Questions About Lessons

[just strum]

I've been asking a few individuals questions about taking lessons and from those discussions I came away with more questions. I asked individuals in an attempt to minimize a scattered response of answers, but it didn't work out that way.

Since I am still undecided, I will throw it out for open discussion and see what the forum has to say.

So here goes:

1) At an age range of 40 to 55 do you think that taking lessons is beneficial and why?

2) Do you feel that you have to know how to read music in order to get the full benefit out of taking lessons?

3) Do you think it would be more beneficial to take acoustic or electric guitar lessons?

4) Do you feel it is important to focus your lessons on a specific genre that is of interest to you.
If yes, that genre would you select?
If no, explain.

5) How many are currently taking lessons?

6) How many of you have taken lessons in the past?
How long ago?
Did they provide a return on your investment?

If this gets the number of responses that I hope, it will probably lead to more questions

[jpfeifer]

Hi Strum,

Here are my responses to your questions:

1) At an age range of 40 to 55 do you think that taking lessons is beneficial and why?

Yes. Age shouldn't matter unless you are too young to hold the guitar. Lessons with the right teacher can help you to focus on the things that will help you to improve faster. Lessons also give you something to work toward from week to week. Think of a guitar teacher in the same way that you might think of a trainer or coach to help point you in the right direction and hold you accountable to do the work.

2) Do you feel that you have to know how to read music in order to get the full benefit out of taking lessons?

Absolutely not! I think that reading music is a good skill to have but honestly, if you just want to pick up some new skills on the guitar and improve your overall playing it's not completely necessary. If you're planning to make your living with music or be hired as a guitar player then I think that learning to read music is an important skill to have.

3) Do you think it would be more beneficial to take acoustic or electric guitar lessons?

I would start with acoustic first and get a good foundation of guitar in general. Focus on learning basic chords and strumming patterns, etc. After this point if your interests include soloing then begin to focus on learning scale patterns, etc. All of these same skills can be applied to electric as well. However for electric-oriented lessons you might want to focus more specifically on things like string bending, etc, that you wouldn't be able to do on acoustic.

4) Do you feel it is important to focus your lessons on a specific genre that is of interest to you.
If yes, that genre would you select?
If no, explain.

Yes and no. A good guitar teacher should be able to tailor the lessons to your interest area. But I don't think that the lessons shouldn't be entirely focused on a specific genre unless you're trying to learn a certain style such as "Delta Blues slide guitar" or something specific like that. But I do think that you should have good idea of the kinds of things you would like to learn from your teacher and keep this in mind when looking for a guitar teacher. Some teachers are big on theory & technique, some are more into teaching songs, etc. Try to have some idea of the goals you want to achieve with your lessons and communicate that to your teacher. Ask the teacher to explain their teaching style and their expectations from students. See if this matches the kind of style that would work for you.

5) How many are currently taking lessons?

I'm not currently taking lessons, but I have taken lots of lessons in the past with various private instructors, college courses, etc. I still learn things myself from the internet, magazines, books, or anywhere that I can pickup some new things to work on (if I only had the time to work them :-) I have been teaching guitar for the past few years to a small number of students.

6) How many of you have taken lessons in the past?
How long ago?
Did they provide a return on your investment?

Yes, my lessons did provide a good return on the investment. If anything it motivated me to practice more and opened my eyes to other types of music that I wouldn't have discovered on my own.

[Katastrophe]

I'm with JPfeifer on this one. Lessons are great, and provide an explanation for the concepts and techniques you would otherwise learn by ear. The age range you reference is not too old to start at all! I learned how to read music as a young lad, prior to lessons, and it is useful, but in most rock n' roll settings you probably aren't going to be asked to sight read. I don't read music now, and I've pretty much lost the skill. Learn to train your ear to pick up different keys and you can get through a jam with friends just fine. Learn from every style, genre and guitarist (pro and amateur) that you like, and a few that you don't. It will make you more well rounded. Learn on both acoustic and electric. It's something I wish I'd spent more time on.

