starting lessons Thurs, wish me luck

[CarolM]

I really hate the weekly grind of lessons, and since I don't sleep well anymore I am afraid of being really slow and stupid. Above all I don't want to get cranky talk back...I know a lot more theory than I can play, and I hate being told really obvious things like "the key of G has an F#" because my fumbling fingers goofed up. I really wanted to take a class instead but didn't get signed up in time.

At least I worked hard on my reading since last spring. Though I still get A and C mixed up, D and B...and skip open strings for some reason...

So here goes..anyone else doing lessons, and how's it going?

[brwnhornet59]

Good luck. Relax, remember you are paying for it. Make sure you instructor knows that you have some basic knowledge but your skills are not caught up with it yet. From there, it is what it is. We pay teachers to do just that. If that means pointing out the obvious then there it is. If this helps you become aware and not make those mistakes then the job is begun.

You will be fine. We are all students. I don't care how good anyone is. When we stop learning we either stagnate or die.

[PirateNigel]

Good luck. I hope you found a good teacher.

And remember to put in the time with whatever they give you.

[TruthHertz]

There're are teachers out there who can make you feel at ease with the person you are, what you can do and what you want to do. Find the teacher that makes you feel stoked at the end of each lesson, gives you a really good idea of what you can do and where it goes, and makes you look forward to the next lesson.
They're out there. Find them and don't take any abuse on yourself 'til you can find someone you can work with. You ever think about finding a study buddy? Another student you can work things out with? Work on similar things with? Play tunes with? Make great sounds with?
Working with others should be fun, and it'll put things into your ear where they should start anyway. Ear first. Questions next. Lessons follow.
David

[CarolM]

I do the work so teachers tend to like me as a student. When I'm practicing it feels like there is already a teacher present, looking over my shoulder and asking, why did you do that? etc. Drives me nuts. Don't know if this will hurt or help that.

This guy seems to be more of a teaching specialist, as opposed to a hot player who gives lessons on the side. We'll see. It's a small town, and though I know other teachers, they're either too close to me or they don't believe in using books or reading or other formalities. I can see that for master classes but not an advanced beginner like me.

[coolvinny]

Lessons are all to the good, but sometimes 'good teachers' try to cover too many bases in a lesson and don't achieve enough depth in any one area. If you find after a few lessons that you haven't had any breakthrough 'Ah ha!' moments, consider scaling back the breadth and going for more depth.

This may be why you got frustrated in the past with lessons from certain instructors. I know it was in my case.

[fep]

Do you want your teacher to take you where he wants to?

Or, do you want to define the direction?

If you want to define the direction, be prepared to let him know at your first lesson...

For Example: "I want to improve my comping in a guitar duo setting."
or, "I want to work on my single line soloing over jazz standards."
etc.

Just examples, you need your own goals/aspirations.

[CarolM]

Originally Posted by fep

Do you want your teacher to take you where he wants to?

Or, do you want to define the direction?

If you want to define the direction, be prepared to let him know at your first lesson...

For Example: "I want to improve my comping in a guitar duo setting."
or, "I want to work on my single line soloing over jazz standards."
etc.

Just examples, you need your own goals/aspirations.

Basically right now I want someone to watch me and help me fix my technique. But I feel like I already know what's coming...the dreaded metronome...which I do use but only in measured doses.