Starting Lessons Tonight!

BRISTOL86

So, tonight begins my resolution for the new year - to spend no money whatsoever on guitar equipment in 2018 and instead, invest in myself, by which I mean paying for lessons.

I’m committing to a lesson every two weeks through the whole year (and beyond)

I’ve had a few lessons in the last 18 months but in a bit of an unstructured way. Thanks to @ThorpyFX I’ve now got a new teacher and tonight is my first lesson. 

Fed up of having no structure to my learning/progress so really looking forward to getting a shove in the right direction. 

Really excited but somehow oddly nervous. No idea why!

grungebob

good luck, this is something id like to do but sadly cant find any teacher's around me.

markr76

Funnily enough I've been thinking of doing the same. I've been playing for 26 years, or there abouts. But I feel I'm stuck in a rut at times. Always going back to the stuff I'm safe with when I play live. It's always good to mix it up.

JerkMoans

That's great!  I had my first lesson aged 44: we'd arranged a teacher for my daughter as I have so many bad habits it wasn't a good idea for her to learn too much from me, and unbeknownst to me my wife bribed him to hang around for half an hour afterwards and try to instill some rudiments into my thick head.

Fast forward 3 1/2 years and I've got a number of graded exams in the bag and a slightly better grasp of what I'm actually doing.  Still can't play more than about 2 scale positions to save my life, but at least I know what they're called

So the best of luck tonight: I totally 'get' the nervous feeling - that'll pass as you get to know the teacher, and relax in his/her company. 

CarpeDiem

Good idea! Hopefully, putting additional structure to your learning, and objectives set by your teacher should result in you making good progress. Enjoy the experience.

richardhomer

Impressive! I met a pro-player A few years ago who was a very proficient jazz player - I intended to take some lessons off him, in the hope of widening my harmonic knowledge.

You’ve reminded me I never got round to it - I may need to do something about that....

Jalapeno

It's the practice regime needed that's the killer for me with scheduled lessons. Good luck !!!

BRISTOL86

Jalapeno said:

It's the practice regime needed that's the killer for me with scheduled lessons. Good luck !!!

It’s exactly what I need though - some external pressure to make me do what I should be doing, rather than just picking up the guitar and playing the same old riffs day in day out!

m_c

Lessons is something I've been considering as well, so it'll be good to hear how you get on.

But that no new gear thing, pfft. I need something to waste money on!

guitars4you

Good idea - to get some new direction and something to work towards

Just a bit of advice - remember they are there to enrich your ability/knowledge based on where you are now and where you'd like to be - Still enjoy it and get them to teach you something that is relevant to you and where you wish to go - No use learning jazz if you want to play punk (you get the jist) - hence it has to be enjoyable, relevant and useful

TommyVercetti

guitars4you said:

Good idea - to get some new direction and something to work towards

Just a bit of advice - remember they are there to enrich your ability/knowledge based on where you are now and where you'd like to be - Still enjoy it and get them to teach you something that is relevant to you and where you wish to go - No use learning jazz if you want to play punk (you get the jist) - hence it has to be enjoyable, relevant and useful

THAT is brilliant advice 

BRISTOL86

guitars4you said:

Good idea - to get some new direction and something to work towards

Just a bit of advice - remember they are there to enrich your ability/knowledge based on where you are now and where you'd like to be - Still enjoy it and get them to teach you something that is relevant to you and where you wish to go - No use learning jazz if you want to play punk (you get the jist) - hence it has to be enjoyable, relevant and useful

Yep great advice. Now if only I knew the answer to the bold bit!!

BigMonka

Good for you @BRISTOL86 , sounds like a great idea to invest in your skills rather than gear. Have fun learning!

siraxeman

BRISTOL86 said:

Yep great advice. Now if only I knew the answer to the bold bit!!

All you need to express to your tutor is what are your desires and ultimate goals......then he can tailor your lessons accordingly. Simple as that...get you going on the road that leads to there!  

DulcetJones

As a teacher with several years experience I can say about half of my students are adults, Men and Women, most of which have been playing with no direction for years.  I love finding out what they want from guitar and filling in the blanks with useful exercises and technique tips.    Many are in the over 50 bracket(and often have better guitars than me!), and most stay with the lessons for a few years at least.

siraxeman

richardhomer said:

Impressive! I met a pro-player A few years ago who was a very proficient jazz player - I intended to take some lessons off him, in the hope of widening my harmonic knowledge.

You’ve reminded me I never got round to it - I MAY need to do something about that....

You are unlikely to do anything.....there's doubt already in your post!

BRISTOL86

Out of interest, I want to be equally adept at acoustic and electric and am unsure which to take to my lessons. I can see an argument both ways. What would you do?

DulcetJones

It really doesn't matter, if it's got 6 strings and is playable it'll do.  I used to keep a really beat up cheap, barely playable solid body electric in my teaching room at the school .  I let my students know that if they were ever rushed for time and found themselves having to cancel a lesson because they would have to drive wherever to get it  they can just use that one for the lesson.  It got a fair amount of use, and oddly, one student wanted to buy it!

guitars4you

BRISTOL86 said:

Out of interest, I want to be equally adept at acoustic and electric and am unsure which to take to my lessons. I can see an argument both ways. What would you do?

do you want to play like Ed Sheeran or SRV - or which is priority - I can understand the question but I'm 95% electric - also adds to the previous comment about WHERE YOU WANT TO BE - At this stage I'd advise one only so as you don't dilute time, attention etc into progressing further

I can't play an acoustic in the true sense of the world with fingerstyle etc - as such I only really play electric styles on an acoustic, so that doesn't really count

I feel some electric players possess what I call the Clapton or Hendrix syndrome - Both own and played an acoustic but it is not what they are predominantly known for

Tough game for you against AVFC - did you go ? - Best wishes against MCFC but best just to enjoy the occasions and take the till receipts - Big credit for getting there and I dare say most would support you over MCFC, but I bet I have a better chance of a 7 digit lottery win this weekend

siraxeman

Do both! Whichever you lean more towards do a few lessons first on that...then do the other. One thing that's pretty obvious is that the electric is physically an easier ride - and you can do it al on the electric, then cross over and play the acoustic style on the acoustic....ie its transferrable. Not quite the same the other way around though!

Pete24v

I did this 6 or so years ago, for 14 months. It was  great for building confidence, and after the first lesson where I'd told the teacher what I wanted to achieve, every lesson was enjoyable and useful.