Guitar 1on1 Guitar Lessons

So, you’ve gone and bought that new beautiful guitar and following some helpful advice you’ve decided to start looking into getting some guitar lessons. Maybe you’ve had previous experience playing and need help in one area of playing like “soloing” Who is the right music teacher for you?
Firstly, its important to establish what your goals are and why you wish to take up lessons. A good teacher will establish this in your first lesson so that you have something to work towards

Before you get to your first lesson though, here are some helpful questions you may want to ask to help start your lessons off on the right foot

1. What teaching experience does your new teacher have?
It’s really important to know whether your new teacher has actually taught anyone previously successfully. If not, you could be in a situation where you may be paying more than what you are actually getting out of your lessons. If they are a private tutor, have they studied or worked for any reputable music schools? While emails are todays preferred method of communication, it is best to talk with your teacher over the phone as you will be able to guage their communication skills. Are they a good communicator? If they are, this will indeed make them a better teacher

2. What playing experience does your new teacher have?
It’s important to know whether your new teacher has had experience in the music industry and is a continuing active member in the scene. Do they have a myspace site? Are they regularly gigging? Just as important, have you listened to their music or been to one of their performances? It’s very important you have connected with them as a musician and enjoy listening to them before you have faith in them as a teacher. They will not only teach you techniques and theory but they will also pass on words of wisdom they have learned in the scene.
3. Is the prices they are offering for lessons work within your budget?
You need to be able to afford going to your lessons before you can make a committment to them. Some teachers like myself will offer a free trial lesson so that you can gauge and get a “feel” for what the lessons will be like. Some teachers will offer you a “pay by lesson” agreement. During your initial talks with your new teacher, see what he/she offers you before you get to the point of pricing. Pricing will vary from teacher to teacher and they will make the decision of what they feel they need to charge to provide you with quality lessons. Obviously, if they have more experience and are more qualified, then their prices deserve to be higher than a teacher who is just starting out. I remember in my first year of teaching, I was on $9 per half an hour lesson! Expect in these current times to pay from anywhere between $15-$50 for a half an hour lesson.
4. Do you know anyone that has had lessons with your new teacher?
If so, talk to them! What was their experience like? Would they recommend getting lessons from them?
5. Can your new teacher help you achieve your playing goals?
This is a very important question as this is primarily why you are getting lessons. It won’t do you much good if you need help playing slide blues and your teacher is primarily a classical player and hasn’t studied that style! It’s important you find this out before you invest money into your new lessons.

If these questions are answered positively, then you are well on your way to finding the right teacher. Remember that you can find out a lot about your teacher in the initial phone conversation stage. Are they passionate and interested in teaching you? Are they getting bored with you asking this many questions? etc. Remember tho, even with all these boxes ticked, you may find that the first lesson just didn’t click with you as you had first hoped. Chin up Finding the right teacher is a trial and error thing and may take 3 or 4 teachers before you find the right person. On the other side of the coin, you may find who you were looking for straight away

Good luck and happy playing!

Chris Timms

Tags: Finding right Music Teacher Guitar Chris Timms Guitar 1on1 Quick lessons

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 5:04 am and is filed under Quick Lessons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.