July 4, 2024
About the Author: Stefan Joubert
Stefan Joubert: Ian, tell me about yourself – what made you pick up the guitar when you were younger? What inspired you to get started?
Ian Stich: When I was 11 years old, I heard “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses, and it was the bass line that really caught my attention. I was fascinated and wanted to play bass so badly that I would grab a hockey stick, jump on my bed, and pretend to be Duff McKagan, the bass player for GNR. I shared my dream with a friend, and he mentioned that his dad, a music teacher, had an extra guitar and I could play guitar instead of bass. He offered the guitar to me, and I thought, “Why not?” that was the moment everything changed. I started paying more attention to guitar riffs and quickly became hooked.
Stefan Joubert: Can you tell me about your early days of learning guitar? Do you have fond memories of your guitar teachers back then?
Ian Stich: Oh yes, I look back on that time with such joy. Before I even touched a guitar, I played the cello in my school orchestra for about five years. While I wasn’t amazing, I understood the physicality of stringed instruments, which helped ease the transition to guitar. My fretting hand was already accustomed to moving and pushing, so the learning curve wasn’t steep. My picking hand developed quickly too. Confidence in my abilities was a recurring theme in my journey, and it kept me going.
I got into Led Zeppelin early on, thanks to my sister’s boyfriend blasting “Heartbreaker” through the walls. Led Zeppelin became my guiding light, and for the first 2-3 years, it was all I wanted to learn. I took lessons at a local music store from a cool guy named Claude, who introduced me to pentatonic scales and riffs. Although he was well-meaning, he wasn’t able to answer all my questions, so I eventually sought out another teacher.
My next teacher was Steve, a rocker in a leather jacket and black jeans, reminiscent of a young Jimmy Page. He could answer all my Led Zeppelin-related questions and help me understand the construction of their riffs. I took lessons from him for about a year until the shop closed down. At that point, I felt confident enough to continue on my own. My mantra became, “Musicians are human; I am human, so I can do this.” I turned to Ultimate-Guitar for tabs of my favorite songs and immersed myself in learning. Each lick, each listen, and each discovery fueled my enthusiasm. I had draws full of self written tabs, notes, chord charts and anything else I could think of.
One day, a friend played “Stash” by Phish, and it changed everything. It wasn’t the familiar pentatonic scales or classic rock riffs—it was something more human and original. It was new, exciting, and a completely different musical mystery for me to solve. That first listen kept my fire lit for years, and although it took me about 13 years to fully crack the code, I never gave up.
Fun fact, when I moved out of my home after college, I returned several years later and immediately went to my old room. I was excited to go through all my old notes and relive my learning years. But to my disappointment, I discovered that my parents had thrown all my notes and charts away. I was sad for a few days. I can’t blame them—it was just stuff to them—but it still stung.
In case anyone is wondering. The album versions of songs like, “Stash”, “It’s Ice”, “Rift”, “Maze”, “Pebbles and Marbles” and “You Enjoy Myself” off of the album A Live One, were the sounds that really sunk their teeth into me.
Stefan Joubert: At the London Guitar Institute, we specialize in teaching adults to play the guitar. Every week we get new students who have never played before, and I am always amazed at how little faith they have in their abilities to learn guitar. How do you approach teaching adults?
Ian Stich: When it comes to teaching adults, I have a unique approach that I’ve developed over my career. It always starts the same way: “Forget what you think you know about the guitar. This is a musical instrument, and music makes sense. It is not hard. You will learn things that make sense both mentally and physically, and this will keep you motivated and make the learning process smooth.”
The biggest challenge for me is breaking down any preconceived notions adults have about the instrument. Some believe their hands are too small; nope, I have sausage fingers, and I am fine :). Some say it hurts, and yes, it will when you start, but as you improve your technique, the pain goes away rather quickly. Those are the main concerns I hear, but the biggest frustration for many adults is that they have been exposed to fragmented pieces of information that don’t make sense, and they’re often told to just trust the process without understanding it. My approach is to answer any and all questions upfront, even the ones they might not know they have yet. I believe in demystifying the learning process.
I tell my students that the easy part is understanding the “What, When, and Why.” For example:
- What is a chord?
- When do you use this knowledge?
- Why does this scale work in this song?
The part that needs practice is the “Who and How.”
- Who is the player? You are.
- How involves the physical practice and repetition needed to master the instrument.
By addressing their questions, providing clear explanations, and preemptively knocking out any questions to come, I help my students build a solid foundation of knowledge. This approach not only enhances their understanding but also boosts their confidence, making the learning experience enjoyable and effective. At the end of the day, my goal is to ensure each student feels capable and excited about their journey with the guitar. Through patience, clarity, and encouragement, I strive to transform their initial doubts into a genuine passion for music.
Stefan Joubert: You claim to have had a HUGE revelation about how simple learning guitar really is. What is this revelation – would you be able to share it with us?
Ian Stich: The huge revelation actually boils down to the smallest piece of knowledge I have ever held in my hand. I view it like a tiny marble. It really is all about how music works and how to view the guitar as a messenger of this law of music. The revelation anyone can hold in the palm of their hands, and seeing it is quite simple, but explaining it is like opening a compressed and sealed mattress—when you cut it open, a lot more comes flying at you than you would expect. With that being said, I will give it a go.
In 2009, I went to a Phish concert in Tennessee. I had been to dozens of shows, and what started off as pure excitement and elation slowly turned into frustration. At this show in particular, I just couldn’t enjoy myself. I watched Trey command the songs, the band, and the audience in a way that only a guitar god could. He wasn’t even looking at the guitar neck, soloing to the highest euphoric crescendos while staring up at the ceiling. I had seen it dozens of times, but this time, I was just angry because I had no idea how he did it. This show was the catalyst for my revelation.
