The Steve Stine Podcast

Steve Stine
  • 4.6 (7)
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The Steve Stine Podcast is about more than just music — it’s about life, faith, and finding meaning in the everyday. Join Steve as he shares honest stories from decades of experience as a musician, educator, husband, father, and believer navigating the highs and lows of life. Each episode offers heartfelt conversations about purpose, spirituality, personal growth, and staying inspired — even when life gets messy or uncertain. Whether you’re picking up a guitar, walking through a season of change, or just looking for encouragement to keep going, you’ll find something here to lift your spirit. With special guests, personal reflections, and real-world insights, this podcast is for anyone seeking a deeper connection to their creativity, their calling, and their faith.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    Inside GuitarZoom Academy: A Real Student’s Experience

    Send Steve a Text Message A lot of guitarists don’t quit because they stop loving music. They quit because life gets loud and practice gets messy. Steve Stine sits down with Chris Macry, a 62-year-old guitarist who played hard as a kid, stepped away for years while raising children as a single father, and then made a serious return with a new goal: stop feeling stuck and finally grow into the player he always wanted to be. We talk about the exact spark that made Chris pick up the guitar in the first place, what it was like learning before YouTube guitar lessons existed, and why “just knowing pentatonic boxes” can feel frustrating when you can’t name keys or navigate the fretboard with confidence. Chris also shares the real hurdle he faced when joining an online guitar program: not lack of talent, but overwhelm. Too many lessons can make you feel like you’re always behind, even when you’re improving. The turning point is practical and repeatable: focus on what matters, build a simple plan, and use a practice log to spot patterns in your playing and your habits. Along the way, we dig into something even bigger than technique: the role of a supportive guitar community, mentorship, and how confidence grows when you stop hiding and start playing with people who challenge you. If you’re an adult learner, coming back after a long break, or searching for structured online guitar learning that actually sticks, you’ll hear yourself in this conversation. Subscribe, share this with a guitarist who needs a push, and leave a review with the one practice habit you’re committing to next. Thanks for being here!! I will continue to do my best to bring you the best, most informative guitar discussions to help you along your guitar journey! The more you share this podcast with others, the more I can continue to grow this channel and offer the best information and advice I can to you. Thank you! Steve Links: Check out the GuitarZoom Academy: https://academy.guitarzoom.com/ Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus... GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0... Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

    15 min

  2. 30 APR

    How To Find And Play Octaves Across The Guitar Neck

    Send Steve a Text Message Octaves are one of those guitar “unlock” moments: suddenly the fretboard stops feeling like random dots and starts looking like a repeating pattern you can actually use. We walk through what an octave is in plain language, then immediately turn it into a practical guitar technique you can apply anywhere on the neck. If you’ve ever wondered why the same note seems to show up in multiple places, or why your riffs sound thin when you try to play higher, this is the missing piece. We start with the core idea: an octave is the same note name repeated at a higher pitch after you travel through a full set of notes and return to the root. From there, we build a reliable “how to play octaves on guitar” shape: fret a note, skip a string, and grab the matching octave up the neck. The real secret is not just the frets, but the muting. We explain how to deaden the string in the middle so you can strum confidently and still get a tight, clean octave sound that works for rock, funk, and melodic rhythm parts. Then we take the shape across different string sets and address the common confusion point: why the octave spacing changes as you move to higher strings due to standard guitar tuning. You’ll also learn quick noise-control tricks for accidental string hits, and how to practice octaves like movable shapes so they become automatic. If this helped you, subscribe for more guitar lessons, share it with a friend who’s learning the fretboard, and leave a review so more players can find it. What song would you use octaves in first? Thanks for being here!! I will continue to do my best to bring you the best, most informative guitar discussions to help you along your guitar journey! The more you share this podcast with others, the more I can continue to grow this channel and offer the best information and advice I can to you. Thank you! Steve Links: Check out the GuitarZoom Academy: https://academy.guitarzoom.com/ Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus... GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0... Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

    7 min

  3. 23 APR

    What If Progress Is Just Better Conversations

    Send Steve a Text Message If you’ve ever felt buried under advice, tabs, tutorials, and “one more video,” this one is for you. We talk about the biggest mindset shift students need to make when they join an online music academy: your job isn’t to research every answer on YouTube anymore. Your job is to show up, interact, and let us guide you with a plan that actually fits your life and your playing. We break down what that support looks like in real terms. Use open rooms for quick conversations, even if you only have five or ten minutes. If you can’t make it live, send a message or record a short video so we can respond with clear next steps. The key is staying connected and getting assessments of your playing, because feedback beats guessing every time. When something feels confusing, too fast, too slow, or just not clicking, saying it out loud is how we fix it. We also explain how weekly check-ins (like Monday reviews) keep your practice plan on track and prevent overwhelm. Progress isn’t about pretending everything is “awesome.” It’s about honest communication, small adjustments, and steady momentum built with coaching, accountability, and a clear plan of attack. If you want more consistent results from your instrument practice, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend who’s stuck, and leave a review. What’s the one thing you’d ask your instructor to help you with right now? Thanks for being here!! I will continue to do my best to bring you the best, most informative guitar discussions to help you along your guitar journey! The more you share this podcast with others, the more I can continue to grow this channel and offer the best information and advice I can to you. Thank you! Steve Links: Check out the GuitarZoom Academy: https://academy.guitarzoom.com/ Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus... GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0... Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

