Image Credit: Transporter4. Are you being distracted by the wrong points of focus?
READ the caption of the picture (if you can), it is the main reason for failure in prog
As I mentioned in the article “the value of a good mentor”, there are numerous benefits to having a good mentor. The keyword is “good”.
So let’s define good. I’m going to be strict about it, if the teacher does not improve your skills to a measurable degree, he or she is not good. Using this definition, many teachers are not good.
I see 3 problems with learning from a teacher.
- They sometimes lack updated knowledge
- Their methods may not appeal to you
- You have to compromise on the timing and content of the lessons
This, is in amazing conflict with these 3 principles.
- It’s YOUR money, YOUR time, and YOUR effort you are using
- It’s YOUR brain/fingers
- The resources are available on the internet
The Individual Path to Greatness
Let’s establish this one very important concept: No one can ever be responsible for your learning but yourself
There are so many factors. There’s the motivation you must possess. There’s the connections that you must make between your brain and your fingers. There’s the individual problems that you face. There’s that nagging blister on your left index finger from pressing the strings so hard because the teacher tells you so.
Unfortunately, most teachers will subscribe to a particular style of teaching. When you are being taught by a teacher, you are restricted to a certain scope of content, and subject to a certain style of conveying that message. That may or may not be suitable for you.
Furthermore, it is always a fact that for any program to be successful (for whatever it attempts to obtain), the student needs to follow through with the program entirely. This represents a significant investment of time and effort, in which other methods may not be pursued.
Because of this, your time could well have been invested elsewhere, as with your money.
Also, beginners by their very nature of not knowing much of the skill, will tend to progress very fast, regardless of the teacher being present or not. The reason they progress so fast is because of all the brand new connections that are being established within the brain. Even if they do get 50% results, its still going to be significant. All the teacher does in this period of time is to provide the resources for learning.
Why I ultimately decided to teach myself
I think it is safe to say that regardless of who you are, the internet has changed your life in a significant way. There is no exception in this field.
Just take a look at Ultimate Guitar.com, and you will find a community forum, tabs, videos, demos and all the resources you could possibly need. Hence, the teacher cannot provide anything which websites like this can. You could possibly even find informal ‘teacher’ on such forums.
Next, there’s the 100% flexible learning schedule, as opposed to the 0% flexibility of taking lessons.
For most lessons, there will be a fixed time for the lesson, and it will operate for a fixed time interval. This of course gives rise to the need to insert guitar lessons into your busy schedule. By teaching myself, I obviously did away with this. So I learned at 6am on Mondays, skipped tuesday’s lesson, practiced again at 9pm on Wednesday…..
That said, at this stage of learning, what do you think matters more, the teacher’s contribution, or your own practice?
Everything can be summarised by the fact that though your teacher teaches you for 1 hour a day, you teach yourself for the other 23 hours. Hence, I really don’t see a reason to take guitar lessons.
Lousy Teachers
We also have to contend with the fact that many teachers are hopelessly unqualified at their job.
Some teachers are simply University Students trying to make an extra buck by charging $15 a lesson. The better teachers with actual qualifications may sometimes also be incompetent or perhaps enforcing a particular (and strict) methodology to learning. The really good teachers probably cost $60 an hour.
Add that to the fact that many classes are group classes, meaning less attention for you and more money for the teacher.
So no, I don’t think that learning from such teachers is worth the time, money or effort.
One Big Assumption Here
Do note that the assumption I have been working with is that YOU ARE A BEGINNER.
This may or may not hold and is a very important condition to note.
For those who are intermediate to semi-advanced, grappling with random inputs from various people and practicing day in and day out may not be the most time-efficient or effective approach.
When it does come to getting the knack of sweep picking or other more advanced techniques, sometimes you may want to find a good teacher to actually tell you the pitfalls and mistakes in approaching the skill without actually making the mistakes for yourself.
My 3 keys to finding a Good Teacher
Make no mistakes, a good teacher is probably the single best resource in learning. It’s just that in this convoluted age, the quality of teachers is really lacking. Thus, these are my 3 keys in looking for a good guitar teacher.
- Small Group Size (Ideally 1 to 1)
- Thorough Competence in the Field
- Positive Feedback from Students
The first 2 points are pretty obvious and self-explanatory. More focus on the learner, more time dedicated to the learner, updated knowledge, friendly approach, are all characteristics of a good teacher.
However, the last point should be stressed upon. If you ever do get a teacher, ask around first. Ask friends for details about lessons. Ask about the methods the teacher uses. Don’t settle for brief remarks like, “Oh he’s really good, tells you all the details.”
Instead, I’m looking for feedback like this, “His approach to teaching is really great. He talks about the way in which you should press the strings. He even comes up to you and tells you to point your focus on your last finger to get a smooth scale. If that doesn’t work, then he tries another possibility, like relaxing the fingers and then focusing on hitting the index finger note correctly. Like one time…….”
After compiling all your detailed anecdotal evidence, you should have a picture of whether the teacher is competent, caring and ultimately, effective in his/her teaching methods.
Alright, so there’s my take on Guitar Lessons. I am still firm on the fact that as a beginner, given today’s abundance of resources, you are better off fiddling with some internet guide and trying things out for yourself. When it comes to an intermediate stage, you may or may not decide to take lessons (hey I didn’t and plan never to have any).
If you do, hopefully the points above have given you some insights.
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