Student Testimonials

I started guitar lessons a year ago with Craig. He has provided consistently high quality instruction with plenty of follow through. He sends out videos along with other information as homework between sessions. Craig has helped my guitar progress tremendously.

Having been a student for almost 10 yrs, taking lessons from Craig has been the single most important part of my journey as a guitarist. He is able to break down concepts of music theory into manageable pieces that allow anyone to understand.

Craig is a gifted, professional instructor. My daughter has truly excelled under his tutelage. We have appreciated the flexibility in scheduling around our daughter’s sports schedule. Craig’s natural aptitude for music and teaching is a rare thing to find. We are so happy to have found Sinclair Music Studio.

Craig is an amazing and patient teacher! He capitalizes on students’ interests and preferences and is great at building skills and confidence. He is great at teaching what you want to learn in guitar and adapting lessons to individual needs and preferences.

Craig is a great teacher. He is imaginative and knowledgeable and a great guitar player. I feel that he has been supportive and very patient with our grandson. In only four short years he has brought our student from no knowledge of the guitar to someone who loves the instrument and plays on a daily […]

Craig is a natural teacher! I love his use of videos to help remember what was taught in lessons and his follow up emails. My 10 year old came home from his first lesson able to pluck a melody and play chords. He hasn’t put down his ukulele since:o) I highly recommend Sinclair Music Studio.

I started taking lessons with Craig in 2015 as my New Year’s resolution, and I have been happy ever since. Craig is extremely knowledgeable and can work with students of any age and skill level. I knew nothing about music going in and have learned so much thanks to Craig. He is also very patient […]

I’ve been a student of Craig’s for about 5 and a half years. Before I came to him I couldn’t play anything at all. When I first started I was playing guitar but have since added bass guitar. I play in a rock band and also for my church Hope Lutheran in front of hundreds […]

I’ve taken lessons from Craig for a few years and would highly recommend Craig to anyone that wants to learn guitar from scratch or wants to improve on existing skills. Craig is an excellent musician and a dedicated instructor. He is thoroughly engaged in the teaching process and provides his students with audio and video […]

If there were more than five stars, I would give them. It took a lot of courage for me to attempt to learn the ukulele later in life. I have never played an instrument. Craig has the perfect balance of encouragement and support that keeps me going. He is so talented himself and his enthusiasm […]

I’ve been taking lessons with Craig for about 10 months now. Before my lessons, I didn’t even know a single chord. From the beginning, Craig asked me about my goals and the types of music I liked to listen to. Our lessons are focused towards accomplishing my goals and on learning the types of music […]

Craig does a great job of explaining technique and making it fun and easy to learn. He has been great at communicating and getting a lot of progress with each lesson. I am a beginner so he has made it feel like it’s easy to want to practice and learn more. I would highly recommend […]

Craig’s talent is his ablity to teach to your individual level & genre interest. He is well versed in a wide range of styles, and the videos made for your specific lessons are invaluable, allowing you to go back & review ad infinitum.

Craig is very knowledgeable, professional, courteous and can play AND TEACH a wide range of styles and genres. He’s excellent at giving me things to use for my next show. He explains how to think about the neck and breaks it down so you understand. He also gives you short videos to work on for […]

In the span of two years Craig’s instruction has taken me from beginner to playing through some of my favorite songs. I have access to a multitude of study materials, videos, background tracks, and Craig — he’s virtually always accessible. Craig’s full time job is teaching and making music. If I’m stuck trying to figure […]

I’ve taken lessons from Craig for about 9 months. Lessons are very relaxed and Craig covers everything from technique to theory in about every style. He has focused me on the areas that I struggled for years on. I’m practicing songs I never imagined I’d feel prepared to play.

Craig is the absolute best! My son has been taking electric guitar and bass lessons from him for several years. Craig is professional and provides so much support via take home sheets, recordings on zip files and the opportunity to play around with other instruments. He is totally committed to his students. We can’t say […]

I’ve taken guitar lessons from Craig Sinclair at Sinclair Music Studio for nearly three years, and I’ve went from being a true beginner to really being able to play my guitar and I’m extremely happy with my progress. I continue to learn new things and improve every week thanks to Craig and his teaching style. […]

I was a self-taught guitar player for 2 years prior to taking lessons with Craig. I have been taking lessons with him now for going on 2 years. I have gone from a beginner to now being able to follow and play songs all the way through. I can also do a considerable amount of […]

I didn’t know the first thing about playing a guitar before I walked into Craig’s studio. After 1 lesson, I am confident that Mr. Sinclair is the best teacher I could’ve found. I was extremely impressed by his knowledge, professionalism and teaching technique. Craig ensures his students first master the very basics of guitar playing […]

My son, Sean, has been taking lessons from Craig since he was 10 years old. By the time he was in 6th grade he was playing guitar at our church, Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, for our confirmation classes (which includes hundreds of kids). In 7th grade, Sean auditioned for the worship […]

Just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate and respect you. You have set an extremely high standard for Jake’s future guitar teachers and we compare them all to you. We are on to teacher #2 here in Austin, so we will see how he compares. Anyway, I wanted to reach out and […]

My son has been taking lessons from Craig for over three years. It has been an outstanding experience for us. Craig has an exceptional range of teaching capabilities, from beginning to understand music to advanced theory. I would recommend Craig to someone who has never touched a guitar and to someone who already plays and […]

I would, without a doubt, recommend Craig Sinclair if you are searching for a guitar instructor in the Des Moines metro area. As a PhD in the field of education, I can honestly say Craig does all the things that outstanding teachers do. He works to understand exactly where his students are at and develops […]

I started taking lessons from Craig as a beginner from zero. His approach and methods made a lot of sense to me. He also gives you review and practice material until your next lesson and goes above and beyond to help with any needs. Not to mention he’s an all around great guy!