    6 min

  4. 16 APR

    Too Much Advice Can Make You Worse At Guitar

    Send Steve a Text Message Your guitar playing probably doesn’t need more information. It needs less noise. We live in a world where presets, plugins, YouTube guitar lessons, short-form tips, and endless gear reviews are always one click away, and that abundance quietly steals the one thing that actually creates progress: focused practice. So we step back and get honest about why so many players feel stuck even though they “study” all the time. We walk through six common traps that derail a solid guitar practice routine. First is gear distraction, when a new amp modeler, pedal, or profile turns into an hour of scrolling instead of playing. Then comes YouTube overload, where you graze from video to video and never stay with a single skill long enough to own it. We also talk about having too many study materials like courses, PDFs, tabs, apps, and saved links, and how that backlog creates stress instead of clarity. From there, we get practical about building a guitar practice plan with intention. We cover how to choose exercises and songs that serve your goals, how fretboard visualization and the right amount of guitar theory fit in, and why device distractions sabotage even the best intentions. We also hit the “new thing” trap, when a fresh lick or scale takes over and you drop everything else that was moving you forward. The goal is simple: clarity, structure, and consistency, even if you only have 10 to 30 minutes. If you want help getting organized and finally making your practice time count, there’s a link to learn more about the Guitar Zoom Academy. Subscribe, share this with a guitarist who feels overwhelmed, and leave a review so more players can find a calmer way to improve. Thanks for being here!! I will continue to do my best to bring you the best, most informative guitar discussions to help you along your guitar journey! The more you share this podcast with others, the more I can continue to grow this channel and offer the best information and advice I can to you. Thank you! Steve Links: Check out the GuitarZoom Academy: https://academy.guitarzoom.com/ Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus... GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0... Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

    11 min

  5. 9 APR

    A Student's Experience inside the GuitarZoom Academy

    Send Steve a Text Message You can love guitar for decades and still feel like you’re standing outside the music, looking in. That’s where Cary Bynum found himself: a creative professional from Birmingham, Alabama, raised on the Beatles, the Stones, classic rock, blues, and old-school country, with a house full of guitars and a long history of stalled-out lessons. We talk through the pattern that kept tripping him up, from instructors who dazzled more than they guided to weekly sessions that reset to “what are we working on today?” Cary shares the moment things finally clicked when he discovered the pentatonic scale explained as a simple, repeatable pattern you can actually use. It’s a great reminder that guitar theory is only powerful when it turns into something your hands can do, right now. Then we get into the bigger shift: why structured online guitar lessons work best when they include real humans. Cary explains how a personalized plan, consistent feedback, and the ability to review recorded coaching sessions helped him move farther faster than years of trying alone. We also dig into the unexpected force multiplier: a supportive guitar community where beginners feel safe posting progress, advanced players stay curious, and encouragement creates momentum. If you’ve been stuck, overwhelmed, or tired of the YouTube rabbit hole, this conversation will help you rethink what “practice” should feel like. Subscribe, share this with a guitarist friend, and leave a review so more players can find the guidance that makes the instrument fun again. Thanks for being here!! I will continue to do my best to bring you the best, most informative guitar discussions to help you along your guitar journey! Please like, share and subscribe to get the word out about this podcast, and please check out the GuitarZoom Academy if you are ready to achieve your guitar goals!! GuitarZoom Homepage The more you share this podcast with others, the more I can continue to grow this channel and offer the best information and advice I can to you. Thank you! Steve Links: Check out the GuitarZoom Academy: https://academy.guitarzoom.com/ Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus... GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0... Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

    31 min

  6. 2 APR

    Levi Clay Interview - The Master of Guitar Transcription

    Send Steve a Text Message The fastest way to stall on guitar is to confuse memory with musicianship. That is where Levi takes us, starting with the honest origin story of learning guitar for the wrong reasons, then quickly finding the right ones: teaching, curiosity, and the addictive moment when a student’s “light bulb” turns on. We dig into what actually makes practice work. Levi explains how his Guided Practice Routines grew from years of teaching and from noticing a huge gap in modern guitar education: plenty of people say “practice these scales,” but almost nobody demonstrates how to practice in a way that keeps you engaged, tracks progress, and builds usable skills like fretboard visualization. We talk psychology, structure, and why being “results driven” does not have to mean boring or mechanical. Then we go deep on ear training and transcription, the craft Levi is best known for. He breaks down transcription as reading in reverse, why rhythmic notation and subdivision are the real bottleneck, and why starting simple beats chasing flashy solos. We also get practical about the tools: how he uses Transcribe for looping, why Guitar Pro is still the most learner-friendly format, and why AI cannot replace the human job of deciding where the beat lives and what a phrase means. If you want a clearer process for learning songs, writing accurate tabs, and hearing music inside a full band mix, you will leave with a plan. If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a guitarist who feels stuck, and leave a review so more players can find it. What is one song you want to transcribe by ear this month? https://www.youtube.com/c/LeviClay https://www.fundamental-changes.com/levi-clay https://guidedpracticeroutines.com/ Thanks for being here!! I will continue to do my best to bring you the best, most informative guitar discussions to help you along your guitar journey! Please like, share and subscribe to get the word out about this podcast, and please check out the GuitarZoom Academy if you are ready to achieve your guitar goals!! GuitarZoom Homepage The more you share this podcast with others, the more I can continue to grow this channel and offer the best information and advice I can to you. Thank you! Steve Links: Check out the GuitarZoom Academy: https://academy.guitarzoom.com/ Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus... GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0... Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

