SCROLL TO EXPLORE
AQUIRE THE SKILLS PRO PLAYERS SPEND DECADES DEVELOPING IN JUST 12 WEEKS
Primal Guitar is for any guitar player who want fill in the gaps, grow their skills to start REALLY playing without wasting years trying to figure it all out on their own.
Truly the best guitar learning course stand-alone. With your ground breaking knowledge, innovative and unique instruction style of “develop to be the best player you can be” we all succeeded in the course. Thank you!
Pete Francz
"Taking the Primal Guitar course was like plugging a multiplex cable into my brain. Many previously unconnected parts were presented as a “whole” and now understood as such."
Dan Kelly
“The interaction with the other students has been fantastic and feels like we are all working towards our goal together. It's been an excellent experience and given me a new perspective on playing guitar. Thank you David!”
Chris Galpin
Are You Feeling Stuck in Your Guitar Playing?
Like a lot of us, you might be a self-taught guitar player. You’ve been playing
for years, and you love it. Or
at least, you did love it. Recently, maybe you started to feel like
something’s missing.
Perhaps you feel like you’re not improving, no matter what you do, and you’re stuck on the same
plateau—and your motivation for guitar has started to feel like it’s getting stale. Do you ever
feel like…
- You’ve been playing guitar for so long… and despite all your practice you feel that you should be better than you are?
- You spend so much time in your own head, thinking about the music…that you can’t seem to play guitar for fun anymore?
- You’re desperate to improve your guitar playing…but you don’t know what you need to learn, or even how to get started?
- You’ve spent so much time and money starting other guitar courses…but you just can't seem to finish them?
- You’ve never really clicked with those free, quick-fix guitar lessons…and you need a real, tangible long-term goal to work towards?
- You’re just replaying the same things, over and over again…and you don’t feel as excited playing guitar anymore?
If any of these statements have grabbed your attention, then you’re in the right place…
I’m David
Wallimann...
I’m the Founder of Guitar Playback, and I’ve been teaching guitar for over 30 years. But at one point, I was exactly where you are.
You get to that point where you feel like whatever you do, you don’t seem to be improving. That there are gaps in your knowledge, but you can’t seem to work out where they are. That despite wanting to get better, you don’t know what to aim for—so there’s no motivation to do it.
Look, I get it. That’s part of why I became a guitar teacher: so I could understand what was lacking in my skills, and then build up my knowledge myself, in a way that made sense to me.
And now, I’m sharing that knowledge with you.
Over the past two decades I’ve taught the concepts behind Primal Guitar to over 4,500 adult guitar players. I’ve seen them use this knowledge to piece together and expand on their musical vocabulary, to understand how to turn thoughts into music, and to play from the heart.
And you can, too. My goal is to teach you how to change your thinking and learn to truly express yourself on your guitar.
Let’s get started!
Introducing
Primal Guitar
Gain The Skills & Knowledge To Play Guitar Like You’ve Always Imagined In Just 12 Weeks
Primal Guitar is a comprehensive, focused, 12-week course that helps you learn how music works. You’ll discover how to understand the theory behind it all and use this to bring out your unique playing style. You’ll see clear, regular improvements in your playing, and gain the confidence to continue on your musical journey.
After all, you play guitar to have fun, right? It shouldn’t feel like a chore.
Primal Guitar Course
Curriculum
01
Musical Stories
- Meeting the characters
- Assembling the cast
- Applying it to the neck
- Interval personalities
- Student assessment and Q&A
02
Mother of all stories
- Major and minor stories
- What makes a main character?
- Writing perfect chord progressions
- Building the foundation
- Guided writing assignment
03
Cast for modern times
- Decoding the cast
- Learning the positions
- Triads and more.
- Grooving in Dorian
- Listening sessions and quiz
04
From simple tale to masterpiece
- Complex stories made simple
- Five important characters
- Pentatonic building blocks
- Speaking musically
- Student studies over backing tracks
05
Disturbance in the third.
- Securing the foundation
- Playing all over the neck
- Creating your musical phrases
- Phrasing rhythmically
- Creative phrasing assignments
06
Sad sad song..
- Staring with the chords
- Connecting the dots
- Melodic exploration
- Aeolian exploration
- Melodic phrasing assignments
07
New found hight
- New cast of characters
- Lydian expansions
- Setting the stage
- Extracting the chords
- Responding musically assignments
08
Safe targets
- Wheel of modes
- Arpeggio DNA
- Chord scales
- Arpeggio extractions
- Lick development workshop and quiz
09
Unlocking the CAGED
- Understanding the system
- Position characteristics
- Proper positioning
- Improvising using CAGED
- CAGED studies and quiz
10
Melodic expression
- Hearing the music within
- Lyrical playing
- Visualizing your ideas
- Playing over drones
- Melodic development assignments
11
Exotic spices
- Chromatic injections
- Exotic scales
- Playing outside
- Shapes of creation
- Guided outside playing and quiz
12
Stories within stories
- The real story teller
- Analyzing complex progressions
- Playing over changes
- Melodic modulation
- Studies and student/teacher discussion
What Primal Guitar
graduates have to say
"Taking the “Primal Guitar” course was like plugging a multiplex cable into my brain. Many previously unconnected parts were presented as a “whole” and now understood as such."
