Solved What exactly do you look for in lessons?

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EpiSGpl8r

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what kind of things do you look for when u take guitar lessons?
What makes them worth the money?
 
if you are just starting out and can play power chords....then I would say find someone who will teach you some of your favorite songs so that you can imitate. Some of the greatest artists in the world learned to paint and draw through imitation of insperation (god that was smooth).

If you wanna play like Jimi then find someone who is either PERMAFRIED or a classical jazz/blues major.

Just have them teach you some penatonic scales and some Dust in the Wind.

WARNING!

If they say buy these books before you come to class just hang up the phone! Do not be brainwashed into the Mel-ism World Order.
 
LocusLarsen said:
(god that was smooth).
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If you had spelled inspiration correctly, then I would agree with you.

Zing!

It's all about how the feel. If it doesn't feel right with a certain teacher then...

Well, you know the rest.
 
if you are just starting out and can play power chords....then I would say find someone who will teach you some of your favorite songs so that you can imitate. Some of the greatest artists in the world learned to paint and draw through imitation of insperation (god that was smooth).
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That's the "hold muh beer and watch this" method. Your best buddy can do that for you while the drummer is still carrying his stuff in.
 
No Songs, No Songs...

That's not always true of course, but If you are intersested in a specific style, learn it . Learn all you can about it from a teacher who plays, lives it. I am not one to agree with the guy or gal that asks every week, " What song do you want to learn this week." That's easy and a quick buck. Instead learn how to read music, even tab. Get someone who can teach you the standard issue cliche progressions used in pop radio mtv sony sanctioned radio regurgit... Sorry.
Seriously, I like a teacher with structure and a plan not someone who would give that responsibility to me. Then I would be the teacher, and that's not my bag baby.
 
I think a teacher has to incorporate songs in the lessons. Things to practice, because most kids don't have the discipline to just play scales and stuff all the time.

But a teacher should teach about music, how to read it, some theory----- like what a minor 3rd is..... and intervals like 2nds, 4ths, 5ths, ....... the principle behind major and minor chords......triads..... chord construction..... scales..... augmented and diminished ........ key signatures... how to know and play just the color parts of a chord while the bass and keys fillout the rest of the chord.... that kinda stuff. If you're taking lessons and you aren't learning that stuff..... you might as well just have your best friend show you some chords and some songs..... and for sure don't pay anything for it.
 
What I ment was that if you learn some songs you like, then while you are learning notes and the like, you can take a break and play something fun...keeps things from seeming like work.
 
I've been playing for about 10 years and I only took lessons for about a year or so when I first started. My teacher would do the "What song do you want to learn this week" thing, but in addition to showing me how to play the songs he would explain the theory behind it. Eventually this lead to learning a reasonable amount of guitar focussed music theory - modes, etc (I already know the basics from playing piano for several years). Probably the most valuable thing we did was some 'structured' improvisation. He would teach me a chord progression, explain the scales that would sound good on top, demonstrate a little and show me a few licks. Then he'd play the chords and I would attempt to improvise. I feel like these things got me a really good start - along with playing for over 2 hours a day in the beginning.

The funny thing is that now I'm trying to 'unlearn' all that theory. My goal now is to become so comfortable and familiar with the fretboard that I can play along with anything, anywhere up the neck, without paying attention to the theory. My dad is a totally self-taught guitarist - thats how he plays and he still kicks my ass at blues improv. I still have a long way to go, but in the process I feel like the songs I'm writing have a much more original, less canned feel to them. Playing in different tunings can really help train your ear as opposed to your fingers.
 
. My goal now is to become so comfortable and familiar with the fretboard that I can play along with anything, anywhere up the neck, without paying attention to the theory.
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Have you tried "box" method? Allows playing in multiple keys, all over the neck.... without a thought at all regarding theory. I think it is a good way to play and I teach it also. I just want my students to understand enough music theory so they can communicate effectively with trained musicians (or heaven forbid be one of those), and so they can come up with creative instrumentation.
 
improv&music theory.

I started learning songs by reading tabs. After a few yrs, took a few months of guitar lessons. It made everything making sense all of a sudden. All the inter-connections that I "kinda" noticed after reading tabs for 3 yrs, all made sense in 2 lessons. It was great

AL
 
kjam22 said:
Have you tried "box" method? Allows playing in multiple keys, all over the neck.... without a thought at all regarding theory. I think it is a good way to play and I teach it also.
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I've never heard of it. Can you post a link?

kjam22 said:
I just want my students to understand enough music theory so they can communicate effectively with trained musicians (or heaven forbid be one of those), and so they can come up with creative instrumentation.
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I think this is important too. Also, everyone learns differently. For some, the theory can really enhance their ability to learn quickly if they like a more mathematical approach. For others it can be a hinderance I think.
 
