I have no clue what to do at lessons.

I been taking guitar lessons for over an year now and im not sure what to ask the teacher. He sometimes ask me if there is something I want to work not but I am not sure. I never played any instrument before and I seriously don't jam with anyone. No one I really know plays an instruemnt like drums, bass, or guitar. So when I see my guitar teacher I ask all the questions I thought about in the weekend. Im just trying to have fun but I want to be good. I practice/play about 30 min a day. Not a lot. I like to play christian songs but a lot of the times it is the same thing and soft rock. I like pretty much anything that sounds good though. My teacher is more of a soft rock/funk type. I wish he would teach me at a faster though. I feel that the 1 years that I have learned.. I could of learn in 4 months.

How much do lessons cost usally? How long does it take to seriously improve? I know obviously you will learn faster if you practice more but on the avg? What are songs that are good to practice on?

Gear is what keeps me mostly intrested in guitar though. I would probably careless about playing violin, trumpet, and other 'school' instruments. Guitar is too cool.

[glynn]

How much do lessons cost usally?

Depends on the teacher, but I would expect to shell out $50 - $80 a month.

How long does it take to seriously improve?

You get out what you put in. Everyone learns differently, there is no formula for success. Some people progress slow, and some are plowing thru really difficult stuff in a year.

What are songs that are good to practice on?

Well, the ones that help the weak parts in your playing. If you want to improve chord vocabulary, then it would be a good idea to learn some jazz standards.

If you want to learn some pentatonics, then some blues tunes would work.

When I took lessons, I never did pop songs. I did that stuff at home. I worked on stuff that I sucked at, like playing thru changes.

YMMV

[lhallam]

If you like Christian rock, check out some Phil Keaggy. He has some challenging material.

You may also want to try a couple of tunes from his first band Glass Harp for a more rock flavor, if you can find it.

This guy had tone like no other and was an expert at doing violin swells with his pinky and volume knob.

^ thanks.. i'll check it out

oh yeah btw... sometimes I pick out songs that I want to learn, but the teacher doesn't sound close to what I want to play. His style is totally diffrent. Should I be looking for a diffrent guitar teacher?

[lhallam]

Originally posted by roflingsam123
^ thanks.. i'll check it out

oh yeah btw... sometimes I pick out songs that I want to learn, but the teacher doesn't sound close to what I want to play. His style is totally diffrent. Should I be looking for a diffrent guitar teacher?

I'm not sure what you mean. If he is teaching you the songs you want to learn and getting the parts correct then I'd keep him.

It really doesn't matter his style or even how well he plays, what matters is how well he teaches and if you are getting anything out of it. It sounds like you already know the answer to you question anyway.

[KRosser]

Originally posted by glynn
How long does it take to seriously improve?

You get out what you put in. Everyone learns differently, there is no formula for success. Some people progress slow, and some are plowing thru really difficult stuff in a year.

And how....

One of my consistent frustrations with being a guitar teacher is the following scenario: student comes to me, tells me that they want to get better at X. I give them all kinds of ways to improve X. They come back next week & say they didn't have time to work on it, could we go over it one more time. I go over X again. They come back the following week and say they didn't have time to work on it, but, let's not bother with that because they can practice that on their own, can I give them the next step after X. I tell them that's pretty difficult if you haven't put the time in on X yet. Student then drops me because they're "just not improving the way they'd hoped"

Argggg.....

[lhallam]

Originally posted by KRosser
can I give them the next step after X. I tell them that's pretty difficult if you haven't put the time in on X yet. Student then drops me because they're "just not improving the way they'd hoped"

Argggg.....

We all want to get to the end without having to do what's required in the middle. Funny how students often forget what they had to go through for years to learn math and how to read and write. I tell them mastering an instrument is no different and some still don't get it.

[EricT]

Originally posted by lhallam
We all want to get to the end without having to do what's required in the middle. Funny how students often forget what they had to go through for years to learn math and how to read and write. I tell them mastering an instrument is no different and some still don't get it.

Guilty

Originally posted by lhallam
I'm not sure what you mean. If he is teaching you the songs you want to learn and getting the parts correct then I'd keep him.

