Should I dump my guitar teacher?

You have to let your teacher know what you're goals and what type of music you prefer. It is a working relationship and both sides need to communicate in order for things to get done. Tell him what you think of his teaching style and if he doesnt like then u can ditch em..

Couldn't hurt to finish the songs on your own.

yoyo,
I agree with lord_areiz, you have to communicate with your instructor. I do with mine. I have some comments for him tonight and we will see where we go from there. But you do have to express your wishes. Tell him you do not like the choice and that your goal is to finish the one you are woring on before you procede to the next lesson. If he or you have heartburn after this then it is time to move on. Just give him/her a chance as you like the preson and that is a plus.

yoyo,

I guess I agree with everyone else, just talk to him and let him no what your after.

Personally though I always have reservations about what I'm learning etc. Right now I kind of feel my teacher is going to slow and I have told him that so he gave me two songs to work on at the last lesson.

Both are easy songs and still feel this wasn't enough. I know he has some type of plan in mind and I think he's got kind of a set of certain songs he's given his students so I haven't really talked to him about that much. Most of the songs are stuff I normally wouldn't be into either.

I after taking lessons off and on for about two years and going through 3-4 teachers he's probably the best I had but I still have reservations on how much it is benifitting me.

The biggest thing I think a teacher does is to guide you through what's important to learn. He rarely corrects my technique. So I've decided to go with the fow and see what happens. He's been doing this forever and I assume he was able to get other people playing using his method so for now I'll do what he says.

I have ask them same question before "when is it time time to move on".

For me it's almost been two years since picking up the guitar, and I've been taking weekly lessons for about 8 months and still consider myself very much a beginner. My teacher has taught me songs that I would not have selected, but I think the reason for the songs he selects is they are teaching me a particular skill, the actual song selection is not his number one concern. I've noticed that I take bit's and pieces of what I learn and use them where needed. So maybe you can do the same even though the songs may not be exactly what you hope to play, maybe you can carry over what you learn and apply it to your style of music. I think this goes more towards the begining guitarist, if you are more advanced you may need some one more geard towards a particular style. These are just my thoughts, and I know it's hard question to answer when it comes time to move on and leave a teacher.

Best of luck..

I agree with the fact that u hav to communicate with your teacher, but also like david said he may be teaching these songs to you as he thinks they are good example of a technique or something he wants to teach you, or maybe theyr good for working on timing or chords progressions etc...But if your not enjoying it all then talk about doing stuff u like with him

Alright thanks guys. :)

I've never really had this problem personally. I pretty much go into a lesson, say what I want to do, and he'll show me how, give me some pointers, and possibly give me some excercies to work on. I picked all the songs we did, dorpped ones I didn't like after the first little while, gone back to one I dropped before today, etc. I've seen general improvement using this method. I personally like the concept of a guitar teacher as doing whatever you want with him for the time you have the lesson for, although a) if you'd prefer, it'd be nice for a teacher to take over in terms of what you're doing and in a direction that you are comfortable with, and b) like Nick once said, you're paying your teacher to improve, if you're improving in a satisfactory manner, that's pretty good, then again, if by improving you'd like to know a few songs fully, tell your teacher this. And just make sure you communciate to him. When your teacher goes "hey listen to this new punk song I've been lsitening to lately, want to elarn it?" just say no, and tell him in fact you don't like that style altogether.

My teacher and I had a long discussion about where I want to get to as a guitarist, set short and long term goals, set out a study plan to take me there.

I had to interview a lot of teachers before I found one that is an expert in the style I want to learn, has the same philosophy about learning that I do, and is willing to commit to a real lesson plan. And I get an hour drive to his house every week. But it's worth it because we're on the same page.

If you're a beginner, then I'd suggest not worrying about it too much .. if you get along with your teacher and you're learning, then keep at it. But if you've got some milage under you and you're trying to master a style, then you need to have a talk with your instructor.