Guitar Lessons

To pay!!

Sorry had to do that. To me the first lesson is more like a meet and greet. The teacher will ask you what you know, maybe ask you to play something, what your goals are, the type of music you want to play, how he teaches, hopefully how his method will mesh with your goals, etc.

That's really about it. Bring your guitar of choice whether it be acoustic or electric, maybe paper but usually if he writes soemthing down he'll supply that at least for the first lesson.

Sometimes they are a bit awkward and personally I was pretty nervous with my first lessons (I've had a few teachers).

You really won't know if it's a good fit until you've had several lessons and time to digest his methodology and how that works for you. If it doesn't start the process over with a new teacher. Alot is about the connection you can make with him which has nothing to do with the music, but it's human nature that you will enjoy it more and want to learn more if you get along well with him. If he has a style that deosn't fit you no matter how good he may be he'll lose you along the way.

Just go in with an open mind and wallet and you'll be fine. If your young even better go in with your parents open wallet.

I am going to get my frist guitar lesson soon and I was wondering what should I expect. :)

Expect to be treated respectfully. ( Quite different from elementary or high school where you *have* to be there :-)

Expect that you'll have sore fingers over time. Expect that you'll have to put in practice in order to accomplish things.
Expect to learn that you are no less gifted than anybody else and that you're probably not a lot more gifted either.
Everybody who plays well had to work at it .... some more than others.

And expect to catch an addiction that will bring a lifetime of enjoyment! Even if you put it down for awhile you may resume in the future because you missed it.

I didn't take lessons for very long but my teacher got me going well enough to ensure the addition stuck.

Welcome to the adventure and the forum!

You should expect to know what it is you want out of lessons, and you should expect to tell your teacher first thing after the handshaking and good-to-meet-you stuff.

I had a student (no names, it wouldn't be fair)

"What stuff do you like?" I asked. "Anything really" my student replied

"How am I teaching you, lead, rhythm, Hendrix, Ska?" "Don't mind"

"What are you three favourite Songs?" "Everything really"

"Any questions on what we've covered today?" "No"

"How did you get on with what we looked at last week?" "I didn't understand it really" (so not practiced, either!)

"What song do you fancy covering next?" "Don't mind"

And after 18 months of it, that's over 50 lessons of rhythm techniques, lead technique, working songs out from the recordings, effects pedal basics, and chord theory, when you knock out holidays and stuff, I gave up. What I was earning out of it was not enough (and never will be enough) to cover the misery of having a student who put sod all into it.

Best,

A :-)

Woah, Alan....was that me? (just kidding) :mrgreen:

Actually, I just started lessons with a new teacher this past Tuesday (after 9 months of self-teaching):

What do you like? "Um...anything" (seriously...depending on the day I'm just as likely to fire up classical, bluegrass, jazz, reggae, blues, country, metal, etc.)

How am I teaching you (lead, rhythm, etc.)? "Um...I want to be well rounded...what do you think we should start with?"

What are your three favorite songs? "Um...what genre?" I mean, how can I say that I like "Honeysuckle Rose" better or worse than "Poppa Loved Momma" or "Johnny B. Goode" or "Lyin' Eyes" or "Back in Black"

Ok...who's your favorite guitarist? Again, how can I pick? SRV? BB King? Clapton? Chet Atkins? Alex Lifeson? Slash?

What song to you want to learn? "Well...what song do you know that will teach me something new, and is close enough to my abilities to not frustrate me?"

You see...? What I want out of a teacher is not just technique, and musicianship, but a guiding force that helps focus me down a path to improvement. On my own, I have so many interests it's too easy to get lost. So I don't have good answers to a lot of those questions, but I can say where I want to get...(a competent, well-rounded guitarist)...but I have no idea how to get there...I trust that my teacher will have the experience to provide the roadmap. :)

For the OP, think about all of Alan's questions, and try to have answers for them.

You should expect the first lesson to be a bit of a feeling out on both your parts. You want to get a sense of what your teacher's style is, and what he expects out of you. You want to give him an idea of your current ability level, and what you expect to get out of the lessons, especially if you have definite ideas of what you want to be able to play.

Keep us updated how everything goes.

I have it scheduled for friday at 4:30 :D

Hello,
I was taking jazz lessons with a v. good teacher and too help I mini disc'd the half hour - this was very helpful as it let me go back over stuff later. And because he was using a white board for chords I took photos with my mobile phone, again to go back over.

Who says a old dawg can't learn new trix ;)

adios,
Lovat

Alan, I'm amazed a preson could do that for 1.5 years. You'd figure the student would quit earlier for lack of interest.

I went to meet him today and he mis heard me and thought that I said 4:00 so its postponed :cry:

I went to meet him today and he mis heard me and thought that I said 4:00 so its postponed :cry:

The samething has happened to me on my first class.

I was there à 10 am, no one was there, so I get back home and it was finally at 2pm... But I was able to get there anyway

When is your next class?

I dont know I'll have to talk to wednesday :roll:

I got the lesson and he said that I have good rhythm and and a good ear.

My teacher asked me all of the questions that everyone has already mentioned, he also asked what my goal was, Johnny b. goode i told him, we looked at that after about 7 lessons, you do need chemistry with your teacher there's no point just turning up going through the motions, somtimes it's good just to muck around during a lesson you can get a lot out of that than just strumming away..

^^ Exactly. I even found with my old teacher that i would learn just by watching him, and not even playing myself!