It really doesn't matter his style or even how well he plays, what matters is how well he teaches and if you are getting anything out of it. It sounds like you already know the answer to you question anyway.

He doesnt really teach me the song because he himself doesnt know it.

KRosser do you play your guitar a lot at lessons? my guitar teacher probably plays more than me.

Can you give me an example of what the student wanted to work on? So you basically go over the same skill untill the student gets better at it?


Is music theory that important if you are trying to get good?

[KRosser]

Originally posted by roflingsam123
KRosser do you play your guitar a lot at lessons? my guitar teacher probably plays more than me.

Depends on what I'm teaching...I taught a lesson today where I never even touched the instrument. Sometimes it's necessary to play quite a bit.

Can you give me an example of what the student wanted to work on? So you basically go over the same skill untill the student gets better at it?

"The student" implies this has only happened once! I wish!!

As a teacher, I don't really want to keep going over the same thing, but I'm willing to if the student's not getting something. But, I've found that's usually not the problem, the problem is that they don't want to have to work on their own. I always make a point of having the student leave with clearly defined work to do. Just taking the lesson alone is not enough for improvement. They have to work and apply it.

Basically, I've found there's a lot of student players that want to be great (or, want all the peripheral goodies that they assume come naturally with being great) without working very hard on it. If there's a way to do that, I can't teach it, 'cause I don't know.

Is music theory that important if you are trying to get good?

Depends on your goals. If your goal is to be a professional player, I'd say it's very important, if only for the vocabulary with which you can intelligently converse with other musicians, not to mention what it might give you in terms of understanding and analyzing all different kinds of music.

If you're not aspiring to that I'd say certain aspects of theory can absolutely help you sound better, i.e., knowledge of how to build chords & their inversions & scales and how they relate to the fingerboard, certainly. Keys and the basics of functional harmony, sure, that'd help a lot too. How to construct a retrograde inversion of a tone row? You could probably pass on that....

[lhallam]

Originally posted by roflingsam123
He doesnt really teach me the song because he himself doesnt know it.

This is then a golden opportunity for him to teach you how to pull a song off a recording. Depending upon how hard the song is. It's good for your ears and it also helps you become more independent.

I don't teach any longer but did for over 10 years in a variety of capacities.

I agree with KRosser, as it appears he tailors his lesson to the student. That makes a big difference in teachers.

Theory is not that difficult, I'm a big proponent of learning theory. I think the toughest part about theory is some people's preconceived gumption blocks.

If nothing else, you should be able to name every note on the fingerboard!!!!! You should also be able to name any chord you know how to play.

[Tom Gross]

Originally posted by lhallam
You should also be able to name any chord you know how to play.

I've never heard it put that way, I like that.

Man I remember when I used all these chords and had no idea, not only of general chord theory and chemistry, but even the name. I'd show songs to friends "..then it's the hendrix chord, then the 'Long Train Runnin' chord, then B but lift your ring finger..."

[lhallam]

Originally posted by Tom Gross
I've never heard it put that way, I like that.

Man I remember when I used all these chords and had no idea, not only of general chord theory and chemistry, but even the name. I'd show songs to friends "..then it's the hendrix chord, then the 'Long Train Runnin' chord, then B but lift your ring finger..."

LOL - I go to open mics and that is pretty much how I have to communicate. It's such a pleasure when a guy gets on stage and he knows what to play just by me naming the chord. Funny thing is when you say Hendrix chord I know exactly what you're talking about E7#9 (technically Eb).

[raz]

Originally posted by KRosser
One of my consistent frustrations with being a guitar teacher is the following scenario: student comes to me, tells me that they want to get better at X. I give them all kinds of ways to improve X. They come back next week & say they didn't have time to work on it, could we go over it one more time. I go over X again. They come back the following week and say they didn't have time to work on it, but, let's not bother with that because they can practice that on their own, can I give them the next step after X. I tell them that's pretty difficult if you haven't put the time in on X yet. Student then drops me because they're "just not improving the way they'd hoped"

Argggg.....

I think you and I are teaching the same students.

R
A
Z

[KRosser]

Originally posted by raz
I think you and I are teaching the same students.

R
A
Z

Well, man, I hope you had better luck with them than I did, or at least charged them more.....