My 1st lesson... what to expect

[TequilaKing]

Well at the ripe old age of 36 I'm having my 1st guitar lesson this coming Friday... been playing for years, am pretty much crap but i love playing so hopefully my love of playing will out weigh my lack of ability

What should I expect on my 1st session with my tutor?

I'm guessing he's just gona see me play a little and gauge my level etc and then start creating a bit of a learning path for me.

Anyone else's experiences etc would be welcomed!

Cheers
Karl

[screamndemon69]

He'll probably tell you to take up the ukelele


Seriously, he should evaluate what you know about technique and where you are with theory and then tailor the lessons for you in those regards. Have patience and PRACTICE what he gives you. I get very frustrated with my students that only want to learn songs and not work on the finger excercises, scales and other things I give them and then they wonder why they aren't improving. Grrrr...

Good luck and rock on bro! Let us know how it goes.

[waylay00]

Well, you might not even need to play the guitar the first lesson. My teacher spent the first lesson talking about the mental aspect of playing, etc..

He will probably critique your technique to some degree too. Then we moved on to basic scales (pentatonic scale and modes, the major scale and modes), chords (open chords, bar chords, etc) and some technique exercises (some Petrucci warm ups, for example, to build dexterity). My teacher doesn't believe in teaching songs. Rather, he believes in giving the toolset to learn songs on your own and be able to execute them efficiently, rather than laying it out on the table for you.

However, my teacher seems to be different from most. A lot teachers usually start you off with learning to sight read basic songs (a great skill, but not something I would enjoy learning the first lesson) or they teach a very simple chord strumming song.

It really all varies.

[screamndemon69]

Originally Posted by waylay00

Well, you might not even need to play the guitar the first lesson. My teacher spent the first lesson talking about the mental aspect of playing, etc..

Then we moved on to basic scales (pentatonic scale and modes, the major scale and modes), chords (open chords, bar chords, etc) and some technique exercises (some Petrucci warm ups, for example, to build dexterity). My teacher doesn't believe in teaching songs. Rather, he believes in giving the toolset to learn songs on your own and be able to execute them efficiently, rather than laying it out on the table for you.

However, my teacher seems to be different from most. A lot teachers usually start you off with learning to sight read basic songs (a great skill, but not something I would enjoy learning the first lesson) or they teach a very simple chord strumming song.

It really all varies.

It sounds like your teacher and I have the same idea and approach to teaching.

I don't goto reading with 90% of my students until they start getting a little more control of their hands and have some of the other basics down so they aren't "overwhelmed" with learning to sight read AND all the other basics of learning at once. It is usually somewhere in the 3-6 month range before I push sight reading more.

Obviously, a student needs to understand some of the basic rhythm measurments of reading and song structure (ie: measures, time sigs, note values, ect) but not reading notes, at least at first.

[rob777vdy]

my first lesson was the opening riff of crazy train,and the chorus and verse.i avoided scales and improvising at all cost,BIG MISTAKE eat your greens.but learn some songs you like (good for confidence) but learn theory aswell,looking back i wished i had.