Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Carlsbad's Marty Schwartz is "the number-one online guitar teacher in the world"

I watch that guy!

Schwartz: “My lessons have gotten over a half a billion hits on YouTube.”
Schwartz: “My lessons have gotten over a half a billion hits on YouTube.”

“It’s crazy,” says Carlsbad resident Marty Schwartz, “so far my lessons have gotten over a half a billion hits on YouTube. Not to sound pompous, but I am the number-one online guitar teacher in the world.”

In the early 2000s Schwartz was playing and touring with San Diego bands Wise Monkey Orchestra and Psydecar while juggling a career as an elementary-school music teacher.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

Marty Schwartz

Absolute Super Beginner Guitar Lesson

Absolute Super Beginner Guitar Lesson

“[I was like a] real-life Jack Black from School of Rock teaching tons of kids guitar and putting little rock bands together. As my student roster grew, I started making video clips of the key points of our lessons and then putting the clips up on this new thing called YouTube so they could practice.”

When the economy took a dive in 2008, Schwartz got laid off from his teaching job, lost a lot of band gigs, and was in a bad place. So he began to make more instructional clips in an effort to attract private students.

“As the videos became more popular, business opportunities started presenting themselves, and that’s when I actually turned guitar-lesson videos into a business. The YouTube tutorials were free, but I also had a website and sold instructional courses on DVD. By late 2009, I didn’t need any other job except to make video lessons.”

Schwartz’s YouTube success has turned him into a celebrity of sorts.

“I get recognized out in public. I’ve also been able to meet...even jam with some of my heroes. For instance, I’m a huge Tenacious D fan. At the NAMM show a few years back, Kyle Gass came up to me like he knew me and yelled, ‘I saw you teach my song on YouTube!’ He later invited me to the Tenacious D rehearsal space to hang with him and Jack Black. I’ve played now with Phil Lesh, Mother Hips, Blues Traveler, and the guitarist from the Killers. I just did a weeklong tour with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe from a referral. When Karl heard about me he said, ‘Marty Schwartz the guitar teacher? I watch that guy!’

“It’s amazing to know the videos have helped people get through chemotherapy, or helped wounded vets with their PTSD, or simply helped some college kid get laid. It’s all so gratifying.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

3 Tips for Creating a Cozy and Inviting Living Room in San Diego

Next Article

Rapper Wax wishes his name looked like an email password

“You gotta be search-engine optimized these days”
Schwartz: “My lessons have gotten over a half a billion hits on YouTube.”
Schwartz: “My lessons have gotten over a half a billion hits on YouTube.”

“It’s crazy,” says Carlsbad resident Marty Schwartz, “so far my lessons have gotten over a half a billion hits on YouTube. Not to sound pompous, but I am the number-one online guitar teacher in the world.”

In the early 2000s Schwartz was playing and touring with San Diego bands Wise Monkey Orchestra and Psydecar while juggling a career as an elementary-school music teacher.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

Marty Schwartz

Absolute Super Beginner Guitar Lesson

Absolute Super Beginner Guitar Lesson

“[I was like a] real-life Jack Black from School of Rock teaching tons of kids guitar and putting little rock bands together. As my student roster grew, I started making video clips of the key points of our lessons and then putting the clips up on this new thing called YouTube so they could practice.”

When the economy took a dive in 2008, Schwartz got laid off from his teaching job, lost a lot of band gigs, and was in a bad place. So he began to make more instructional clips in an effort to attract private students.

“As the videos became more popular, business opportunities started presenting themselves, and that’s when I actually turned guitar-lesson videos into a business. The YouTube tutorials were free, but I also had a website and sold instructional courses on DVD. By late 2009, I didn’t need any other job except to make video lessons.”

Schwartz’s YouTube success has turned him into a celebrity of sorts.

“I get recognized out in public. I’ve also been able to meet...even jam with some of my heroes. For instance, I’m a huge Tenacious D fan. At the NAMM show a few years back, Kyle Gass came up to me like he knew me and yelled, ‘I saw you teach my song on YouTube!’ He later invited me to the Tenacious D rehearsal space to hang with him and Jack Black. I’ve played now with Phil Lesh, Mother Hips, Blues Traveler, and the guitarist from the Killers. I just did a weeklong tour with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe from a referral. When Karl heard about me he said, ‘Marty Schwartz the guitar teacher? I watch that guy!’

“It’s amazing to know the videos have helped people get through chemotherapy, or helped wounded vets with their PTSD, or simply helped some college kid get laid. It’s all so gratifying.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Rapper Wax wishes his name looked like an email password

“You gotta be search-engine optimized these days”
Next Article

Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader