Our story
At Pickup Music, we’re on a mission to create the world's best experience for learning music online. With over 20,000 members and growing, we specialize in providing a structured, step-by-step approach that helps players of all levels make real progress.
Pickup Music started in 2015 as an Instagram community run by our co-founder and jazz guitarist, Sam Blakelock. The community grew into one of the largest online communities of musicians connecting through lessons, live shows, meet-ups, and challenges.
Today we're based in LA and supported by a global team of educators and partner musicians to bring the highest level of instruction to your fingertips. We’re proud to be fully bootstrapped and continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in online music education.
Our Learning Pathways guide you through a personalized journey to fretboard mastery, ensuring you know exactly what to focus on each week to take your playing to the next level. Our unique system combines detailed lessons with hands-on learning, giving you the structure and support you need to reach your guitar goals.
Alongside our video lessons, we offer 1:1 personalized feedback on your playing and weekly live lessons, creating a learning experience that feels as close as possible to in-person lessons - at a fraction of the cost.
The world's a better place with music. We love helping people get better at making it.
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2015
Founded by independent musicians
20K +
Members
100 %
Independently owned
Our Team
We're a small-but-mighty team of musicians who love helping people get better at guitar and develop their unique musical voice.
Sam Blakelock
Co-founder, CEO
Cam Nolan
Co-founder
Kyle Sparkman
Head of Community
Leigh Collins
Head of Notation
Sarah Riddle
Web Team
Jonathan Colman
Lessons Team
Harry Nicholson
Web Team
Julia Mahncke
Writer Team
Miguel Mendes
Lessons Team
Jack Handyside
Lessons Team
Dom Meyer
Head of Growth Marketing
Karl Kerfoot
Head of Education
Júlio Mendoza
Production Director
Ben Thomas
Guitar mentor
Dan Kalisher
Guitar mentor
Brandon Bae
Guitar mentor
Michael Isacs
Guitar mentor
Tom Harden
Customer Success Manager
Leticia Filizzola
Guitar mentor
Our Artists
Here’s just a few of the incredible instructors we work with.
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