtic Connections, Festival Interceltique (Lorient), tours across Europe and North America

Andy Webster — guitarist and music educator
Andy Webster
Musician & Guitar Educator
30+
Years Teaching
Countless
Successful Students
All
Ages Welcome
BA(Hons)
Applied Music

What You'll Learn

Guitar Lesson Styles

Each style is taught as its own language — its own techniques, repertoire, and feel. Choose the one that excites you, or explore several.

Pop & Rock

Classic anthems to chart-toppers — rhythm, riffs, and everything in between.

Explore this style

Folk

Fingerpicking, open tunings, and timeless songs — the art of acoustic storytelling.

Explore this style

Celtic Guitar

DADGAD tuning, ancient melodies, and the distinctive sound of the Celtic tradition.

Explore this style

Praise & Worship

Serve your congregation beautifully — with technique, sensitivity, and confidence.

Explore this style

Classical

Centuries of masterpieces — technique, tone, and musical literacy from the ground up.

Explore this style

Also available

Bass Guitar

The rhythmic backbone of every band — technique, groove, and playing in ensemble contexts.

Learn more

Bouzouki

Andy's second instrument — Irish bouzouki, a natural companion to Celtic guitar.

Learn more
All Styles Pop and Rock guitar lessons Pop & Rock

The Sound of Now
— and Then

Pop and Rock guitar is the most immediate way to connect with music you already love. Whether you grew up with Beatles records or you're chasing the sounds on this week's charts, this is where you'll find your feel.

Lessons focus on the techniques that unlock the widest range of music: solid rhythm playing, chord shapes that move up the neck, riffs and licks that sit in the pocket, and enough theory to understand why things work —.

"The best guitar teachers don't just show you what to play — they show you how to listen - and how to understand what you're doing."

What You'll Learn

  • Open chord shapes and essential barre chords
  • Power chords and rock rhythm technique
  • Strumming patterns, groove, and feel
  • Pentatonic and major scale foundations
  • Riffs, licks, and intro phrases
  • Lead techniques such as bending, slurs and muting
  • Song-based learning from your favourite artists
  • Practical music theory

Example Artists & Repertoire

The Beatles Oasis David Bowie Arctic Monkeys Ed Sheeran Taylor Swift Nirvana Fleetwood Mac Green Day Your Favourites
All Styles Folk guitar lessons Folk

Stories in
Strings and Song

Folk guitar is where the acoustic instrument finds its fullest voice. Fingerpicking patterns that weave melody and rhythm together, open tunings that ring like bells, and the art of accompanying a song so naturally that guitar and voice feel like one.

From Dylan's ragged protest songs to Joni Mitchell's open-tuned poetry, from the gentle fingerpicking of Nick Drake to the driving percussive attack of modern singer-songwriters — this style covers an enormous and beautiful range.

"The folk song is immortal. It transcends time, place, and fashion." — Bob Dylan

What You'll Learn

  • Fingerpicking patterns and Travis picking
  • Alternating bass technique
  • Open chord voicings and capo work
  • Open tunings (DADGAD, Drop D, Open G, and more)
  • Singer-songwriter accompaniment
  • Thumb independence and two-voice playing
  • Light theory: reading tab, intervals, chord families, keys
  • Learning songs by ear

Example Artists & Repertoire

Bob Dylan Simon & Garfunkel Joni Mitchell James Taylor Nick Drake Damien Rice Gordon Lightfoot John Denver Lumineers Mumford & Sons Your Favourites
All Styles Celtic DADGAD guitar lessons Celtic Guitar

The Sound of an
Ancient Culture

Celtic guitar has a sound all its own — open, resonant, and ancient. At its heart is DADGAD tuning, developed in the 1960s when guitarists began searching for a sound that could hold its own alongside fiddles, pipes, and whistles.

Andy brings rare authority to this style. Born in Scotland, trained in the tradition, and having performed at Celtic Connections and the Festival Interceltique in Lorient, he has spent a lifetime immersed in this music.

There is nothing quite like the sound of a guitar in DADGAD tuning — it opens up a world that standard tuning simply cannot reach.

What is DADGAD?

DADGAD is an alternative guitar tuning that replaces standard EADGBE. The open strings form a suspended chord that resonates perfectly with the scales and modes of Celtic music.