I've never heard of it. Can you post a link?
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I'll give you a easy example.... and look for a link....


Here's the example that you may already know.....

You probably already know all the notes in the first 3 frets...

e string .... open, 1,3 = E F G
a string .... open, 2,3 = A B C
d string ..... open, 2,3 = D E F
g string ..... open, 2 = G A
b string...... open, 1,3 = B C D
e string...... open, 1,3 = E F G

So these are the naturals...(the white keys). from e in the base cleft all the way to G on top of the treble cleft. They are an expanded C scale and they all work in C major. And you can problaby play all sorts of riffs using these positions only.

Say you want to play in Gflat. You find Gflat on the e string.... you count up 4 frets. And the 4th fret above Gflat becomes the new open position. And you play the exact same sequences that you would in the key of C. Except you have to fret all of the "opens"...... or you have to put a capo there until you get used to it. What would be the "C's" in the first 3 frets are now the Gflats. Does that make sense?

It's Box theory. The E major scale going all the way up the neck has 5 boxes. So does the A major scale. You can use any of those boxes in different places depending on the key you want to play in. SO it all becomes a matter of patterns and sequences. Learn a few patterns.... and learn how to know where to put them. You play leads all day... and you never know exactly what note you're playing.

Now.... a link. This will give you a picture of the patterns or "boxes". Scroll down and there's a color pict that indicates the octives etc.

http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/f/p/fpm108/glw/lessons/lesson13.htm
 
Yes! Theory can be a hindrance to advance. I have known people who have been taking piano lesssons for 10 years, but they can barely compose a simple tune. These people, by taking lessons have followed a mechanical approach and are hence stuck!

There are 2 kinds of people. 1)People with a good ear 2) people with poor musical ears. For people with good ears, very few lessons are needed and no theory is needed at all. They will automatically learn to play well if they have a natual passion for music.
For people who don't have well tuned ears, theory becomes a necessity. Though this approach will be slower to advance, it will greatly enhance their ability to learn.

I have been playing guitar for 20 years and piano for 10 years and I can barely read music. Recently I started reading some theory. I find it very interesting....some things make more sense now...
 
There are 2 kinds of people. 1)People with a good ear 2) people with poor musical ears. For people with good ears, very few lessons are needed and no theory is needed at all. They will automatically learn to play well if they have a natual passion for music.
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You know I dont' disagree with that. A person with a poor musical ear will have problems on lots of levels. But a person with a really good ear can still benefit by theory. Say you get a good paying gig playing in a big show. Maybe... some show that has other instruments besides guitar, bass, and drums. Maybe the director says "hey guitar player...... I need you to play a whole note scale on top of that minor chord..... or I need you to play a flatted sixth screamer with some delay and chorus on the dotted quarter note of measure 25..... ????

I mean if your whole goal is to just bang with a bass and a set of drums..... you're right. You don't need much theory for that.
 
I've never seen it presented in quite that way, but I think its actually quite similar to the way I've thought about modes. That is the E major scale is the same as the F# Dorian (I think) and the Ab Phrygian (Again I can't be sure of the names) and so on. The whole idea of being able to transpose scales from one key to another just by moving up or down the fretboard is the thing that makes teaching yourself guitar so much easier.

One thing that I show newbie guitarists that blows their mind is when you are improvising in, say E pentatonic minor, thats the same as G pentatonic major. So it makes a really easy way to go up the fretboard and as long as you can remember the patterns, you can do it in any key.
 
Discipline... while there's actually teacher to give the lessons. With someone watching me learning. Keeps me on the right track when I get lazy. Make sure I make progress. Other than that is classic...
 
well its a good question and depending on alot of variables you will get alot of different answers.
if i could start over i would say the best way to learn is to be very disiplined, dont skip anything. ive been playing for 20 years + and i realy skipped alot of the theory stuff and its heart my playing alot.when i do lessons now i teach alot of dexterity exercises,lateral movement across the neck, it realy helps with getting you fingers used to making chords and running patterns and scales. metronomes are very important and i believe if you can hand the student a video tape of the whole lesson afterwards so he/she can refer back it makes a huge difference. but what i would avoid would be instructors that just wanna teach songs. theres nothing wrong with learning songs but you can know how to play 1000s of songs and still not know anything about what makes these songs work.
if you want the best lessons possible go to git (guitar institute of technology). very pricey but very awesome. god bless you all tim pate.
 
One thing to watch: make sure your teacher is not using you for practice for his gig later that night. I had a teacher that told me to play a 3 chord rhythm, then he would practice his solos....
Watch out for busy work - the teacher should be proactive....
 
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