Hi All.
My wife gave me guitar lessons for xmas. That is to say she promised to pay for 4 guitar lessons. Have any of you had much experience with taking lessons at a shop? I took one years ago and I recall feeling a little helpless to convey to the instructore what exaclty I was hoping to get out of the experience.

Have any of you taken lessons, particularly on a short term basis and do you have any suggestions on how to go about it? Specific questions I have are:

1-Has anyone had a good/great experience with any instructors at the Music Emporium in Lexington?

2-What information is most useful to an instructor in deciding where to go with the lesson? How much should I be prepared to articulate?

3-Is 4 lessons enough to see any improvement?

4-What is the best way to choose an instructor sight unseen?

all comments most welcome.

cheers,

Ben

jeez, sorry about all the typos

I don't have a lot of experience with lessons, but I'll add my comments.

I would try to meet the teachers and see what they like to play. If you can find a teacher that like to play what you want to learn to play I feel you'll have better luck. Most good teachers can teach you anything, but if it's their personal forte it will be better.

3 or 4 lessons might be enough to help if you know what you want to learn and work on it a lot between lessons. I find that it takes me a while to master any new bits I try, so if the lessons are weekly I would want to put in a lot of time and practice between them.

Sight unseen? Word of mouth is probably the best recommendation. Talk to other students.

Remember, the best teacher is time. Spend a lot of time with your guitar.

I took 4 lessons about a year ago and it helped me to overcome some bad habits. I was, however, dissatisfied w/ the teacher. After I hooked up with her, I realized that she was not a whole lot further along in bluegrass flatpick than I was. Her techniques were good, however, and I was able to learn from that.

I would decide exactly what you want to learn then find a teacher who can teach you that. Also, the word of mouth thing is so true. If you don't know, ask to talk to some of the teacher's students to get their perspective.

Thank you all for the help. I have spoken with one person who took lessons from Eric Shoenberg at TME and recommended him, although I do not know whether he is still there. I'll gather as much from the instructors as possible before jumping in.

cheers,

B

One more thing.....

What is the etiquette about tipping a guitar instructor? Same as a hair stylist? Waitperson? Included in the price?

Just clueless, that's all.

B

eric schoenberg, i believe is actually one of the owners of TME. he has unfortunately relocated to California and opened his own store.

try john mcgann. he is out near chestnut hill. i believe he is a winfield champ. he has a website. www.johnmcgann.com