After playing for over thirty years I’ve paid for plenty of lessons and on more than one occasion I’ve been disappointed. The BGI is one subscription that I can’t say that about. John Hatcher’s teaching is entertaining, clear, and thorough, yet he still leaves plenty of room for feeling and my own p...show more

While I really enjoy the Tuesday blues lessons the systematic course lessons and building block approach allowed me to progress much faster than I ever anticipated. The input from the community is very helpful as well.

I don't mind saying that BGI has been the best thing I've found for learning blues. John provides lessons at varying levels of difficulty and he presents them with clarity. In addition to that, there is always interesting and useful discussion in the community forums. I highly recommend BGI for anyo...show more

John Hatcher is a talented and passionate guitar teacher and the founder of Blues Guitar Institute, a website that offers hundreds of high-quality lessons on blues guitar. I have been learning from John for several years and I can confidently say that he is one of the best teachers I have ever had. ...show more

Since joining BGI, I've gone from being a beginner blues player to being able play songs from blues legends like Blind Blake. The instruction is clear and well-paced with options to go back over parts and download tablature. John also takes time to explain WHY things are being done, which helps to p...show more

A first rate site with clear, unhurried, and logical instruction along with a wide range of resources and an excellent, supportive community. All the student needs to provide is commitment and a modicum of talent.

John’s lessons are well thought out and there’s something for every playing level within a great variety of styles. There is a wide variety of learning tools including audio, video, and a variety of online tools to break down what you’re playing. You really can’t go wrong.

I have been with BGI for several years now and for guitar it was the best choice I ever made! I'm in a unique position and John helped me figure out some things over the years and in the process I gained a friend! Thank you for everything

John is natural teacher and passionate about what he does. His lessons are clear, interesting and well documented (tabs, etc). BG affords learning across all playing levels. He's unique in that he's created a BG ecosystem/community.

John's lessons on BGI help individually, he does a lot on one offs in his Tuesday blues that let me focus on something specific. However, he also has gathered numerous lessons on specific topics into "Roadmaps." There are Roadmaps for playing fingerstyle and slide and a fretboard Roadmap, which tie ...show more

OMG John, your classes are amazing. I am a guitarist for many years but I am new to playing with a black mountain thumb pick and after 2 days of following your exercises have totally got me excited learning something new. The pick feels comfortable and i'm playing your exercises with ease. Now on to...show more

I have been playing guitar for a long time but always struggled with finger style. I needed a roadmap taking me step by step from the fundamentals and then a way to apply those fundamental skills to an actual song that would inspire me. I’m a big fan of ragtime, delta and piedmont blues. John is a b...show more

John is a skilled teacher and a wonderful guitar player. His videos are clear and easy to understand. If you have a specific question he responds quickly. Highly recommended!

John and BGI have helped me to stay motivated as a lone learner aspiring to delta blues. Making the difficult doable by the video lesson and the interactive tab I've been able to play slide with ongoing progress. Never thought I would be able to play stuff like Can't be satisfied etc. Best thing a...show more

I can only say how valuable it would have been for me to have benefited from BGI when I first fell in love with acoustic guitar, and old blues in the early 1970s as a 16 year old kid. Of course BGI wasn’t around at that time. I didn’t have the talent to teach myself nor the money for lessons. Now I...show more

I’ve learned to play the blues with BGI! John’s wonderful teaching style has me fingerpicking, playing standards and improvising musically. I couldn’t have achieved this without the Blues Guitar Institute!...show more

All the BGI lessions are based upon John's sound didactical approach, a deep dive into the bits and pieces of a Song or a lick or certain cord progressions and into the how to play it. John professionally combines theory with the fun of playing. BGI addresses all levels of delta blues pickers. The p...show more

BGI's lessons have greatly improved my focus.

