I will have my first in person guitar lesson after starting 4 and 1/2 years ago.
When I work on the market on saturdays, there are often buskers, and this one is amazing. He’s only playing his own songs and I like his playing a lot.
The thing is, he also got a band, but I mostly see him alone and he’s just complete, only him singing and the guitar! Nothing more needed!
I had the intention to see a teacher for a long time, but well, lessons are quite expensive, and somehow, I never made the step to reach out. The music school from our city is much cheaper, but there are no local slots for adults, only children.
My main intention is to have someone correct my mistakes, watch my posture and hands and fingers and tells me what I could do better. But also, of course, I’d like to learn a few things that sound great in his own songs.
I’ve only found very few entries on guitar lessons here, but a few entries were interesting.
Do you feel you don’t need a teacher apart from video lessons?
Or - do you have one? Are you happy with your local teacher?
I was very relaxed and I’m generally confident the first lesson will just be fine, but now, as it gets nearer, I become quite a bit nervous! Strange!
What are your experiences?
All the best,
Dominique
Hi Dominique, how exciting to have your first lesson! With the usual caveat of “we’re all different”, I’ll share some of my experiences.
First: not everyone does well with directed instruction, but I do! I want an experienced guide to help me get to a goal, and I want them to apply their expertise to help me get there. Justin’s lessons are fantastic, he can’t correct my posture. I do like learning some things on my own - cooking for example - but not others. (I also go to a gym that has trainers as I’ve hurt myself doing things the way I thought I understood as correct.) Anyway, you might think about your own personality through this lens.
Next: finding the right teacher. So yes, I benefit from personal instruction. I looked for a local teacher, and took lessons from a couple people. Nice, talented people, but I didn’t “gel” with them. There needs to be connection between the student and the teacher. (I expect that goes for the teacher as well - they probably have students they enjoy working with more than others.) The best teacher in the world might not work for you. I’m now taking individual lessons over Zoom. I like, respect, and understand this wonderful teacher and have improved more than I’d expected, even given the obvious imperfections of any on-line experience!
One more thought: during your first lesson, do be sure to have a conversation about your goals, to make sure he can help you meet them. As you progress, if you don’t understand why he’s having you work on a specific thing, ask.
Finally - nerves are normal. Let us know how your lesson goes!
Dominique,
First of all, I think Judi really “nails” most of what I think as well…
Definitely define your goals, both with where you want to go with guitar and what you want from your instructor!
I’ve had two attempts at in-person instruction & just didn’t get a good vibe from them… so I just went back to books & cd learning. That’s probably why after all these years of having guitars, I’m still a beginner! Justin’s method has kept me into learning guitar for longer than anything else I’ve tried. Go for it with your new instructor but keep Justin Guitar in your learning path as well!
Good luck & don’t worry about starting… it’ll “happen” or maybe it won’t but either way, you still have your guitar & the will to learn & make music!!!
I have started taking one on one lessons in addition to JG in August - and for me, it’s a combination that works well.
It does not mean that I would learn any faster or get better any faster. But, it’s nice to have someone, who can confirm that certain things I feel I’m doing well, are good or okay indeed. It’s even better to have someone, who will actually see mistakes I’m making and who gives advice what to work on and how to fight bad habits - based on what I have presented in a lesson.
I have been very nervous before my first in person lessons, but there was no need for that really.
I started lessons in September after a year of learning online. He has helped a lot with my technique and posture. He also tries to change things that I learned a different way (like a G chord with fingers 2,3 & 4). I’ve been trying to be open minded and try his techniques, some are a definite improvement others the jury is still out.
One of the things I like about him is that he is never negative and always encouraging. Even when I’m obviously struggling with something he will point out what I’m doing right. That takes away any nerves I might have.
I’m still undecided about whether I will stay with long-term. Will probably be based on if I’m still learning good stuff as I progress.
I’ll post more tomorrow, I’ll quickly have to go to bed now, but before wanted to thank you a lot to all of you!
Your replies definitely helped me to feel better, and to think once more about the upcoming lesson while I made helpful notes I’ll have with me at my lesson.
I really love quite a few of his songs, but in live, just him and his classical guitar, it sounds better than most of what people captured. This one’s good:
I am also doing JG lessions, still slowly finishing grade 3, and I wanted to get some feedback about where-I’m-at, about my gear, to get some answers questioned… and glips on the future.
That’s why I recently reached out to Richard @Richard_close2u from JG team for an online 1:1 session and it was everything I expected and more. Everything done professional in a positive spirit. I got a lot of feedback and better insights on what I should be focusing more in the following months.