D · A · D · G · A · D

What You'll Learn

  • DADGAD tuning
  • Celtic-specific chord voicings
  • Jig and reel accompaniment
  • Session playing skills and etiquette
  • Traditional ornamental techniques
  • Modal scales and Celtic harmony
  • Scottish and Irish repertoire
  • Solo arrangements of traditional tunes

Example Artists & Repertoire

The Bothy Band Planxty Lunasa Flook Solas Dougie MacLean Ímar Traditional Scottish & Irish Tunes
All Styles Praise and Worship guitar lessons Praise & Worship

Playing for
Something Larger

Worship guitar is a distinct discipline. It's not just about knowing the chords — it's about sensitivity, dynamics, and serving the moment. A great worship guitarist knows when to play and when to leave space.

Lessons focus on the practical skills that make you genuinely useful in a church or worship band setting: comfortable with any key using a capo, confident reading chord charts, and able to transpose on the fly when the worship leader calls a different key.

In worship music, the highest skill is restraint. Learning what not to play is just as important as learning what to play.

What You'll Learn

  • Worship-specific chord voicings (sus2, add9, spread voicings)
  • Capo technique and transposition
  • Playing from chord charts
  • The Nashville Number System
  • Playing in a band context — listening and blending
  • Dynamic sensitivity and restraint
  • Modulation and key changes
  • Repertoire tailored to your church and preferences

Example Repertoire & Influences

Hillsong Bethel Music Elevation Worship Rend Collective Chris Tomlin Matt Maher Housefires Your Church's Repertoire Hymns & Traditional Songs
All Styles Classical guitar lessons Classical

The Deep
Foundation

Classical guitar is one of the most technically demanding and musically rewarding paths a guitarist can take. Played on a nylon-string instrument with the fingers alone, it demands precision, independence, and a sensitivity to tone that transforms how you hear every style of music.

Students learn to read standard notation from the beginning, building a musical literacy that opens doors beyond the guitar. Repertoire spans five centuries — from Renaissance lute arrangements to Bach, Sor, Tárrega, and the 20th-century masters.

Classical guitar training changes how you hear music. That carries into everything else you ever play.

What You'll Learn

  • Correct right and left-hand technique from the start
  • Scales and arpeggios for tone development, precision and speed
  • Reading standard music notation
  • Tone production and nail care
  • Finger independence and voice leading
  • Sight-reading skills
  • Performance preparation and musical interpretation
  • Graded exam preparation (if desired)

Composers & Repertoire

J.S. Bach Fernando Sor Francisco Tárrega Heitor Villa-Lobos Robert de Visée Matteo Carcassi Dionisio Aguado Isaac Albéniz Leo Brouwer

Beyond the Guitar

Additional Instruments

Guitar skills transfer beautifully. These instruments extend the journey.

Bass guitar

Bass Guitar

The rhythmic backbone of every band. Bass lessons cover technique, groove, reading charts, and playing in ensemble contexts.

Bouzouki

Bouzouki

Andy's second instrument and a natural companion to Celtic guitar. Irish bouzouki — gain the skills and confidence to accompany in live sessions and gigs.

How It Works

The Teaching Approach

Every lesson is shaped around the student — your goals, your pace, your music.

01

Personalized from Day One

No two students are the same. Lessons are built around your goals, your musical taste, and your learning style — beginners and advanced students alike.

02

Play What You Love — and What You Need

Lessons are built around music you care about, but also around the pieces, exercises, and concepts you need to develop fully. The balance between the two is what makes the difference.

03

All Ages Welcome

From young beginners to adults returning to the instrument after years away — the Academy welcomes students at every stage of life.

What People Say

Testimonials

Mark Pancer
Mark Pancer
Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University

"You will not find a better music teacher than Andy Webster!"

Maria Leahy
Maria Leahy
Guitarist & Leahy Music Camp Director

"Andy is an outstanding teacher whose musical knowledge, skill and creativity is matched by his ability to inspire students to learn and play."

Tom O'Neill
Tom O'Neill
Student

"By far, best music instruction I ever had....seriously!"

Paul Tratnyek
Paul Tratnyek
Former Superintendent of Learning, Waterloo Catholic District School Board

"Andy's sensitivity to the needs of the learner, his humour and professionalism make him an outstanding teacher who inspires!"

Get in Touch

Start Your Lessons

Ready to begin, or just want to ask a question? Get in touch and Andy will get back to you to discuss your goals, preferred style, and available lesson times.

info@webstersguitaracademy.com