Chris Haugen Guitar and Lap Steel Instructor

Chris is AWESOME! I am a beginner guitar player… I found Chris here on Unilocal and have had about 6 lessons thus far. I’m learning a ton and the sessions are so much fun! He set my music plan up based on the music I like and it feels awesome when he jams a few songs with you (he jams, I play the chords I know… hehehe). I’ve seen him play at Terrapin Crossroads and he is amazing. I recommend you check out his music on his website so you can get a feel for what I’m talking about… Super talented and inspirational.

I took lessons from Chris for a year and a half after I retired. As an older student in my 60’s learning to play an instrument for the first time I was uncertain that I could progress at all. Chris really helped me get off the ground. He is a very patient and thoughtful teacher. I always felt inspired to practice more after our lessons. I have seen him perform on several occasions. He is an outstanding and versatile musician. He is also an all around nice guy. I recommend him without hesitation.

I took lap steel lessons from Chris for over a year. The lessons took place at my home, which was really helpful since I don’t drive. Chris was great at showing me both technique and songs. He had many good suggestions for songs to learn, and also helped me with things that I was specifically interested in. I really appreciated Chris’s emphasis on the unique ‘feel’ of the instrument. He’s not big on exercises, preferring to focus on songs, which kept things more interesting. I learned a lot from Chris and would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for a lap steel teacher.

I took lap steel lessons with Chris for about a year and it was a great experience! Chris helped so much with steering me in the right direction as far as technique, players to check out etc.
The majority of my lessons where focusing on playing along with records (always the best way to get better) and I loved all the tunes he recommend for me to study and I still use them today in my regular practices.
I’m a professional bass player, but since I’ve started playing lap steel I’ve been offered some great performing/​recording opportunities due to my new found interest in lap steel and I owe a lot to Chris in helping me out in the beginning stage of understanding the instrument.

I feel so lucky to have discovered Chris’s website and have had him for guitar lessons this summer. I was a total, total beginner, but had been wanting to learn to play guitar for forever, and Chris was the best intro to guitar I could have asked for!
He’s an incredible guitar player himself, so there’s no doubt that he would be great with advanced students, but what’s so cool about Chris is that he’s excellent and passionate about teaching even the basics. He was able to break everything down in a really helpful, easy to digest way, and was just incredibly encouraging.
He’s obviously super-​dedicated to his students — I was in the habit of emailing Chris songs I was interested in learning how to play, and we’d be able to break them down and figure them out during my lesson each week. So after just a couple of weeks of having lessons with Chris, I was not only learning the chords, but was also working on a bunch of my favorite songs. It was awesome, and was all the motivation I needed to keep practicing.
Each guitar lesson was productive and fun, and I can’t recommend Chris highly enough!

Chris is one of the most talented musicians I have ever met, but more importantly he is a skillful, thoughtful and creative teacher. I have had dozens of teachers over the years and he is without a doubt the best I’ve experienced. I am a professor during the day who plays guitar in my off hours as a total amateur. But Chris makes me feel like I can play real music. He motivates me by requiring discipline and taking no short cuts, but he is flexible and wide-​ranging in his interests and expectations. For some reason, I work harder for him than any other teacher — I want to do the work and I want to impress him. He is also just a really sweet guy. So five stars and five more for Chris Haugen, without a doubt.