Private Lesson Success
Private lesson success
If you want your guitar lessons to go well, your teacher will need a few things from you. Without good students, there are no good teachers. Teachers can only succeed if you do and the only way you can succeed is to do your very best. Here are a few things that guitar teachers expect from their students.
Attendance
Come to your lesson on time, and don’t miss lessons. It sets a bad precedent between both of you. If you miss lessons or show up late, you are basically saying that learning guitar is a low priority and that you can’t honor your commitments.
Practice daily
Make a goal and stick to it. There is no such thing as a person who does not have time to learn the guitar. There are only people who are too preoccupied with other activities and life events to make that time. If you are taking lessons, you are already showing a commitment to learn so practice to keep that momentum going.
Take notes
The fastest way to learn is to organize your practice by setting goals, taking notes, and keeping a record of your practice. It’s a good way to go back and see what you have accomplished, what you’ve learned, and what you need to focus on.
Get into the rhythm
If your teacher assigns you an exercise, make sure that you spend some time on it during the week. You can’t make progress with your teacher if both you and your teacher are trying to move in different directions. Sometimes that may mean you need to make a compromise. Any progress is better than no progress at all so do you and your teacher a favor and spend time on the lesson materials. You will be a better guitar player for it.
Give feedback
Your teacher is there to help you. Even if they are the best guitarist in the world, sometimes their teaching may fall flat. But their job is to help you learn and you can only help your teacher do their job by giving feedback. Your teacher needs to hear it, so don’t hold back.
Watch the clock
If you see your teacher looking at the clock it isn’t because they are thinking about something else. It’s because teachers only have a few minutes with you each week and want to spend the time wisely. You can help by trying to stay focused on guitar during the lessons.
Good teachers are created by good students. The more committed you are to your learning the more you will get out of your teacher. You are the one learning to play the guitar. Your teacher is just a helper on your way to getting there. A great learner can do wonderfully with an average teacher, but the world’s best teacher cannot make a guitar player out of a student who doesn’t practice.