I TEACH GUITAR THE WAY I WISH IT HAD BEEN TAUGHT TO ME.
I’m Jamie Ellis — a professional session and touring guitarist, West End musician and the founder of Play Like A Pro Music Education.
I’ve spent years playing guitar professionally on stages, in theatres, on television, in recording sessions and on tours around the world.
But Play Like A Pro didn’t come from wanting to build another library of guitar lessons.
It came from realising how big the gap can be between learning things on the guitar and actually knowing how to use them as a musician.
I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT GUITAR. THEN I HAD TO LEARN HOW TO ACTUALLY USE IT.
I spent four years studying music.
I learned scales. Harmony. Theory. Technique. Reading. Improvisation.
And all of it mattered.
But when I started working professionally, I quickly realised there was another layer.
Nobody on a gig cared how many scale shapes I knew.
They cared whether I could walk into a room, understand what was happening, adapt quickly and play something musical.
That part of musicianship was something I had to develop by actually doing the job.
Sometimes successfully.
Sometimes by getting things wrong in front of people and making sure I knew what to do differently next time.
40,000 PEOPLE. LIVE TELEVISION. UNFAMILIAR GEAR.
At one point I found myself in Poland, playing live on television in front of around 40,000 people.
It was a Maroon 5 tribute performance. I was sight-reading the music and using equipment that wasn’t familiar to me.
There wasn’t an opportunity to stop and search for a tutorial.
You have to listen, understand what the music is doing, trust your fretboard knowledge and make it work.
Understanding what you’re playing. Knowing where you are. Hearing what you want to play. And having enough control of the instrument to actually do it.
That is the kind of guitarist I want Play Like A Pro to help you become.
FROM THE WEST END TO INTERNATIONAL TOURS.
Since becoming a professional guitarist, I’ve worked across a pretty wide range of the music industry — theatre pits, television, recording sessions, touring shows and live stages around the world.
I’m proud of those credits.
But they’re not here because I expect everyone who joins Play Like A Pro to want a career as a session guitarist.
They matter because the way I teach comes from having to use these skills for real.
THIS ISN'T JUST THEORY TO ME.
A few moments of me doing the thing I spend the rest of this page talking about.
THE INTERNET DOESN'T NEED MORE RANDOM GUITAR LESSONS.
There are already millions of them.
And that’s part of the problem.
You can learn a pentatonic shape tonight. A CAGED chord tomorrow. A mode next week. Ten impressive licks after that.
Then sit down with your guitar and still have absolutely no idea what you’re supposed to do next.
IT'S NOT ABOUT BECOMING A SESSION GUITARIST.
Playing professionally is less about flashy technique than people think.
Working musicians need to be able to learn, practise, apply, perform, listen and adapt.
So that is how I try to teach.
The goal isn’t to collect more information.
The goal is for the things you learn to become things you can actually do with your guitar.
YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO WONDER WHAT TO WORK ON NEXT.
Tell me your current level, what you’re struggling with and what you want to improve. Your personalised practice plan will help point you towards the areas that deserve your attention first.
THERE'S MORE TO THE STORY THAN THE CREDIT LIST.
NOT MORE INFORMATION. BETTER PLAYING.
Not an endless pile of videos.
Not somewhere you go to collect another scale shape.
And not a promise that there’s some secret shortcut to becoming a great guitarist.
I want Play Like A Pro to be a place where you develop real musicianship through clear teaching, focused practice and actual musical application.
If that sounds like the kind of guitarist you want to become, start with the biggest problem in your playing today and build from there.
