> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://vividguitar.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Lyle Brewer on Composition, Practice, and Finding Your Own Sound - URL: https://vividguitar.co/interview-with-guitarist-lyle-brewer/ - Published: 2026-09-08T14:00:49.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-08T14:00:49.000Z - Description: Lyle Brewer shares his approach to writing and arranging for solo guitar, breaking through creative plateaus, and developing a distinctive musical voice. He also offers practical advice on fingerstyle playing, practice, and learning to focus on the music itself. - Author: Vivid Guitar - Tags: Guitarist Interviews Lyle Brewer is a Massachusetts-based guitarist and songwriter whose playing draws from a wide range of influences, including fingerstyle, jazz, folk, rock, and classical guitar. Whether he’s playing solo or with a band, his approach is always centered on the music, with a strong focus on melody, feel, and finding the right notes rather than simply showing what he can play. Over the years, Brewer has performed and recorded with artists including Lori McKenna, Ryan Montbleau, and Neighbor, while also building an extensive catalog of his own instrumental music. His solo work brings together many of his influences, with the guitar often taking on the role that a singer might play in a traditional song. Brewer has also spent the past decade teaching guitar at Berklee College of Music, where he is an Assistant Professor. Through his teaching, he works with guitarists at a wide range of levels and encourages students to develop their own sound while continuing to build their technique and musical knowledge. He also believes that getting out and playing with other musicians—and simply writing your own music—can be an important part of breaking through a plateau. His latest project, *Learning Curve*, is his 13th solo album. The 10-song collection draws inspiration from artists including Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. For the album, Brewer took a more relaxed approach to recording, giving himself time to experiment with different guitars, tempos, feels, and arrangements rather than trying to get everything right in a single session. Brewer will celebrate the release of *Learning Curve* with an album release show at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on November 12, 2026. ➡️ We caught up with Lyle, and he talked about finding musical ideas through improvisation, developing them into complete compositions, and the lessons he’s learned from years of playing solo guitar, performing with bands, and teaching at Berklee. He also shares advice for breaking through plateaus, learning fingerstyle, and focusing less on guitar content—and more on the music itself. ## 🎸 Q & A ### **When you sit down with a guitar to write something new, what usually sparks the idea—a melody, chord progression, rhythmic idea, particular sound, or something else? And how do you know when that initial idea has enough potential to develop into a full composition?** It can come from any of these places. More often than not it starts with noodling on the guitar. I find the simple act of playing to be inspiring. Whether it’s a specific chord progression, a time signature or a rhythmic pattern, I like to start by improvising within an idea until I find a melody. If the idea has a call and answer within it that’s usually an indication that it’ll be a song. Most of my tunes are built on that principle, so there’s a solid call and answer on a small level. I try to expand it into other sections then ultimately a whole composition. ### **When composing instrumental music, I’ve found that coming up with a cool riff or musical idea isn’t necessarily the hard part—it’s figuring out how to turn that idea into a several-minute-long piece without it becoming repetitive, especially with solo guitar, where there isn’t a traditional guitar solo. How do you approach developing an idea and keeping a piece interesting from beginning to end?** Well that’s an interesting question. A lot of my songs are “verse, chorus”, or *A B*, and there might not be a ton of difference between the first, second or third time I go through a section. I guess the variation happens within each section; I might develop the same melody three different ways with three different chords. At the same time I try to write melodies that are really solid, where you don’t mind hearing them more than once. That’s actually a big part of my writing process - making sure the “chorus” is good enough so you’ll want to hear it over and over again. Then when you do make variations they really stand out and have a stronger effect. ### **After years of teaching at Berklee, you’ve probably seen a lot of intermediate guitarists reach a point where they know a fair amount of chords, scales, and techniques but feel like they’ve hit a plateau. What would you recommend they focus on to start making meaningful progress again?