Craig has been professional in scheduling times. He has a nice studio with tools to help you learn. Most importantly, I have learned much about music and how the guitar adds to music rather than the other way around. Craig’s passion for music is evident in our lessons.

Guitar lessons with Craig are so great. Now only do you leave with so much more knowledge you go in excited and ready to go. He makes playing fun while making it very very productive. Earlier this year I started to build a 76′ Gibson Explorer re-issue and the day I told craig about it […]

I enjoy and look forward to my lessons with Craig. I started last spring with minimal guitar experience and Craig has worked with me to to develop good techniques to make the progression easier. Craig listens to what I want to get out of my lessons and tailors the lessons to my musical taste.

Best guitar instructor in Des Moines!. I had tried taking lessons at other local guitar shops and was just completely stalled out. Craig rebuilt me from the ground up, from technique to theory. He has great patience with his students and really uses technology to enhance the lesson. Highly Recommended!

I’ve been taking lessons from Craig for almost 4 years now. He is extremely knowledgeable and has proven teaching techniques. He is always flexible and utilizes lesson time to the fullest. Craig will tailor lessons to each students interest. He will cover everything from music theory to soloing to rhythm in any music genre you’re […]

Being older, I was hesitant to take up “a young person’s thing.” Well, this ol’ dog surely learned many new tricks! Acoustic, electric, rhythm, solo, jazz, rock, blues. Craig has it ALL! Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Outliers,” writes that masters of their craft have put in 10,000 hours. Craig has that, and he wants YOU […]

My son has been taking lessons from Craig for over four years. He is a fantastic teacher who teaches in a fun environment with music the student is interested in. He keeps the lessons relevant and challenging and provides lesson materials that the student can use as a reference well after that lesson is complete.

We found Mr . Sinclair to be exactly what we were desirous of when we selected him as our son’s guitar teacher. What’s made him stand out was his refreshingly professional approach, we found lesson plans prepared and sequenced for the individual that allowed our son to seamlessly step into a lesson environment that fit […]

I had the pleasure of having Craig as an instructor. He is extremely good at what he does, his method of teaching as well as the support you get from his videos and email access for the questions between classes is second to none. From technique to theory, this guy knows whats going on. Also […]

Update: We have had our son taking lessons with Craig since he was 7 (he is now 14) Craig’s patience and teaching methods have been a perfect fit for our son and he is now able to basically jam with his friends and play anything he wants..we would recommend Craig to anyone who wants to […]

I started taking lessons from Craig almost 3 years ago. I have learned so much from Craig that other instructors couldn’t teach me. He is very patient and knowledgeable, and a great guitar player himself, I enjoy my guitar playing more than ever, and owe much of it to Craig. I highly recommend him!

Very Knowledgeable, Always accessible if I have a question, I have recommended him to several friends. I also like his style of teaching.

Craig is an outstanding teacher. He utilizes modern technological and digital aides to assure the students have a solid resource for learning. Incidentally, he also has a wide appreciation of all music types and genres. Highly recommend.

Craig is an amazing teacher! His patience, knowledge, and flexibility make him the best fit for us. He not only teaches you at your lesson but sends you home with more video work than you could dream of getting through between lessons. It’s like having him at your house teaching you, on your computer until […]

Craig is an outstanding musician as well as an exceptional teacher. Both my grade school-age son and I take lessons from Craig. His teaching style and depth of knowledge allows him to work VERY effectively with all individuals whether they are young, old, experienced, or a beginner. We enjoy practices in Craig’s studio and we […]

I have been taking lessons from Craig for a little over a year now and am extremely pleased with the results. I am always impressed with Craig’s knowledge of theory and a wide variety of music genres; as a result Craig is able to tailor his lessons to the style of music you want to […]

I have been working with Craig for 2 years now and have loved the experience. He uses a one-hour, bi-weekly lesson schedule which allows for an unrushed and substantively thorough lesson experience, and plenty of practice time in-between lessons. Craig has allowed me to bring songs to him that I am interested in and we […]

I have been taking lessons for 4 years. Before that I hadn’t taken any lessons. He is patient and helps with everything I need. He even helped me with a talent show at school. He is a great teacher. I look forward to lessons every week. I recommend him to beginners and experienced players.

I started taking lessons from Craig Sinclair almost four years ago. I’m in my 40’s and had no previous musical experience, but Craig took a patient and thoughtful approach to teaching which made it both fun and exciting. I say often that my lesson time is my favorite hour of the week. I feel like […]

Craig is a great teacher, very knowledgeable and patient. He really takes the time to explain things and tailor lessons to each student. I had been playing guitar for years before taking lessons but have made more progress in the last year than the ten years prior to working with Craig. I highly recommend him […]