I took lessons from two different guitar teachers about 15 years ago. I use the techniques to this day, and still practice the techniques I learned. Some still mystify me, but that's part of the journey. I'd say I've gotten a huge return on my investment.

[just strum]

Kat and JPfeifer,

Ok, I come into your school, 1 year of playing on my own, can't read music, and I want to focus mainly on the blues. What would you envision the first month to be like?

I'm trying to get an understanding of what people have received from lessons in the early stages. Also interested to see if anyone started taking lessons in the 40's or 50's with little time invested prior to lessons.

Robert, if you're out there, I think you would have some good input.

[Robert]

I agree with what's been said.

You are never too old to learn. Especially blues - you probably will play better the older you are!

The trick is to find a teacher who's teaching will work well for you. You may have to try more than one, since some may focus more on theory while others may focus on certain styles of music, etc. Tell the teacher what you are interested in and see what suggestions you get. If you like where it's going, enjoy and have fun, but if it's start to be a drag to go to the lessons, ask for a change in direction or find a different teacher.

Most of all, have fun. It's gotta be fun, or else what's it all for?

[sunvalleylaw]

I've been asking a few individuals questions about taking lessons and from those discussions I came away with more questions. I asked individuals in an attempt to minimize a scattered response of answers, but it didn't work out that way.

Since I am still undecided, I will throw it out for open discussion and see what the forum has to say.

So here goes:

1) At an age range of 40 to 55 do you think that taking lessons is beneficial and why? Yes. If I am investing in lessons, I am more disciplined in my approach, and having some objective feedback and direction really helps me.

2) Do you feel that you have to know how to read music in order to get the full benefit out of taking lessons? No, but for me it helps some for going back and figuring out things we were working on in lessons and for self study[COLOR="Green"]

3) Do you think it would be more beneficial to take acoustic or electric guitar lessons? [COLOR="Red"]I don't think you necessarily have to choose. I don't. [COLOR="Red"]

4) Do you feel it is important to focus your lessons on a specific genre that is of interest to you.
If yes, that genre would you select?
If no, explain.

[COLOR="Purple"]No. When I first started, it was more important to develop skills. Now I like to have one thing the instructor thinks I need, and one piece I want.

5) How many are currently taking lessons? One of me

6) How many of you have taken lessons in the past?
How long ago?
Did they provide a return on your investment?
I took piano lessons as a kid (25ish years ago), and it gave me a desire and a confidence to learn to make music. So yes.

If this gets the number of responses that I hope, it will probably lead to more questions

Hope my response are helpful to you.

[jpfeifer]

Hi Strum,

I would first try to find out where you were at musically, in the first lesson to understand the level of playing that you were currently at and where you want to go. (this also helps me to understand if I'm the right teacher for you too). After that I would probably start having you learn the Blues scale across the entire neck (all 5 posisitons) so that you could play blues solos anywhere on the neck, in any key. This would happen over many lessons but I would start off there and use some songs that we could play together as a way to practice the scales, etc.

The other thing that I would probably work on is showing you how to move from one position to another in this scale. I've found that the scales themselves don't stick unless you have the students start learning a few useful licks out of these scales, so we would work on that too.

The other thing that I like to stress is chord work. If you want to play with other musicians you will be playing chords most of the time, so it makes sense to get your chords together. I use songs as a way to practice various types of chords. I have a bunch of movable chord shapes that I work with studesnt on, including barre chords. Along with this I make the students memorize the names of the notes on the bass strings (E, A, and D) so that they can use their movable chord shapes to play chord progressions anywhere on the neck.

All of these things can take months of time, but this is the general path I try to go down. Along the way I use songs as examples to put the theory into practice.

-- Jim

[Katastrophe]

Can't add anything to what JPfeifer said, it's right on point.