Finding the Right Guitar Teacher
To sum up this topic in a word it would be – chemistry. You must find a teacher that communicates well with you and must like the teacher. If not, look for someone else. It really doesn’t matter how qualified they are or how much your friends like the teacher, if that teacher can’t sit with you for 30 – 60 minutes, hold your attention, get you excited about playing and provide inspiration, the rest in my opinion really doesn’t matter.
As far as curriculum goes, your teacher should be essentially teaching you what you want to learn. Keep in mind that you will have to learn some new chords, scales and hopefully some theory concepts. Once these are learned, you should be allowed to play songs that you want to learn, as long as your skill level is at least close to where you need it to be, A teacher shouldn’t discourage a student from playing a challenging song. They may give a little “heads up” to let you know that you have a good deal of practicing to do in order to play that particular piece, but the teacher should give you all the chords, scales and anything else needed and let you give it your best. That’s the only way you’re going to improve and accomplish great musical goals.
A great teacher should also encourage you to explore new directions as well as teaching you your favorite things. I would like to see more teachers suggesting different styles like country, jazz, blues, funk, even heavy metal, punk and yes – disco! Hey, it’s all fun stuff! Also recommending things like sight-reading, theory, improvisation and soloing, ear training and how to figure out songs on your own, soloing and the list goes on.
Another thing to remember is to keep focused on your goals. Tell your teacher what you want to accomplish. Let your teacher be a navigator, if you will, a guide to help you chart your course. If you really have no specific goals, ask for some suggestions.
Pricing may be a concern but consider this. Let’s say one teacher charges $60 per hour and another charges $30 or $40, you may want to ask the $60 teacher if they offer 1/2-hour lessons. Then try a lesson with each teacher and see whom you connect with the best. I would say that a great instructor that is higher on the pricing scale but has outstanding teaching skills should without a doubt give you a 1/2-hour lesson that would easily stand up to a full hour lesson from a less experienced instructor. So be mindful of your precious investment. Don’t just think about getting the cheapest available, you may be worse off. You are essentially paying for an education! Spend wisely.
Good luck and Play Like a Monster!