My first guitar lesson ever!

[baytamusic]

I'm about to take my first guitar lesson of my entire life in five minutes! I hope I can play Stairway to Heaven in an hour!

[TESLA_EL34]

good luck soldier and happy ownage!

[baytamusic]

hmmm. I just got done. Well, I think I'm a technically better player than the teacher in a way but he actually knows what he's doing which I don't. His rate is super low though. Maybe I'll learn the basics of theory from him and move on to another teacher after a couple months who's more advanced. Lessons are weird. I used to play the violin as a kid so at least I'm not starting from the absolute beginning...

[Randy Bass]

You should save some money and fly to Germany to get lessons from Wendigo.

[Neiloler]

You should save some money and fly to Germany to get lessons from Wendigo.

Zing.

[ironlung40]

You should save some money and fly to Germany to get lessons from Wendigo.

Zing Zing

[bfitz]

I've been playing for 12 years now and i went back to lessons in march this year.

when i started i learned the chords and then i'd go in with a song that i wanted to learn, the teacher would figure it out and tab it out for me.

My new teacher asked me my influences and so when i go in he teaches me things he thinks will advance my playing. Since march i've definitely learned a lot, from scales and modes to little nuances in blues, jazz, rock and funk and its really brought me on quite a bit from where i was. To be honest my playing got stale before i went to this guy.

I think you'll learn a lot from him if he's making the theory relevant to your playing and if your a better player then you shouldnt have too much trouble making the material relevant to your style

enjoy!

[KaioMC]

who's wendigo?

[baytamusic]

I thought about it today and I've decided to go somewhere more expensive but a little more professional for one lesson and see how it goes. I'd really prefer to be awed by my instructor, not like "wow, I can play that cleaner than you can, but you know the theory behind it and I don't."

[Nork]

i gotta go in for lessons. been playing for like 10 years, and don't know jack. and it frustrates me. my wife bought me lessons last year (10!) for christmas. i just gotta schedule'em. which i haven't done 'cause i'm a wuss mostly. i just don't know where to start!

[Randy Bass]

I have always maintained that ignorance is bliss. It certainly makes sense to load up the left side of your brain with as much musical theory as possible if you intend to make a career out of it, but I consider it to be more of a hobby. I'm not consumed with the desire to be the best guitar player ever . That leads me to avoid "polluting" my brain with theory in order to keep music more fun and unstructured. Everyone should do whatever helps them enjoy music the most .

[a.hun]

who's wendigo?

A member...


Andy.

[Wendigo]

I doubt you could afford the prices they charge over here. However if you want to come over I'll make time for you. I take everything on this forum with a grain of salt considering that it's an internet forum, but nobody should make fun of my job; I'm an excellent player and teacher and I take pride in it. Here's some theory from my book for you Baytamusic, though I notice some of the font colors got mixed up since the forum switch:

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Some others of you might want have a look through that. When your done, let me know so I can write another hundred pages. Once you feel you are able to put it all into practice, you can feel free to mock me.

[Cordboard]

IMHO, what you get out of lessons is directly proportional to what you put into them. I doubt that there are many teachers that cannot show you anything new, as long as you are clear about what you are after and focused on what they can teach you, not what you can do better than them.

Examples from my experience include a "Classic Rock" guy who could do note for note versions of songs, with every little trick you could imagine to make it sound EXACTLY like the recording. He also added in all the theory behind the song, taught in a way that did not make me suicidal. Seeing his strengths pretty clearly, and wanting to get a cover band off the ground, I gave him a list of ten classic rock songs I wanted to work on and it went wonderfully. I learned a lot of immediately applicable theory to boot.

Wanting to improve my lead guitar/improvisational skills, I also spent some time with a "Classical Guitar" guy. He was a major stickler for theory and technique and scales and chord structures that require something like 13 fingers to play correctly. That was a bitch, since he forced me back to ground zero on everything (he called it punishment for being self taught). Sucked at first, but it has made me a better player for sure.

[Randy Bass]

I should note that my post wasn't meant as a "zing", but rather a sarcastic comment based in implausibility. Bayta said he wanted advanced lessons, so that was the first thing that I thought of.