Practice with a clearer purpose
For guitarists who are past the basics and want more focused, musical practice.
Get four complete, self-paced courses covering fretboard knowledge, chord-tone soloing, strumming, and scale practice. Start with the problem in front of you, then bring what you learn back into your music.
$39/month
Cancel anytime
Meet your teacher
I'm Joe Walker. I've been teaching guitar since 2010, and one pattern has become increasingly clear: progress gets easier to navigate when the problem is specific and the practice has a purpose.
A difficult passage, rhythm, scale, improvisation problem, or piece of fretboard knowledge often becomes much more manageable once you identify the uncertain part, work on it directly, and then reconnect it to real music.
I built the Deft Digits courses around practical systems like these so you can use them independently, at your own pace.
“Joe is a very motivating, logical, and structured teacher. He is also a pretty great guitarist.”
Bernhard Weigl, private lesson student
Choose your starting point
The current library includes four complete courses, each built around a different common guitar problem.
How to Practice Scales
When a familiar scale still breaks down in the same places
Learn to find recurring physical weak points, isolate them, improve the picking and fretting movement, and rebuild the complete scale after the difficult part becomes more dependable.
Includes video lessons and practice PDFs.
Solo Like You Mean It
When you know scales, but your solos don't respond clearly to the chords
Work with chord tones, target notes, melodic vocabulary, timing, and real progressions so your improvising becomes more intentional and more connected to the harmony.
Includes video lessons, PDFs, and backing tracks.
Know Every Note
When you know fret numbers and shapes better than you know the actual notes
Build a usable map of the fretboard through landmarks, retrieval exercises, and musical applications, with less dependence on counting and diagrams.
Includes video lessons and a fretboard practice PDF.
128 Strumming Patterns
When your rhythm depends on memorizing a fragile down-up pattern
Build a steadier eighth-note pulse and continuous strumming motion, then explore a systematic library of rhythmic combinations you can apply to real music.
Includes video demonstrations and a pattern-reference PDF.
Follow a complete course when you want a structured path, or return to a lesson, exercise, backing track, or reference when you need it. Use what helps your playing now; the rest will be there when it becomes relevant.
Inside your membership
Your active Advancing membership includes all four current courses, plus new courses and lessons added to the membership in the future.
- Structured lessons and focused practice exercises
- Video demonstrations and musical examples
- Downloadable PDFs and reference material
- Backing tracks for applying ideas to real progressions
Inside Solo Like You Mean It: video instruction and a structured sequence of lessons
“Joe speaks so patiently and presents the material with such clarity that my teenager was actually excited to do the course work on his own.”
Melissa Teuton, parent of a Solo Like You Mean It student
What happens after you join
After joining, use My Courses to open any of the four included courses. Choose the one that matches what you're working on, start a lesson, go practice, and return when you're ready to continue.
The Advancing membership is self-paced. It does not include private lessons or individual feedback.
$39/month
Cancel anytime
Is this membership right for you?
The Advancing membership is a good fit if:
- You already play guitar and want to strengthen specific skills.
- You're comfortable learning independently from videos, exercises, and written material.
- You want to work at your own pace and return to useful lessons as your needs change.
Starting from scratch? These courses are not a complete first-guitar curriculum.
Want an individual curriculum and personal feedback? Private Lessons include weekly Zoom lessons, written practice plans, between-lesson video feedback, and full course-library access.
Join the Advancing Membership
Get full access to the Deft Digits course library and use the material that matches what you're working on now.
$39/month
Cancel anytime
FAQ
Make your next step clear
Start with what matters now. Work on it with purpose. Bring it back into your music.
$39/month
Cancel anytime