Jan 15, 2023
Old Grey Guitarist: meet the school guitar teacher who has over a million followers on TikTok with his solo covers
John Wines has devoted his life to teaching young people to play guitar – now his Queen, Randy Rhoads and Pink Floyd covers and lessons have made him a hit online
John Wines is our kind of guitar hero; the UK guitar teacher has spent years passing on his love for the instrument to others. He played in bands for years and makes a living teaching guitar in three different schools in Dorset where he's based, as well as working as a guitar tutor privately. And that was his life, until recently when he woke up and found he was going viral on TikTok and Instagram.
John currently has 17.3 million likes and 1.2 million followers on TikTok. Not bad for a player who only joined social media to pick up a few new student for private lessons.
John is passionate about the guitar's power to help young people. He's seen the effect learning to play an instrument can have on special needs children. And he's got a gift; he's not only a fantastic player, but the kind of teacher a lot of us will wish we'd had growing up. His rise also undermines the assumption that TikTok is a place where younger people find shallow success; John's content has connected with people.
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Big thanks to Josh Ferrara for the music