Dan Kelly
This course provided me with structured lessons that have motivated me to practice every day and learn so much. The community of guitar students on Volley has made me feel less isolated and provided a wonderful learning experience. Thank you David!
Bernard McGlynn
I've found Primal Guitar invaluable for three main reasons. Firstly, the weekly structure keeps me on track and motivated. Secondly, the practical exercises and resources are amazing and have helped me to make more progress in the last couple of months than in the last 15 years. Lastly, the community and personal involvement of David Wallimann has been fantastic, creating an encouraging vibe. I'll really miss it when it ends.
Nick R
The innovative instruction style and lifelong access to practice tracks and PDFs made it the best stand-alone course out there. Thank you, David, for an excellent learning experience!
Pete Francz
Primal Guitar has totally changed my understanding of music and how I play guitar. More than a course, it's an experience. David guides "the class" on a quest to express thoughts and feelings through music. Thank you David!
William Garbis
David this has been an awesome experience! I am really liking this outlet as I have no RL musician friends I can hang out with and jam and play music with, so what’s next best thing, a community to share it with and get feed back from. It will be great to watch each other grow and look back at where we were and laugh… together!!
Brian Karrel
Think of This as a
Fail-Proof Way
To Master Your Guitar Playing…
Identify where the gaps are in your musical knowledge,
and what you need to learn to fill these gaps…
Learn important
musical theory,
in terms that actually make sense to you,
without spending years studying it all...
Build on your knowledge
incrementally,
and actually digest and understand what
you're learning at every stage...
Boost your confidence
in your abilities,
and see real transformation in your guitar
skills, week after week...
Take back control
of your time
and put your effort into learning the things
you actually want to learn...
stay motivated
to finish this course,
with clear guidelines and information that
gives you a step by step structure to
follow...
...AND ULTIMATELY, REDISCOVER WHAT YOU LOVED ABOUT PLAYING GUITAR IN FIRST PLACE.
Primal Guitar Gives You
a Step-By-Step Guide
to Unstick Your Playing & Confidently
Continue
on Your Musical Journey
Are you ready to learn what's missing from your guitar playing, so you can find and fill
those
gaps, and finally take control of your progress?
- 12 Weeks of Step-By-Step Lessons
- New Structured Course Content Every Week
- Comprehensive Musical Theory translated Into Easy-To-Understand Language
- Practical Assignments to Put Your Skills Into Action
- Explanatory Course Notes for Every Video
- Weekly Tests to Measure Your Progress
- Access to High Quality Backing Tracks
- Exclusive Access to a Private Online Study Group
- Detailed Tabs so You Know Exactly What to Play
- Live Events to Ask Questions Directly From the Pros
If you sign up now, you get access to the full Primal Guitar Program,
worth $397 , for just
a single payment of
$167
Sign up to Primal Guitar today to get that confidence back and see real progress in your skills… and fall back in love with playing guitar again.
You Need to Understand the Language of
Music Before You Can Use It to
Tell Your
Own Stories…
You just want to be able to pick up your guitar and just play, right?
Primal Guitar takes you back to the beginning, and helps you understand how notes, chords, and scales all fit together. You’ll learn why these notes and chords work together, and how to piece them together into your own musical story.
This isn’t some new-age theory, either. It’s a proven method that helps you understand the theory behind the music, without spending years studying the concepts. You don’t have to understand the dense, detailed technical musical theory to know how to play guitar.
You just have to know how to use music to tell a story. So why don’t we learn that instead?
Primal Guitar Teaches You How
Music Works & How to Use This
to
Transform Your Playing
This exciting new course is all about helping you learn how to unstick your progress and work towards mastering your guitar. Delivered across 12 weeks, you receive weekly videos, content, and resources to help you study, learn, and build on your skills incrementally.
Rather than an open-ended course where you’re relying on yourself to stay motivated, Primal Guitar is broken down into regular manageable modules. You’ll be able to take control of your learning without feeling overwhelmed, and see the transformation in your skills week after week. It helps you stay motivated to finish, with a clear structure and regular check-ins to help keep you on track.
So if you’re ready to understand what’s been holding you back in your playing, and then learn the skills that fix these gaps… it’s time to get Primal.
