You didn't provide a great deal of information on yourself, but at the top of my list would be determining just what you want to learn and then asking the instructor if he or she is willing to agree to teach you that.
I have had instructors who wanted to teach me what they thought I should know, including theory, music style, playing style, etc, which may have been fine if I was 25 and just starting out, but at 67 time is of the essence for me and I want to tailor my lessons more to actual playing and learning songs than knowing every scale in the musical universe.
So, if you have a specific thing you want to learn, such as, blues fingerpicking without fingerpicks, no theory, and concentrated on learning specific tunes, and they are not willing to give you what you're paying for, I would look elsewhere. You can always add things in as you go, but if you are being forced to go down a road you don't want to go, you most likely will not find the experience enjoyable, and while practice can certainly be tedious, the gains resulting from it are supposed to be fun.
Now if it's just a matter of finding a personality you geehaw with and you're willing to accept whatever direction they want to go, then you may have to interview a few before you find the one that clicks with your personality.
|