Communities of guitarists have existed and evolved in parallel with the instrument’s long and varied historical development. Technological progress in the twentieth century saw two major milestones for the guitar: the invention of the electric guitar, and the birth of the internet. This chapter explores the shift of guitar-based communities to virtual spaces starting with email groups, internet forums, and chat rooms. These communities serve similar functions as real-world communities by sharing knowledge and resources as well as providing spaces for discussions and performances. Peer-to-peer file sharing regenerated an old form of guitar-specific written notation: tablature. Then along came social media, which changed the entire music industry, including online guitar communities. Many of the world’s largest and most visited websites, Facebook, YouTube, X, and Instagram, are havens for guitar communities no longer defined by geographical boundaries. This has had enormous consequences as cultural and aesthetic expressions, particularly in the form of guitar performance practices, are now freely transmitted globally and instantaneously via virtual networks.

Social pedagogies, which establish a connection between individual learning and the sociocultural context in which that learning occurs, are increasingly prevalent within postsecondary education, including language education (Bass & Elmendorf, ). These approaches provide students with opportunities to interact with the broader communities beyond the classroom. This often means connecting with an increasingly urban, multicultural, and multilingual environment where various groups and individuals negotiate their identities. In this chapter, we draw on examples from language programs at two institutions to illustrate how students explore the surrounding world and discuss how social pedagogies, in particular place- and community-based approaches, connect learners with the languages spoken around them. Engagement with the communities that shape and are shaped by the geographic and historical spaces they inhabit can be transformative for both the learners and the community (Charitos & Van Deusen-Scholl, 2017). This requires, however, designing and implementing pedagogical practices that extend the classroom to facilitate learners' engagement with their local communities.

This chapter discusses the cultural transformation that world language learners can undergo when they engage with native speakers in virtual environments for autonomous interaction. Davidson (2010) outlines similar benefits for learners during variable-length study abroad programs; however, for many learners, access to study abroad is not feasible, practically or financially. Alternatives to study abroad experiences can be created using online resources and virtual communities of native speakers. Novice-level intensive courses and Advanced-level content courses in Russian provide instructional models. Portfolio and journal materials provide qualitative evidence of transformative experiences that learners undergo as they engage in mediating authentic artifacts and become increasingly culturally proficient.