Guitar Lessons / Exams.
Discussion
Right, I've decided to learn electric guitar and have also found a tutor down the road from me 
it says he does exams up to level / grade 8 which sounds good to me. I reckon going for exams would be good, it would give me targets to aim for and spur me on a bit - I also know a couple of players at work so we can have some competition to push each other some more.
Question is, I am planning on 1 x 1hr lesson per week + plenty of time at home to practice, would 1 lesson a week be enough to progress at a steady rate through the exam levels? I am not expecting to be level 8 in a fortnight but then again I don't want to be crap in 5 yrs time.
Cheers again.
it says he does exams up to level / grade 8 which sounds good to me. I reckon going for exams would be good, it would give me targets to aim for and spur me on a bit - I also know a couple of players at work so we can have some competition to push each other some more. Question is, I am planning on 1 x 1hr lesson per week + plenty of time at home to practice, would 1 lesson a week be enough to progress at a steady rate through the exam levels? I am not expecting to be level 8 in a fortnight but then again I don't want to be crap in 5 yrs time.
Cheers again.
Edited by r5gttgaz on Thursday 8th November 20:52
1 hour lesson a week is what most people have for progressing through grades. Can't say i'm a huge fan of grade exams, so my advice owuld be to not get too hung up on the numbers. I've played with plenty of so called grade 8 players of various instruments who are lost the moment they play something different to what they've been parroting for their exams.
1Hr Per week sounds like a good routine for tutoring, But if I am correct i think you have to pay for the exam...My friends piano exam cost him £50 for grade 3! 
Try to find a copy of Power Tab Editor on the internet. Its just a program that plays tablature that you can follow and slow down to your desired tempo and stuff... I feel that it taught me more than I learned from the tutor I had...
Try to find a copy of Power Tab Editor on the internet. Its just a program that plays tablature that you can follow and slow down to your desired tempo and stuff... I feel that it taught me more than I learned from the tutor I had...
This may or may not be much help, but unless the tutor is top quality and understands exactly what you want to achieve in terms of skill and playing style, then I'd give it a miss but check him out first to see if his (or, indeed, her) teaching level and style matches your aspirations.
Ask yourself what you want from the guitar. What style of music do you want to play? Do you want to get all technical with scales and modes, or do you just want to chug out some riffs or churn out some nice chords to sing along to? I've had one proper guitar lesson and it was worthless; the bloke was obsessed with fingerpicking and pedal notes. I started off by playing classical (so I knew fingerpicking), and wasn't interested in pedal notes (too C & W
).
So I decided to teach myself through guitar mags! Learning the stuff I wanted to learn. Playing the stuff I wanted to play.
OK. I'm no Satriani, and have lapsed a bit in the last couple of years, but the horde of mags that fills one wardrobe (!!) upstairs represent my guitar tutor. They taught me two handed tapping, aeolian modes, altered tunings, classic blues turnarounds and all sorts of shit.
So one-to-one with a tutor wasn't for me, but that's just me.
It may be right for you, it may not. Just make sure that if you're going to spend your hard earned on lessons, the lessons are providing something worthwhile and make it enjoyable.
Ask yourself what you want from the guitar. What style of music do you want to play? Do you want to get all technical with scales and modes, or do you just want to chug out some riffs or churn out some nice chords to sing along to? I've had one proper guitar lesson and it was worthless; the bloke was obsessed with fingerpicking and pedal notes. I started off by playing classical (so I knew fingerpicking), and wasn't interested in pedal notes (too C & W
).So I decided to teach myself through guitar mags! Learning the stuff I wanted to learn. Playing the stuff I wanted to play.
OK. I'm no Satriani, and have lapsed a bit in the last couple of years, but the horde of mags that fills one wardrobe (!!) upstairs represent my guitar tutor. They taught me two handed tapping, aeolian modes, altered tunings, classic blues turnarounds and all sorts of shit.
So one-to-one with a tutor wasn't for me, but that's just me.
It may be right for you, it may not. Just make sure that if you're going to spend your hard earned on lessons, the lessons are providing something worthwhile and make it enjoyable.
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