You know, there are a LOT of guitar lesson sites out there... a lot. Most of them have never been that much help to me - except for John's BGI. It helps of course that I love the Blues. John's teaching is clear, methodical and helpful... and it works for me, which is all I really care about. O...show more

I have learned enough delta blues licks to be able to string them together in improvizations. Best thing about BGI is multifaceted. The instructor is good at presenting the lessons. The instructor takes the time to get to know his students. There is a great comradery among the students via the for...show more

John breaks it down to small easily learnable steps. I have learned a lot. And if I need more help, the community support is great.

I have been a subscriber to BGI for a long time now. Johns lessons are solely responsible for sorting out my thumb and finger separation when picking! There are so many excellent lessons in the BGI archives for improving both technical skills and theory theory knowledge. The best thing for me about ...show more

John is a wonderful teacher! He's patient careful and he can explain complicated patterns so that they are accessible even for someone with my experience.

I've always enjoyed fingerstyle guitar playing. However, my skills were limited. Your great videos have opened up some great new blues progressions with excellent explanations on how to make them part my skill set. I think the real strength of your lessons is your delivery of the material. It seems ...show more

As a latecomer to learning to play the guitar BGI was the only useful place where I could get what I needed to make a start at playing the kind of music I wanted to play. There are so many things to like about the instruction here.. there is something for every level of playing skill, and there is a...show more

Well, when I do get the chance to play which isn’t very often, John has the lessons laid out as if I’ve never missed a beat! Arguably, the BEST teacher I’ve had in year. Always a new take, new material, and….new hope!!! Love the program, and John rocks!!! By the way, he will answer your emails, too!

I had played lute (yes, a lute) for years and wanted a big change. I had decided on country blues and slide. Great. How does one even start after such a decision? I came across a BGI video and really liked the approach that was taken. Instructions were clear and broken down into manageable chun...show more

BGI's lessons in fingerstyle blues have opened up entirely new worlds for me. I used to watch in awe at people who could do this, but BGI's approach to teaching has given me a new confidence I don't think I could have ever achieved otherwise. I first found BGI by searching "blues guitar lessons"...show more

Things I appreciate about BGI: clean uncluttered website layout; structured, graduated exercises well demonstrated in the lessons builds confidence quickly; the offer of Performance pieces demonstrating the musicality of blending exercises is just brilliant. Thanks John

John with BGI is my constant source of new and exciting guitar concepts be it acoustic blues, electric guitar or slide that gets my own creative juices flowing on my own guitar and busts me out of any rut. It's almost like John can read me and anticipate my 'guitar rut' with introducing superior con...show more

I’m currently in John Hatcher’s BGI for my second year. There was something about his YouTube videos that made me want to go deeper into the finger style and blues based lessons he was posting. So in my second year of BGI I can say it’s the best and most useful online lessons I’ve ever had ! As som...show more

I have learned a lot from John and continue to do so. I like how he breaks down the lesson but not so much it becomes tedious.

Not only does BGI improve your skills, knowledge and understanding of the blues, but John is always patience and supportive. John has created more than lesson guides to the blues ; he has created a community of like-minded people from around the world , whom support one another. ‘Happy woodsheddin...show more

BGI is exceptional. John presents a rich variety of excellent Blues material in a clear, accessible and fun way. He gives a strong foundation in skills by stretching our minds and abilities to take on new and exciting types of playing. The videos are clear and resourced with GP and PDF files that j...show more

For years I have been trying to nail down that Delta blues sound. I have purchased 18 books (I just counted) dedicated to learning the blues. None of these books really have what I am looking for. Most are overly complicated and not clear or concise. I am fairly new to BGI. I signed up about 5...show more

It all makes sense and it is a lot of fun. The lessons are clear, both in demonstrating what is being taught, but also putting it in a foundation context, so that there is logic to it, and it can be used to build as I move forward. The lessons/classes are short and to the point, so the learning is q...show more

For years I wanted to learn to play old time delta blues and BGI has been the thing that finally got me going. There are a lot of lessons out there but non r that I found out that are as detailed and also easy to use as BGI. Highly recommend and I love the weekly email updates.

