Getting the Most Out of Your Lesson

When taking on a new skill such as learning guitar, it is so important to make sure you get the most out of your lessons.

A couple of important things to think about before heading off to your first session:

• What do you want most out of the lessons?
• What type of music do you like?
• What does your dedicated practice time look like?
• Is this something fun just for you or do you want to be able to play for family and friends?
• Are you interested in an academic approach with notes and theory?
• Do you want to improve skills through learning songs?

What do You Want to Get Out of Your Lessons?

One of the first questions I ask my students is what their musical goals are. For most students, it is something they want to do for fun. Some just want to play for family at the holidays or jam with friends. A few people are looking to try out for high school and college jazz bands.

To play for fun versus preparing for a jazz band tryout are taught in completely different ways. Most instructors want to know your goals, but if for some reasons it is overlooked, definitely talk about it.

I currently have students who just want to solo and some who only want to learn strum patterns. So each week we match up a song they like with an amazing solo or strum pattern and they are very inspired to learn. For Jazz students, having the ability to read a chart and get through the chords is a huge motivator.

Without a goal in mind, you may be learning songs or doing exercises that a far less beneficial than they could be. Some songs will help to get the chords down in a way that makes sense. A knowledgeable instructor will be able to pull out several tunes from different styles to get you to your goal systematically.

What Music Styles Do You Like?

Telling your teacher what kind of music you like is probably the second most important piece of information to pass along. If you signed up hoping to learn rock and roll and your classically trained instructor pulls out Mozart, you may dread the lessons. He or she may be the best teacher in the world, but it is hard to get excited about a style you are not familiar with and do not like. This happened before I met one of my current students almost causing them to quit guitar altogether.

The quickest way to destroy musical passion is the to continually teach music that does not inspire the student.

What Areas Do You Want to Cover

Some people have come into my studio and only want to learn strum patterns or how to solo. Right away, I start thinking about some of the coolest solos in their ability; or some songs with an amazing strum pattern that they can build from. Most teachers will have a collection of songs that fit the different areas, so it is important to let them know what you are interested in.

Make Sure Your Teacher Knows Your Practice Time

Practice time for a teen is usually drastically different than practice time an adult. With kids, a career, and other obligations, sometimes an adult may only have a half hour a week to sit down on the guitar. Whereas a teen may have a lot of extra time. Even with sports and school, teens can usually find a couple of hours per week. Whatever your case is, you may pass that along to the instructor as well. This will affect the amount of material covered per session. Some adults only are able to practice when they have the lesson. Knowing that can really help. The teacher can then prepare the material in way to keep things moving forward without overloading the student.

It is all about enjoying the musical journey. No matter what, make sure you do not lose your passion for any instrument in the process.

If you are interested in learning the guitar, bass, or ukulele, please contact me. Thanks!!