my first lesson

i signed up for guitar lessons today and i was wondering for the guys who have had them what to expect? ive never had lessons before and am mostly taking them to help find the holes in my skills.

any advice or funny little story of your first time might help me a bit.

Originally Posted by: BrokenJerai signed up for guitar lessons today and i was wondering for the guys who have had them what to expect? ive never had lessons before and am mostly taking them to help find the holes in my skills.

any advice or funny little story of your first time might help me a bit.

You mean live lessons from a real person?

yep they are tomorrow at 2:00 pm.

Not to pimp my own stuff but if you go back into the newsletter archives, I did a series called 'Birth of an Obsession' that has some anecdotes about taking lessons.

Let us know how it goes. I've been thinking about signing up for some lessons again too. :)

I only took lessons 3 times & the most I ever took from one guy was 4 lessons about 15 years ago.

The first one, the guy kept asking me how I played stuff so I spent half of my lesson teaching him how to play. Never went back.

The second one, all he did was teach lessons out of a book that he kept in front of him so I figured it'd be cheaper to just buy the book myself.

The third one was the best. I was kinda in a slump and he was way ahead of me in both playing and writing midi stuff so I basically took 4 lessons from him to give myself a shot in the arm.

it does depend a lot on your instructor. as always.

i took lessons for the first year and a bit i played and to be honest in the 3 years since i havent improved much beynd the stage i was at with him.

he was a very good teacher. iinto his jazz and a bit of blues. but had chops and could shred if u wanted him to. he also had a very good ear and knoledge of music theory (needed if you are into jazz). he had a very relaxed style, and basically did wat i wanted him to teach me. early on he gave me a few simple lessons. not particularly interesting songs but when u really suck theres not much that is.

after these though i would simply turn up with a song and sometimes a tab and ask me to teach me the song. he had a knack for picking out the tune by ear, although to be fair at this stage i was into quite easy modern rock stuff.

as i played more i became interested in different styles. and found he was competant at them all if not skilled. he helped me with metal country blues and a bit of jazz. he could sweep tap etc. overall a very good guitarest and instructor.

having an instructor not only helped to guide me but also was very helpful in that i felt i had to practice so as not to disapoint him the following lesson. it was not that he ever told me off or anythin for not improving enough but i felt i kinda owed it to him.

i think lessons are a very good thing to have. especiamy opinion in the early stages so u dont pick up bad habits. thats not to say good technique doesnt come self taught but often this road is longer.

as for tips for a teacher. he should be able to explain why he does any technique the way he does it. should also be able to express other opinions than his own. whouldnt just teach you from a book. should be willing for you to do what you want to do in the lessons and guide you. theres no point trying to become an excelent metal player if you cant stand the stuff, etc. maybe one day you will like it but in the mean time do what you will be motivsted to practice.

anyway thats all i can think of. oh ps your first lesson may be more of a lets see wat you know and wat you want to learn. this is normal your instructors just tryin to gauge your interests comitment and starting level.

hope this helps

Like Kevin I only had a handful of lessons, probably 4 or 5. The teacher was amazing - able to play anything by ear (EVH, Satch, Vai etc) - he also had a music degree and wrote orchestral pieces for the national tv station. He showed me the raw basics and taht's all I ever needed. Alternate picking, legatto and the scales of C (major, minor and pentatonic). The most important thing he showed me was to play by ear - starting on one string. I just took that and applied it to the whole fretboard over time. Sometimes I wish I stayed longer becuase I probably would have progressed faster but I started to get bored when he got into theory and lost the motivation to go. The ear training was the best part for me as a player.

thanks everyone. i really deciced to go because im having trouble fixing the bad habits i have by my self. any one can learn any thing by them selves if they can stay motivated. but once those bad habits start sometimes we need a little help.

my first lesson went good i think. he had me play the 12 bar blues to help teach me time. he said i sell my self short on how good i really am. which i dont agree with because even if i could make evh sweat i wouldnt think it was good unless i stayed in time. he gave me some turn arounds and chords to work on this week. he even played the 12 bb and told me to improvise in e pentatonic over it. all in all a good day i hope. we shall see tomorrow

Originally Posted by: BrokenJeramy first lesson went good i think. he had me play the 12 bar blues to help teach me time. he said i sell my self short on how good i really am. which i dont agree with because even if i could make evh sweat i wouldnt think it was good unless i stayed in time. he gave me some turn arounds and chords to work on this week. he even played the 12 bb and told me to improvise in e pentatonic over it. all in all a good day i hope. we shall see tomorrow

Sounds good! Keep it up. :)