** It really depends on the player. Most often, people need real life gig experience. Not just for their chops and ear, but for their perspective. I find a lot of plateaus can be solved by dealing with musical issues that are right in front of them. Another way to help plateaus is to encourage students to write. I’ve had people who felt lost at Berklee turn around and find their own sound just by focusing on their own originals. It can give people a sense of direction and help focus their efforts. ### **Your fingerstyle playing has elements of the Chet Atkins tradition, where you’re essentially handling bass, harmony, and melody simultaneously. If someone wanted to start developing the kind of fingerstyle approach you hear in your playing, what would you suggest they work on first?** For me it was Chet Atkins. I learned a lot of the Santander’s Travis picking tunes such as Frieght Train, Cannonball Rag, I’ll See You in my Dreams, Deep River Blues etc. I’d recommend learning those! Also, there are some beginner fingerpicking tunes that could help get you started. “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac, “Naked As We Came” by Iron and Wine, any of the Nick Drake songs off of Pink Moon or any Paul Simon’s guitar parts. ### **What’s one practice habit or approach you think more guitarists would adopt—and one thing you think guitarists spend too much time practicing?** I wish everyone knew all of the minor and major pentatonic shapes inside and out. I think too many people focus on modes before getting those scales under their fingers. ### **Having spent so much time playing both solo guitar and in bands like Neighbor, do you think one approach has influenced the other? Has playing solo changed the way you approach your role when you're playing with other musicians?** Yes, absolutely. I’ve been really lucky to play with some great musicians and I’ve learned a lot from them about groove, melody, harmony and how to deliver a song. I think solo playing makes me remember that each instrument can make a big musical impact by itself, so when it’s time to let someone shine ,just get out of the way! It’s okay to lay out, and listen closely to your bandmates. ### **What gear (guitar/amp/pedals) are you using lately—and why?** For this new album I used my 1977 Khono classical guitar. It’s an incredible instrument with a wide dynamic range and a ton of different tones in it. I have the action set pretty low so it gives me a lot of the fullness and clarity of a concert level classical without sacrificing playability. For other gigs, I’ve been playing a Gibson ES-335 and a vintage Deluxe Reverb. I like the versatility of that guitar and it really comes in handy for teaching. ### **You’re about to release Learning Curve, your 13th solo album. After making this many records, what have you learned about composing and arranging for solo guitar that has changed the way you approach an album like this compared with your earlier records?** This time around I had more time to experiment. I recorded at The Den Studios in North Reading MA with engineer Doug Batchelder. We worked in small doses, usually 8:30 pm- 11:30 pm. It gave me the time to try out different guitars and test out different tempos, feels and interpretations. In the past, I had booked full days and that put a lot of pressure on me to get it right the first time. With this album, I wanted to take my time to make sure I got it right. On this album, I would record all the songs, and then pick the best one or two. Then I would re-record the rest with those one or two as the benchmark for the rest of the songs. Is that confusing? I hope not.. ha ### **Is there anything about learning, practicing, or playing guitar that you find frustrating or inefficient—something you wish there were a better tool or resource for?** Hmm. I find the onslaught of information online to be super distracting for students and myself. I like podcasts and videos about music, but too much of that can get pretty annoying. Short 45 second videos and podcast clips are all fine but it doesn’t come close to how amazing music is. So I wish there were less focus on music related content and more focus on actual music, the art form. --- ## ⚡ Lightning Round ### ### **One album every guitarist should listen to?** Jimi Hendrix “Are You Experienced” ### **Desert island guitar and amp?** 50s Gibson ES-175 and a 1965 fender deluxe reverb. ### **What guitarist should everyone know about?** Hendrix, Jimmy page, Clarence white, Wes Montgomery, Cornell Dupree --- ****Check out Lyle Brewer** [Website](https://lylebrewermusic.net/?ref=vividguitar.co) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lylebrewermusic/?hl=en&ref=vividguitar.co) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@lylebrewertunes?ref=vividguitar.co) --- ### 🎉 If you enjoy geeking out on guitar, you'll love our [**free weekly guitar newsletter**](https://vividguitar.co/), and we'd be psyched if you subscribe!🤘