BGI has been such a great experience for me these past 4 years. I was a self taught at home country rhythm player for years. I always wanted to get into finger style blues and after checking out a few sites I settled on BGI. I found that as an intermediate player John gave a supportive vibe that I ...show more

How has BGI helped; the lessons on theory, the individual song lessons and more. Best thing; web site layout, John's teaching style is not bad either, (or is it " neither?)

I really like BGI I can’t believe that John returned a email to me. I have learned so much techniques in finger picking style, from this learning platform. I’m an old retired guy that always wanted to learn finger picking style blues. Thank You John...show more

After playing for over thirty years I’ve paid for plenty of lessons and on more than one occasion I’ve been disappointed. The BGI is one subscription that I can’t say that about. John Hatcher’s teaching is entertaining, clear, and thorough, yet he still leaves plenty of room for feeling and my own p...show more

While I really enjoy the Tuesday blues lessons the systematic course lessons and building block approach allowed me to progress much faster than I ever anticipated. The input from the community is very helpful as well.

I don't mind saying that BGI has been the best thing I've found for learning blues. John provides lessons at varying levels of difficulty and he presents them with clarity. In addition to that, there is always interesting and useful discussion in the community forums. I highly recommend BGI for anyo...show more

John Hatcher is a talented and passionate guitar teacher and the founder of Blues Guitar Institute, a website that offers hundreds of high-quality lessons on blues guitar. I have been learning from John for several years and I can confidently say that he is one of the best teachers I have ever had. ...show more

Since joining BGI, I've gone from being a beginner blues player to being able play songs from blues legends like Blind Blake. The instruction is clear and well-paced with options to go back over parts and download tablature. John also takes time to explain WHY things are being done, which helps to p...show more

A first rate site with clear, unhurried, and logical instruction along with a wide range of resources and an excellent, supportive community. All the student needs to provide is commitment and a modicum of talent.

John’s lessons are well thought out and there’s something for every playing level within a great variety of styles. There is a wide variety of learning tools including audio, video, and a variety of online tools to break down what you’re playing. You really can’t go wrong.

I have been with BGI for several years now and for guitar it was the best choice I ever made! I'm in a unique position and John helped me figure out some things over the years and in the process I gained a friend! Thank you for everything

John is natural teacher and passionate about what he does. His lessons are clear, interesting and well documented (tabs, etc). BG affords learning across all playing levels. He's unique in that he's created a BG ecosystem/community.

John's lessons on BGI help individually, he does a lot on one offs in his Tuesday blues that let me focus on something specific. However, he also has gathered numerous lessons on specific topics into "Roadmaps." There are Roadmaps for playing fingerstyle and slide and a fretboard Roadmap, which tie ...show more

OMG John, your classes are amazing. I am a guitarist for many years but I am new to playing with a black mountain thumb pick and after 2 days of following your exercises have totally got me excited learning something new. The pick feels comfortable and i'm playing your exercises with ease. Now on to...show more

I have been playing guitar for a long time but always struggled with finger style. I needed a roadmap taking me step by step from the fundamentals and then a way to apply those fundamental skills to an actual song that would inspire me. I’m a big fan of ragtime, delta and piedmont blues. John is a b...show more

John is a skilled teacher and a wonderful guitar player. His videos are clear and easy to understand. If you have a specific question he responds quickly. Highly recommended!

John and BGI have helped me to stay motivated as a lone learner aspiring to delta blues. Making the difficult doable by the video lesson and the interactive tab I've been able to play slide with ongoing progress. Never thought I would be able to play stuff like Can't be satisfied etc. Best thing a...show more

I can only say how valuable it would have been for me to have benefited from BGI when I first fell in love with acoustic guitar, and old blues in the early 1970s as a 16 year old kid. Of course BGI wasn’t around at that time. I didn’t have the talent to teach myself nor the money for lessons. Now I...show more