GUITAR TEACHER, BOOKS OR COMPUTER LEARNING PROGRAMME

Personally, I find it's hard to beat having a good teacher -- one who motivates you, works with you much as a coach would, and who understands your goals. I find myself motivated to do as well as I possibly can with the lesson my teacher has me working on and that really informs my progress. I'd think that your teacher is mapping the territory for you and that you need to take the time to practice and perfect what he or she has shown you. In the end, we're all self learners as well. You work on perfecting what the teacher has shown you and the teacher continues to push you gently forward.

Hope that made sense. Having rambled on about all of that, however, you could certainly and should certainly augment your teacher's instruction with any other sort of learning that helps you -- computer software, learning songs, playing with other musicians, etc. Anything you do to play more and play better is wonderful.

it depends upon the psychology and the willingness to learn.All self learned guitarists are not pros and all tought ones are nither.You have to jus believe in yourself and don have to follow everything what ur teacher says :wink:

I find postitive learning in each one - so I do use all three (computer, instructor, and books) -plus jamming with an experienced player.

BS :)

I am of the view that having a good instructor is essential to maximizing your own development.

A good teacher will know what's important and what isn't -- something a student rarely gets right when studying on their own.

However, if you're uncomfortable with how fast he's going, have a conversation with him about how you want to feel like you're on more solid ground with what he's done so far. Maybe it's a good time to stop and have a couple of weeks of "review lessons."

Review lessons are something that really are essential ever couple of months, but many teachers are reluctant to do that because of experiences of students leaving because they "aren't being taught anything new."

Other teachers feel that they have a responsibility to earn their money by adding to your knowledge each lesson, and they just don't feel like they're doing their job if they spend time on the same subject this week as they did last.

Talk with your teacher. If you really do feel he's pretty good, then he will understand you need to take a break to get things under control, and he'll focus on refining what you already know.

Computer programs and internet sites are great supplimentation, but I honestly don't believe they can substitute for a good teacher. take two equally gifted, motivated and dedicated students, one with a good teacher and one studying on their own, and the one with the good teacher will always out-pace the other in the end.

Thank you so much. He is a well established famous guitarist and does gigs all the time with other rock stars so I know he knows his stuff and plays well.

Looks like I should use some other references as well as the teacher but after reading this I think I will continue with the lessons and practise more!

Thanks
Campbell.

I spoke to him and he is happy to work to my pace. Very glad I stuck with him. I learnt a whole song yesterday and to think I was going to give up. Once i started going slower, it became easier to remember.

Campbell, when I started with my current teacher, i felt sort of overwhelmed as well. She was going much faster than I could absorb ( or as I thought ).

She revealed afterwards that sometime a student is the worst judge of their potential. We tend to get in these "comfort zones" and stop challenging ourselves. The only way they can be made aware of their potential is by throwing them at the deep end.

It's good to know that your teacher listened and altered the pace to your liking. However, if he goes fast again, it could be that he really thinks you are capable of learning at that accelerated pace.

Cheers
Vic

Thanks Vic. Yes, looking back I realise just that now!

Campbell, glad you got that sorted out. One of the most important things to have with a guitar teacher, or any teacher I suppose, is good comunication.

Vic (Good Will Hunting is one of my favorite movies..) I definitly agree with you about getting thrown in the deep end. I was working on some jazz song with my teacher... All the things you are...maybe that's what it was called. Anyways, not a hard song (unless your not used to the chords, which I wasn't, but anywho) and I had it all perfected, at a very slow pace. And then he wanted me to play it again, and he counted off at a extremly fast speed (so that I actually hesitated, and wondered if I heard him wrong) but I played, and it made me realize what I was capable of, and I enjoyed that.

Anywho, just a story for the kids ya know?