Ive been playing for about six months and have picked up quite a lot along the way. However i feel my playing is starting to get 'stuck in a rut'. All im doing is trying to learn songs (which i mostly learn by ear) even though i dont really know what notes im playing. I know the shapes of a few obvious scale (e.g. minor pentatonic, major, minor, various blues scales) but dont really know the notes apart from the root notes
THAT'S why ive decided to try and get tuition. I was just wondering what are reasonable rates for an hour or so of a teachers time ( in £ss please) and where i may be able to hear abut a tutor
Thanks very m uch for help
" Ah man, that went down like a lead balloon."
A good teacher is worth whatever your willing to pay them.
A good teacher (amoung other things):
1)teaches you to become a musician via the guitar.
2)corrects your bad habbits and mistakes.
3)has the ability to point out your strength and or weaknesses
A bad techer is a waste of money.
teaches you to become a musician via the guitar
In more than 25 years of teaching, I've found that's the one thing that can't really be taught. We can correct errors, and guide the development of technique... and encourage and guide the development of listening skills that are critical to musicianship.... but we can't 'teach' someone to become a musician.
That comes from desire, I think, perhaps coupled with some innate inner musical sense.
If I spend a few years with a student, I can turn them into a capable guitar player. I might be present while they become a musician, but I think I'm just the cheerleader for that part. :)
I guess we're like gardeners... we prepare the beds and water the seeds, but the magic of a perfect bloom comes from a higher source.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
NoteBoat you are right.
I phrased that in too few words. What I ment (and it is somewhat hard to explain) a good teacher will teach music theory with pratical applications, ear training, etc. so student has better chance to grow into musician. So, when he leaves the teacher the student has the ability to grow on their own. It's hard to explain.
Noteboat , how long do you give a lesson for ? an hour or 1/2 hour ? i'm asking cause my current teacher gives 1/2 hour lessons and initially i thought it's too short but honestly too much in one go could also be a problem not so ?
Minus Human
And all the things you said to me
I need your arms to welcome me
But a cold stone's all I see
Let my heart go
Minus, I book my time in half hour slots. That's enough time for most students. As you noted, you can cover a lot of ground in half an hour.
I've had some students take an hour (and I discount my rate when they do that - most teachers around me don't do that). When I owned a music store, I taught a fair number of group lessons - those ran 45 minutes each. It was an economic bargain for the students (I charged $5 per head per week), but they had to be satisfied with going at the rate of the slowest student... so the slow student was the one getting the really good deal. I haven't given group lessons in years, as I prefer to work one on one.
One other thing I try to do is put my most advanced student at the end of the evening... and I end up not watching the clock on that one - it's gone as long as 90 minutes or so, and I charge for just half an hour. The student who has that 'protege' slot right now with me has been playing classical guitar for 20 years, but wants to branch out into other styles. Her lessons are nearly as much an exchange of musical ideas as they are instruction, so the free time is sort of my way of thanking her for choosing me to share ideas with :)
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Tom,
I really like your take on teaching guitar. If I lived anywhere near you I'd sign up. Unfortunately I'm several hundred miles away.
I've had like three teachers over the past two years and although I'm pretty much happy with my current teacher I still feel something is missing and maybe it's me. I know part of it's my fault and I've missed several lessons because of travel for work but I always feel somewhat unfullfilled. I have no problem with practicing but it seems I never get enough stuff to work on and after a few days I get bored an revert back to learning or playing songs on my own.
I sometimes wonder exactly what other than as a guide they are doing for me.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
You might want to share your frustrations with your teacher... inconsistent practice will yield inconsistent results. If you practice like a banshee for the first couple days, then don't touch the stuff again until the next lesson, you'll just limit your progress.
Maybe your teacher can help you work out a practice schedule... for example, if you're working on arpeggios, days 1 & 2 would be the arpeggio, days 3 & 4 would be scale up/arpeggio down and vice versa, days 5 & 6 would be chord/arpeggio/chord.
Practice can sometimes be boring, I know... but it's really the only way to get (and keep!) your chops.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
:? If you truly have the desire you can teach yourself, with determination and finding the right tools and the more you look for them the more you will pick up, alot of famous people have learned by teaching themselves, I am not saying not to find a teacher but it is hard to find a good one and if you don't have real determination not even a teacher will help, If you can learn as much on your own then find a friend who plays and you will learn alot if you play with another player with no stress of not enouph time or money. Again there are some real good teachers that realy care to teach but they are hard to find. :)
i think everybody should do at least 50 lessons in a year with a teacher when they first start out or if they never had one.
8)