When I got home from the concert, I downloaded the audio of the show and went to the timestamp of a moment that blew my mind. My confidence was key here. I knew I could figure this out somehow. I found the chord the band was playing, which was a D chord, and then identified the note that made everyone scream when the crescendo peaked. It was a D note. I kept repeating to myself, “D chord… D note… D chord… D note.”
That was the last thing I remembered before a big white flash lit up my brain. Suddenly, my wife was standing in front of me asking if I was okay. I asked, “Why?” She said, “Because you are totally motionless and drooling on your guitar.” I looked down and, sure enough, I was. What came to me in that moment of what I truly feel was “Divine Intervention” was the revelation that made me understand it all.
The revelation boils down to what I call the Master Music Formula: Music = Scales and/or Chord Tones being played over chords plus the human element. Essentially, if there is a D chord being played somewhere in the music, the melody will have D chord tones in it and other notes (scales) to get to those chord tones. I realized that to play music with confidence on the guitar, you have to visualize two things at once: the chords and the scales.
If you can see the chords on the guitar neck and also see the scales being used, you will be able to understand, write, and improvise however you want. I have a video on my channel called “The Master Music Formula” which explains this concept in detail. For those who don’t like formulas, you can view it as a cupcake where the frosting is the scales and chord tones, and the cupcake is the chord progression. Once I understood how music worked, I instantly knew how to view it on the guitar. The CAGED chord system popped into my head immediately, which I had only heard of and never knew what it was. All of the scale shapes popped into my head. Everything you see on StichMethod popped into my head at that very moment. It was unbelievable, and I am trying with every video to show the world how simple it really is. (Even though it doesn’t sound simple, it’s simple, I promise!)
Stefan Joubert: What do you enjoy most about teaching the guitar?
Ian Stich: Short and simple: Showing another human that they can learn and do new things and feel good about becoming a different person as they work through their struggles and find success.
Stefan Joubert: Can you tell me about the Stich Method?
Ian Stich: Sure! I had owned a local guitar lesson studio since 2009 in Sarasota, Florida. One of the teachers and friends there, Sean Daniel, started a guitar lesson YouTube channel and encouraged me to do the same. Initially, I was apprehensive because I wasn’t the biggest fan of social media. One day, I was teaching a student and showed him what I called the “NeverLost Pentatonic.” He was blown away and insisted I start a YouTube channel because he believed people needed to see it. So, in late 2016, I recorded the NeverLost Pentatonic Video, and the channel blew up. Within several months, I had hundreds of thousands of views, and people were raving about it. That’s when I thought, “Hey, maybe I do have something to offer.” I built the StichMethod Channel around my passion for teaching, understanding, and improvising for players who felt stuck or needed a different approach. That was eight years ago, and I’m still doing it.
Stefan Joubert: How do you inspire students who have lost their guitar inspiration and feel that they are stuck in a rut?
Ian Stich: Honestly, I first need to know what they are sick of or stuck on playing. Once I understand that, I try to show them the crystal-clear world of how I see the instrument. It might sound odd, but I believe that if you see how the guitar really works with music, you will never get in a rut or tire of playing. If they don’t know the basics of the CAGED system, I usually point them in that direction.
Stefan Joubert: What would you say to someone who thinks they are too old to learn the guitar?
Ian Stich: You’re never too old to learn the guitar. Learning music is a journey that can begin at any age. It’s all about enjoying the process and embracing the joy of making music. The benefits are countless, from reducing stress to keeping your mind sharp and active.
Stefan Joubert: Do you think learning the guitar helps to reduce stress in adults?
Ian Stich: When done in a way that makes sense to them, yes. The key is understanding that questions lead to stress. Questions like “How is this done?” or “Why is this not right?” can fester in the mind and create a stressful environment. The idea and goal of learning as an adult is to cut through the confusion and ensure that you can see the path you’re on, feel good about it, and know that you are capable of reaching your goals. So, yes, hearing music come out of your instrument and understanding why it sounds good can make anyone feel proud and joyful.
Stefan Joubert: What are your musical and life goals going forward?
Ian Stich: Great question! Honestly, I try my hardest to go with the flow and live in the now. As of now, I am teaching on YouTube, and I love it. I plan to continue with this until the universe steers me somewhere else.
Stefan Joubert: What can an aspiring guitarist do to improve their phrasing and improvisation?
Ian Stich: Watch my video on phrasing! Heheheh! The best thing a student can do is two fold:
- Learn licks not just to reproduce them but to understand how to move in different ways and times.
- Put on a backing track, pick a scale that matches it, and practice verbalizing your guitar lines with different sentences and inflections.
Stefan Joubert: What exercises do you give students to improve their timing?
Ian Stich: I’m not a fan of metronomes. Some of my fellow musicians call it the “uncomfortabletron,” which always makes me chuckle. With a metronome, it’s easy to ignore the click and forget that you need to sync with it. Instead, I tell students to find drum backing tracks they like—slow or spicy ones that they can understand. Listen to the kick drum, the snare, the hi-hat, and the cymbals, and match them to the guitar. Picture the thick E and A strings as the kick, the middle four strings as the snare, and all six strings as the cymbals. Try to play the beat you hear on the guitar. This approach helps students significantly. Also, don’t worry about counting along as you do it. Musicians count beats to understand them, but once you do, it should be a matter of feel.
Stefan Joubert: Lastly, thank you so much for sharing your guitar wisdom with us. Where can our readers find out more about you?
Ian Stich: You’re welcome! You can find all my video lessons, masterclasses, and playlists on StichMethod Guitar on YouTube. For other links, charts, and resources, you can visit StichMethod.com. I try to keep it simple.