    44 min

  7. 26 MAR

    If You’re Not Setting Deadlines, You’re Wasting Practice Time

    Send Steve a Text Message Your practice can be consistent and still feel like it’s going nowhere. When there’s no deadline, it’s easy to drift through scales, licks, and exercises without ever feeling finished, and that “unfinished” feeling quietly kills motivation. We talk about the simplest fix: give your guitar practice a real finish line, even if you don’t have a band, a gig, or a rehearsal on the calendar. I walk through a pressure test that makes the idea click fast: imagine getting called to learn a 30-song set list in two weeks. Suddenly you’re not casually practicing, you’re planning. You’re sorting songs by difficulty, learning structures first, deciding which riffs and fills actually matter, and adapting parts that are outside your current wheelhouse. That’s not cheating, that’s real-world musicianship: prioritizing, simplifying when needed, and delivering the song. From there, we turn it into a repeatable system using mock deadlines. Pick a timeframe, choose songs that are challenging but realistic, set a clear outcome (play start to finish, record yourself, memorize forms), and hold yourself accountable. I also share why “professional” isn’t about getting paid, it’s a mindset of being prepared, using your time wisely, and building a cushion so you can handle surprises with confidence. If you want more support, I also explain how GuitarZoom Academy works and what daily interaction and custom guidance can look like. Subscribe for more practical guitar lessons, share this with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review with the next deadline you’re committing to. Thanks for being here!! I will continue to do my best to bring you the best, most informative guitar discussions to help you along your guitar journey! The more you share this podcast with others, the more I can continue to grow this channel and offer the best information and advice I can to you. Thank you! Steve Links: Check out the GuitarZoom Academy: https://academy.guitarzoom.com/ Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus... GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0... Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

    12 min

  8. 19 MAR

    Why Most Practice Doesn’t Work (And How to Fix It)

    Send Steve a Text Message Noodling feels like practice until you realize you’re getting the same results month after month. We sit down and get blunt about what actually creates progress on guitar: a plan that matches your real schedule, plus the discipline to practice with intention and focus. We walk through how we think about a guitar practice routine when time is limited. The big shift is moving from “I should practice scales” to specific targets you can measure, like learning one scale position clearly, improving left and right hand synchronization, or fixing a weak finger with the right strength and stamina drills. We also talk about the difference between maintenance, elevation, and regression, and why doing the same comfortable stuff can keep you stuck even when you’re playing every day. Then we use guitar soloing and improvisation as the example framework. We start with fretboard visualization so you can actually see the scale shapes, roots, and connections, including ideas many players learn through the CAGED system. From there we build skill and navigation so your fingers can move smoothly instead of getting “boxy” and lost. Finally we make it musical: picking backing tracks in the right key and tempo, using scat singing to invent rhythms, turning grooves into phrasing, controlling dynamics and space, and adding vocal tools like bends, vibrato, slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs so the notes sound valid to a listener. If you want a clearer roadmap for guitar practice, better phrasing, and more confident solos, listen now, then share it with a friend who’s stuck and leave a review. What part of your practice feels most scattered right now? Thanks for being here!! I will continue to do my best to bring you the best, most informative guitar discussions to help you along your guitar journey! The more you share this podcast with others, the more I can continue to grow this channel and offer the best information and advice I can to you. Thank you! Steve Links: Check out the GuitarZoom Academy: https://academy.guitarzoom.com/ Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus... GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0... Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

    23 min
See All (391)

Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

The Steve Stine Podcast is about more than just music — it’s about life, faith, and finding meaning in the everyday. Join Steve as he shares honest stories from decades of experience as a musician, educator, husband, father, and believer navigating the highs and lows of life. Each episode offers heartfelt conversations about purpose, spirituality, personal growth, and staying inspired — even when life gets messy or uncertain. Whether you’re picking up a guitar, walking through a season of change, or just looking for encouragement to keep going, you’ll find something here to lift your spirit. With special guests, personal reflections, and real-world insights, this podcast is for anyone seeking a deeper connection to their creativity, their calling, and their faith.

Information

  • Creator
    Steve Stine
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    391
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Steve Stine Guitar Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Steve Stine Podcast

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