About
The guitar site I wish I'd hadtwenty years ago.
I'm Josh — you might know me from Guitar Lifestyle. I've been playing since the '90s and writing about the instrument for roughly twenty years. This site grew out of all of it.
I started the Guitar Lifestyle blog in 2005. It was where I let my passion for the guitar guide me. I learned a lot. But I wanted to build something a little bigger than what Guitar Lifestyle was. That led me to Steady Strum: my new home for writing, learning, and sharing my love of the guitar.
I've always been a little embarrassed that after playing this long, there was still so much I didn't know about the guitar. That led me to build the tools you see here — a fretboard quiz that helped me solidify my note knowledge, a chord quiz and reference tool to expand my understanding of harmony, and more. These tools have helped me, and I hope they can help you, too.
I also wanted to express myself and show my love of the guitar. That led me to designing the shirts you see in the shop. These are the shirts I've always wanted but couldn't find.
Along the way I also built two iOS apps — StrumSearch and StrumBoard — daily guitar puzzles for players who want a quick, low-stakes way to keep the guitar with you between practice sessions.
Who It's For
This is for guitarists who've been playing for a while but still feel scattered. It's for players who want more than passive scrolling — who want ideas worth keeping, tools worth using, and the occasional well-made thing to wear.
What I've Learned
Practice works better when the guitar is in your hands before you're reading anything. Getting better means actually being able to play things you couldn't before — not just finishing a video. And short, focused sessions consistently beat long unfocused ones.
The Blog
The writing is central to what this site is. Not a marketing channel, not a legacy archive — actual guitar writing worth reading. Technique breakdowns, practice ideas, gear thoughts, and the kind of perspective that comes from twenty years of playing and thinking about the instrument.
If you arrived through an older post, you're not in the wrong place. The archive is here, and new posts land when there's something worth saying.
Start Here
Read something useful. Then pick up the guitar.
The blog is the best place to start. The tools are there when you want something more structured. And the shop exists for players who want to take a bit of it with them.