This Isn’t Just Another Boring YouTube Course. You’ll Learn To…
- Master distinct elements of your guitar playing with bite-sized, easy-to-follow training videos added to your student dashboard every week.
- Build your skills and understanding so you can play all over the fretboard
- Translate music into a story, and use the notes as characters to create your own.
- Listen for scales, chords, and chord progressions, and how to use this knowledge to improve your playing.
- Measure your progress week on week with practical assignments and tests that help you keep momentum.
- Understand the rules behind making music melodically... and then how to break these rules to create that ‘secret spice’ in your playing.
...and do it all in just 12 weeks, rather than taking years.
24/7 DIRECT ACCESS TO DAVID
Anytime students are stuck, have a question, or want to show David how they play, they can send a message or video and receive a direct video response within hours (often minutes!)
Primal Guitar
is
For You If...
- You can feel gaps in your musical knowledge You’ve been playing for years, and you feel like you should understand more about how to create music than you currently do.
- YOU WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR GUITAR PLAYING, BUT JUST CAN'T DEDICATE THE TIME. You feel like you need to put in more time every week, but with all the hours you've already spent, it already feels like too much of a commitment.
- YOU FEEL LIKE YOU DON'T HAVE A GOAL TO WORK TOWARDS. You know you want to improve your playing, but you're not sure what you want to achieve. You just want a step-by-step approach to a clear end goal.
- YOU FEEL THAT YOU LEARN BETTER WITH A CLEAR STRUCTURE IN PLACE. While there's an almost unlimited wealth of knowledge available out there, it feels too overwhelming to even know where to start.
...and you just want to see results. You want clear, measurable progress, to demonstrate to yourself that you're getting better.
And you want to ignite that passion for guitar again.
Primal Guitar Won’t Suit Everyone.
It Isn’t
for You If...
You’re just starting out
learning guitar.
Primal Guitar is designed to help you fill gaps in your knowledge and improve your skills—it’s not a beginner’s course. You’ll need a basic understanding of how to play guitar before you start this course.
You want to improve your
acoustic playing.
This course is all about getting the best out of your electric guitar playing, and the content you learn doesn't easily translate to acoustic guitar.
You're comfortable
where you are.
If you’re happy with your current playing—if you’re happy playing the same licks, the same melodies, or simply playing along to your favorite record—then you don't need Primal Guitar. Well, you don’t need it yet...
You want a quick fix
to master your playing.
Primal Guitar isn’t a quick fix solution. In music, nothing is. It takes time, and dedication. But if you can commit to just 12 weeks of effort, and put in the work, | guarantee you'll be impressed with your progress at the end of it.
Primal Guitar is designed to help you understand how music works, how you can use the notes, scales, and chords that you play to work together and tell your story. It’s all about making sense of the sounds and learning the language of music—and then how you can break the rules to bring out your own unique voice.
What people says
David has a great way of teaching that keeps the 'play' in playing.
GUITARIST, SOLO ARTIST
DWEEZIL ZAPPA
David is a top of the line energetic visionary musician.
Guitarist, Michael Jackson, Jeff Beck
Jennifer Batten
David teaches on a level that most anyone could understand.
Guitarist, solo artist
Derryl Gabel
Frequently asked questions
No, Primal Guitar does not teach a particular style of music. Primal Guitar teaches you how to thrive on the electric guitar regardless of the style of music you are interested in. This is done by focusing on the universal language of music which is not genre specific.
As long as you study each lesson in order and do all the exercises you will start seeing a difference in your playing within the first week. By the end of the full program which is 12-weeks you will see dramatic improvements in your playing and musicality.
In addition to receiving your weekly lessons and assignments, each Primal Guitar student get access to the Primal Guitar community in which you can ask questions about the course and ask for feedback on your assignments. Although I can’t offer one on one time to each students, I will read all the questions and make sure they all get answered!
No, Primal Guitar was designed for intermediate to advanced players. The lessons are not difficult to follow and no pre-requisites are required, however it was really created for guitar players who already play and feel stuck in their progress on the instrument.
Learn How to Truly Express Yourself
on Guitar & Master
Your Own Unique Sound
You don’t have to know dense, detailed technical musical theory to know how to play guitar—you just have to know how to tell a story.
Sign up to Primal Guitar today for just
a single payment of
$167
and get yourself ready to fill those gaps in your knowledge, master your skills, and fall back in love with simply playing guitar.
Secure Online Payment
Your progress is guaranteed
If you find yourself struggling at any point during the 12-week program I, personally, will work with you one-on-one to help you progress and overcome any challenges. I'll provide you with personalized coaching, identify areas where you need extra help, and offer additional resources to help you succeed. This guarantee is designed to ensure that you receive the guidance and support you need to achieve your goals and become a skilled guitarist.
