Marty Schwartz On Teaching Millions to Play Guitar | Life in Six Strings

Marty Schwartz

On Teaching Millions to Play Guitar | Life in Six Strings

Join Kylie Olsson as she visits Nashville to meet the man behind the screen: Marty Schwartz. From a struggling music teacher during the 2008 recession to becoming one of YouTube's most influential guitar instructors, discover his incredible journey, his signature hat, and the philosophy that inspired generations. Watch the full episode on Life in Six Strings.

Episode Overview

In this inspiring episode of Life in Six Strings, host Kylie Olsson travels to Nashville to interview Marty Schwartz, the beloved online guitar mentor who has quite literally taught the world how to play.

Marty opens up about his unexpected rise to YouTube fame, the early days of fighting for respect at Guitar Center, and the surreal full-circle moments of meeting his heroes—like Billy Gibbons and Slash—who now recognize him from his millions of views.

Explore Marty's World

This episode highlights how an everyday music teacher accidentally revolutionized how we learn the guitar:

• ■ The Accidental Pioneer: Marty explains how his YouTube empire started simply because a flaky teenage student wouldn't practice. He filmed a quick recap of a Jimi Hendrix riff using an early MacBook and uploaded it just to hold the kid accountable.
• ■ The Fedora Origin Story: The iconic Marty Schwartz fedora wasn't a calculated branding move. It was won at a charity raffle and thrown on during an audition for a blues video. When the video went viral, viewers demanded "the guy in the hat" return.
• ■ Teaching the Hobbyists: Marty's teaching philosophy revolves around the casual player. By removing the pressure of theory and just teaching a few chords at a time, he brings the joy of guitar to those who just want to play along in their bedrooms.

Episode Highlights

• Surprising Slash Marty shares the mind-blowing story of walking out of a room at Gibson and bumping into Slash, who enthusiastically recognized him and admitted he had some of Marty's blues lessons saved on his computer.
• Saving the Pros Despite teaching hobbyists, Marty's vast library (over 5,000 songs) has saved touring pros in a pinch. He recounts how Tyler Bryant used his videos to learn a Zeppelin tune to play in front of Jimmy Page, and how Marcus King used his channel to learn a Bon Jovi song.
• The Sentimental Martin M-36 Marty shows off his 1979 Martin M-36 acoustic—originally his tone-deaf father's guitar. It became the instrument he obsessed over as a late-blooming 19-year-old and featured heavily in his very first YouTube tutorials.
• The Gibson Connection Marty details his eventual partnership with Gibson, sparked when a panel of child guitar prodigies all cited him as their first teacher in front of the company's CEO. This led to a special factory tour and the creation of a custom red ES-335.