Learn Guitar your way with a TakeLessons expert

Learning to play a musical instrument is both challenging and incredibly rewarding! If you’ve chosen to take guitar lessons in Palo Alto, you’ve embarked on an exciting endeavor. Many beginner guitarists often lose focus or get frustrated by their formal studies. One proven way to regain your inspiration, and further the learning process is to listen to live music and network with other musicians.

Going to see live music is a great way get inspired, learn new techniques, and network with other musicians with whom you share a love of the guitar. If you’re taking guitar lessons in Palo Alto, you’ve got plenty of choices nearby to get out and catch a show! Here are a few venues worth exploring.

Live Music in Palo Alto

Palo Alto is home to many restaurants that feature live music. Vino Locale is a place where you can enjoy locally sourced food, great wine, and wonderful live music. With a varied selection of musical genres, you can listen to local artists play acoustic classical, jazz, folk, flamenco, and bluegrass guitar.

Another restaurant that features an extensive entertainment calendar is Angelica’s in nearby Redwood City. With an eclectic musical slate that ranges from jazz and blues to 50’s rock and roll and even Celtic music, Angelica’s is another favorite of local musicians. If you’re ready to get on stage yourself, head down here for the weekly Tuesday Night Jam session. It’s a great opportunity to play with other local musicians and do a little networking!

Palo Alto is also the home of Stanford University, which boasts three amazing performance spaces where you can hear students, local, regional, national and international artists of all musical genres perform.

The Stanford Memorial Auditorium is the largest indoor facility on campus and hosts a full schedule of performances. Bing Concert Hall, which features 742 seats, is an intimate venue that is the place to go and hear classical guitar and chamber music. Often featuring performances by students and faculty members of Stanford’s Department of Music, the acoustics are outstanding, and The Bing offers a musical experience of unparalleled intimacy.

Frost Amphitheatre is an outdoor venue on campus that hosts everything from the San Francisco Symphony to jazz, rock, folk, pop and world music artists. With a beautiful large expanse of lawn, it’s a great place to bring a blanket and a picnic and listen to some amazing guitarists!

Other Resources

If you love jazz guitar, a great organization to join and support is the Palo Alto Jazz Alliance. The organization is a non-profit group of local music enthusiasts who enjoy jazz and promote workshops and performances throughout Palo Alto.

The group sponsors several concert series and jazz festivals year round and has brought amazing artists like Scott Hamilton, The Woody Herman Big Band, Bud Shank and Harold Land to town. These stellar bands often feature some of the greatest jazz guitarists on the planet, and the organization offers plenty of events and workshops where you can meet and network with other guitarists and jazz lovers.

Palo Alto is a vibrant city with residents who support local music and musicians. If you’re taking guitar lessons in Palo Alto, make sure to get out to the open mic nights to hear some of the best guitarists from Silicon Valley and The Bay Area. It’s a great way to stay inspired!