GitterPicker: A Musician's Music Store

At the , musicians seeking lessons can expect an attitude as welcoming and fun-loving as the rock 'n' roll GitterPicker teaches.

“Our mission is to show how much fun music can be,” said Justin Ackerman, operations manager. “That’s what we’re all about here: Having fun.”

Since 2003, this attitude has been reflected in GitterPicker’s non-typical approach to lessons. The student base, about 50 percent adult, pays a monthly fee and can take unlimited lessons at any time during the month.

“You get one dedicated time slot with the same teacher every week,” Ackerman said. “But you can come in and take a lesson from other teachers any time.”

Families often sign up to take group beginner lessons until family members feel comfortable branching off.

“We have countless father-son, brother-sister, mother-daughter pairs,” Ackerman said.

GitterPicker has five to seven teachers working on any given day, teaching guitar, bass, banjo, violin, viola, drums, piano and vocals.

As Ackerman simply put it, “We teach just about everything with strings.”

But instead of taking a classical approach to teaching, GitterPicker's teachers focus on what people want to learn.

“We’re not your classical music store," Ackerman said. "We teach from a rock and roll/folk aspect.”

GitterPicker students can demonstrate what they learn on the fourth Friday of the month at GitterPicker’s popular “Pizza Jams.” For $10, students eat pizza and take turns playing in a live band.

“Our (Pizza Jam) is instructor led and mainly for beginners,” Ackerman explained. “This is geared for the student and people who don’t want to go out to the bars and deal with that crowd.”

GitterPicker String Factory also serves as a retail outlet for players at all levels and sells rare guitars and dulcimers (modern folk instruments similar to guitars).

“We’re one of the only locations in Northeast Ohio that sells hammered and mountain dulcimers,” Ackerman said. “We also sell a high-end Australian guitar brand called Maton Guitars.”

GitterPicker allows students to schedule lessons online, but doesn’t offer online lessons.

“It’s really easy to film a video and throw it up online, but it’s hard on the learning end,” Ackerman explains. “We prefer to make it more personal.”