What to expect on your first guitar lesson

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Spkey

I had my first guitar lesson and I feel like I walked away learning nothing. He seemed awkward and acted as if it was his first day on the job. He came highly recommended by two guys who can play the guitar fairly well. During my lesson he showed off his guitar skills for 10+ minutes, asked what songs I wanted to learn, handed me a printed form of chords and wrote out a few strumming patterns.

After about 25 minutes he asked if I had any questions. Mind you, when I booked the lesson I told him I know absolutely nothing about guitars but I always wanted to learn. So I said, ‘Since I don’t even know guitars I don’t even know how to strum or if I’m even holding the pick correctly.’ He was embarrassed and said, ‘Oh yeah, let’s see.’ A few minutes later my lesson was up.

My gut tells me he teaches students who have some background in guitars and not newbies like myself. Thoughts?

"Crap teacher" is my thought.

The first thing any half-way good teacher does is assess where the student is at. I would never give a total beginner all that stuff, and I certainly wouldn't spend any time at all showing off my skills (not unless the student asked me to). I don't even start with chords, let alone strumming patterns - strumming patterns even confuse students who are already familiar with a few chords.

For absolute beginners - and it's clear who they are even without asking, it's obvious from how they hold the guitar - I start with absolute basics. How to hold the guitar, how to tune it, how to fret a string (one at a time). I might give them a chord or two if I think their fingers can manage it (the simplest ones, like Em, Am or E). Otherwise I give them simple melodies, partly as a way of beginning to learn scales, partly to get their fingers working, partly to give them a piece of recognisable music to work on at home.
Chords (and how to hold a pick) come in the second lesson, usually. (You don't need a pick to play a simple tune. Easier with fingers.)

For students who are not beginners, I get them to show me what they know already. Then I can assess where to start - not just level of knowledge (chords, scales, songs), but addressing any technical bad habits.

Of course, I also ask what their aims are, what styles, players or bands they like, which would also include any songs they might want to learn first. But naturally that depends on their skill level - the song may be well beyond their current skills, or it may be within reach and they just need a few tips.

[Guitars+gems]

I'm in the camp of give it one more chance. I say that because he was recommended to you by 2 friends who you consider to play "fairly well."

Regarding the fact that the teacher "showed off his guitar skills for 10 minutes;" I've heard other people complain about this from teachers and it makes me wonder if guitar teachers are sort of auditioning when they play during that first lesson. I asked my teacher to play for me because I wanted to know how well and what type of music he played. If he hadn't been very skilled or played only country music, I wouldn't have been interested in learning from him.

However, after he gave me a pretty quick sampling of his abilities he had me play for him in the first lesson so that he could assess what I needed to learn.

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by Spkey

My gut tells me he teaches students who have some background in guitars and not newbies like myself. Thoughts?

This is probably true. Not all teachers are equally good at all levels of instruction. That doesn't automatically make them bad teachers.

You might be better served by seeking out a teacher who specifically focuses on beginning students.

[RockyRacc00n]

What can you expect on the first lesson?

Probably not much. If you don’t mind spending another lesson fee, give the guy another chance, but I probably wouldn’t.

I took few lessons myself but that was after I had learned some stuff on my own. I think for most basic stuff, internet is the best way to go. And then seek out a teacher if you need help with technique. But as far as knowledge goes, it’s all out there now.