[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by jschmitz54

I stopped taking lessons a while back because of some dissatisfaction with the instructor.
I’m interviewing a potential instructor and am wondering if there are any questions you would suggest I ask?

Hi jschmitz…

For sure I'd be thinking about asking (myself and the potential teacher) about the points over which you stopped taking lessons.

If you are just going to say to an instructor "Teach me things…" you cannot assume they have a game-plan in place to guide you somewhere rather than just teaching you 'mad skills' about music. This is why the older I get the more inclined I am to see something I want to learn and seek out a video (instructional or not) to learn what I'm interested in.

I've invited guys who do cannot teach over to our house for coffee and jammed with them to see the things they play that I'd like to learn up close. Sometimes they have never analyzed what they are doing, but it's still cool, and I want to learn it.

So you need to think about the long-range and short-range outcomes. Do you need long-term lessons, or can you learn from a number of people (variety of people) in short sessions?

As a teacher (for 40 years) I specialized in teaching/playing fingerstyle, and had a 2-3 year game plan for serious players, and a 6 months to a year for the rest. I find I was unusual. Most teachers either just teach from a book, or they seldom have a game plan which serves students well (which they can explain up front).

If I'm the one taking lessons, or going to workshops (spending money to learn things) the 'instructor' has to be a proficient player. I'm not interested in someone handing me charts or pointing me to examples. I want to learn from people who play what I was attracted to when I saw/heard them play.

I'll suggest free lessons while I'm at it. If I'm at a concert, open mic, gig etc…afterwards I'll go to the person who played something I'm interested in, and tell them I was impressed by a lick they played, and ask if they will play it for me again. I've never been turned down in 30 years. Now days I ask while they are getting the guitar if I can video it. Never been turned down on that either. FREE lessons. Some of these folks charge $100 for a lesson (online), so a free lesson is worth something to me. And it allows me to see up close and ask a question or two.