History
Guitar lessons have become quite the phenomenon in the last 60 years. Every budding guitarist longs to get on stage in front of thousands of fans. This craze started back in the 50’s when Rock & Roll came on the scene with Elvis, Ritchie Valens, Chubby Checker, and so on. After that, the guitar went on to become a symbol of rock, country, blues, and jazz too.
Guitar lessons
But, while picking up a guitar and learning a few chords is something that anyone can do, in order to become proficient, tuitions will certainly be required. Having a teacher with a professional background can go a long way here. Without a good teacher, you are going to struggle and find it a lot harder to produce good music.
Importance
Regardless of whatever musical instrument you want to play, you will have to practice hard no matter what. Continuous learning is very important if you want to develop the proper skills to play the guitar.
A learner will need to develop his motor skills which involves the dexterity of his finger and hand movements. In order to develop such skills, students will have to set aside time for practice. This will not only be necessary for them to learn the chords but also so that they learn where the notes should be positioned on a fretboard. They will have to learn how to go from flat notes to sharp notes. They will have to learn timing too. Without proper timing, music is not going to make sense. What’s worse, it will also throw fellow musicians off beat.
Options
There are quite a few options available for anyone who wants to learn how to play the guitar. The first thing which you will need to consider is how much time and money you are willing to spend on learning to how to play the guitar. You will also have to determine the type of lessons you want to take. There are various different types of learning. What genre and style of music are you most interested in?
Goals
There are two types of lessons you could go for as a beginner. You could choose to learn some specific songs or you could choose to simply become proficient in playing a guitar. Whatever your goals are, you should express them clearly from the start. This is the only way to guarantee you will get what you want from the lessons. If you’re a beginner though, you will most probably be starting off with the simple stuff.
Time
This is a major factor when you are learning a new instrument. Instructors expect students to spend a lot of time practicing and working on their technique. Unfortunately, the time we have is very limited. So remember to account for this before committing to guitar lessons.
Costs
Not all instructors are going to cost the same. Some will be more expensive. The cost will also depend on the duration of the instructions. You could choose to be instructed on one day every week or on several days of the week or maybe just the weekends. How much are you willing to spend on these lessons? A beginner will need more time while students who are proficient will do just fine with only one session every week. The rates are also going to vary based on whether you are going to a private school or a music store.
Online lessons
If you can’t afford private instructors, you could always consider online instructors instead. The internet is full of instructional videos and books to help you master the guitar. These methods aren’t as effective though and you will not get a teacher’s personal attention. However, they are a fantastic way for you to get started.
Music tastes
This is something which most people tend to overlook. Even though rhythm patterns and scales are all the same, different music styles use these rhythms and notes in different ways. For example, hard rock and symphonic music share a lot of qualities in notation and arrangement but have very different approaches as far as instrumentation and interpretation are concerned. So make sure your instructor is a good match for your tastes.
Learning a guitar is quite exciting but it is not going to be a walk in the park. Developing this skill will take hard work and dedication. Don’t think it’s going to be a walk in the park.
Featured Image: Image Credit
At 15 I sold flowers to raise money to buy a guitar , I’m gonna learn if it’s the last thing I do #NeverDoNothing pic.twitter.com/DHM5tGoSeZ
— George Lopez (@georgelopez) January 30, 2016
Chinese musician plays the guitar while undergoing brain surgery https://t.co/dz5NAcZDyQ pic.twitter.com/vKVV5XRDXL
— Mashable (@mashable) January 27, 2016
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