It was an online event in English through Zoom platform, no special HW really needed and it worked perfectly.
So yeah, I recommend. I will certainly do it again when the time is right.
Hi Dominique, Judi makes some good points. I have had a few in person lessons with various teachers but they lasted one or two lessons each. The problem I found was that they could all play well enough but had no idea how to teach so it was not a good experience. They key is finding the right teacher for you.
Having said that I now get lessons with one of Justin’s approved teachers (Lee Mead-Batten). He can teach and I have made some good progress. I have had both video and in person lessons and in person is the way to go, at least for me.
Write your goals down and discuss them with your teacher. After assessing your abilities , which they should do, they should be able to tell you how they will get you to where you want to be.
Thanks again for all your answers!
It made things about taking lessons clearer to me!
I also thought about the approved teachers in here, but because I learned everything yet on screen, I definitely wanted to have a person be there with me. Online and video can be so great and even have advantages over meeting in person, but a balance, or a contrast in the things I do is helpful I think! And lately I am seeing not so many people in person anyway. But I thought about it and will possibly try a lesson with the mentioned teachers, too!
So, how did it go?
I forgot to take my notes with me - haha!
But like a grocery list, it already helps to have done it, so you normallly remember most of what you put on there.
The lesson didn’t go exactly like I thought. He asked me what I wanted to learn and expected I would come up with more precise things.
It’s maybe different than with many other teachers, but he’s mainly a musician and songwriter.
I’ll know to better prepare next time.
But I worked through his songs before and could ask him how he did this or that sound in some song. He showed me and let me film his hand, so I could patiently work at it at home!
And that’s also part of where I want to go - play more captivating stuff, adding more rhythm, dynamics, shape the sound that comes out of the guitar. And he offered to help me with songwriting which is great!
Meanwhile - learning a piece, I can do it more or less alone.
And - I was not so nervous, but my hands were really weak when I wanted to play something to show him what I usually play and can do. That was weird and I hope this won’t happen when I’ll play live for other persons the first time!
Oh goodness, I should have stated in my post above that I also take lessons from Richard. He is as thoughtful in 1:1 lessons as he is in his club sessions.
Richard would come to my mind also! I’ve met him on the forum, the clubs and theory class!
I wish I had lots of money so I would try lessons with all the teachers, and have lessons often!
Probably the teachers that are here are all great!
But that brings me the idea to join more clubs and see more of the teachers!
Well, he’s leaving to Taiwan for 7 weeks. He offered me to have online lessons, but I was reluctant. I think I’ll simply prepare better for when he’ll be back and make the most of those lessons. And for the challenge I think I would prefer to work together with someone in the thread.
@judi started her 1st response with “we’re all different”. I think that’s a good intro to a comment on music lessons, and for that matter learning in general.
I get on really well with curated content that uses short videos. I.e. the way Justin’s content is provided. I use a similar web site for bass.
I’ve had a couple of goes at 1 to 1 piano lessons each lasting about 3 to 6 years. I learned lots, I needed it (1st to start, then to move my classical playing on) but I don’t find it a stimulating way to learn.
I now prefer to use one to one teaching for interventions. Last year I was struggling with vibrato on fretless bass, so I paid the online bass providers I use to give me a 1h lessson. My vibrato is now much better. The problem is teachers don’t really like the one off nature (understandably so, and I’m sure it won’t apply to all teachers).
Happy to read you enjoyed your first 1:1 lesson and got something out of it!
I understand you were somewhat nervous in advance, I would have been too.
I never had any personal lessons, I made a very concious decision three years ago to learn online. So far, it worked well, but I wouldn’t hesitate too reach out to someone like e.g. our Approved Teachers here when needed, I guess, it would be a great addition and enrichment.
There are not many guitar teachers in my hometown, most of them have waiting lists.
Interesting thread.
When I first started to learn guitar (18 years ago) there were only a handful of videos out there to learn from and youtube was in its infancy. There were a couple of tutorial DVDs and books around - a friend gave me “Guitar for dummys”, which is fun and contains some good advice, but I quickly realised that that wouldn’t get me anywhere. So I looked for 1-2-1 lessons. I don’t regret a minute or a penny spent. It helped me to get the techniques right from the go and also to get perspective: e.g. when to move on (a frequent question on the forum - when to move to the next grade). Some things take time to develop and you keep working on them even after years of playing. I still work on my strumming now, but that doesn’t stop me to work on other things as well.
Let us know how your lesson goes!
