The sound of the Spanish acoustic guitar is beginning to haunt your dreams. When on the computer, your fingers seem to type online acoustic guitar lessons on the keyboard on their own.
You want to find out how to play and you are not satisfied with just getting disorganized tips and random videos you can find online. You want real instruction to help you play quickly. So the melody of the guitar that you hear not coming from your dreams but flows from your fingers.
Where do you begin?
From the heart, of course, and some tips for the mind.
If you’re a beginner guitar player, your guitar teacher could help you explore your feelings and expressed in an organized way.
For those of you who have been playing for a while, an experienced teacher can polish your style with more technical advice.
Guitar lessons are supposed to be fun, but that does not mean without structure. An effective guitar instructor can help you reach a balance between structure and expression of that structure which means fun.
Here are a few steps to help you find the right guitar teacher for you.
Your Guitar Style
You may be haunted by the melody of classical guitar, or your feet may dance with the rhythm of bass guitar. You may want to express classics or rock melodies.
Music flows within your heart. You are the one who could be completely aware of it. If you are not completely aware, don’worry about it. Awareness is a journey. In the beginning, most of the guitar techniques are the same, and you could easily transition from one style to the next.
Find an instructor that can help you explore what you feel and help you find your niche.
Set Your Goal
Goals serve you in specific ways. One of the characteristics of effective goal setting is the time. In other words a deadline. Notice how in life we have a tendency to procrastinate to the last minute before the deadline. I sometimes wonder how much more we could accomplish if we put the same effort we exert an hour before the deadline, a day, a week or a month before it. I’m sure our stress level is going to be much less when we spread out our efforts over a long period.
But we are humans, so we put things off and then stress over how little time you have.
Set a goal you can achieve in regards to both practice time in the time that that it would take you to play one song from beginning to end. The song doesn’t have to be a complicated song. You are practicing to set goals and develop the habit of regularly practicing that is essential to your progress. A clear goal could help you get started.
Right Musical Setting
A musical setting could be your bedroom, and your stage could be your bed. Musical settings could include you and your dog. Or it could be you and your instructor in a private studio. A musical environment could include like-hearted individuals in a small guitar class at a community center. Or it could be an expensive private studio serves a different purpose than the community center.
Each serves a purpose, not is better or worse. They are just different.
For beginners, it may have to be around those who are having the same struggles and have the same questions. The community center guitar class would serve them well.
If you’re serious beginner, you may not want the distraction that others may cause. In that case the private guitar lesson is in order.
Either way, your musical environment should help you learn more effectively and express what you learn the ease.
Financial Considerations
A guitar class at a community center is very inexpensive. Private instructions could run several times more.
Your objective is not to pay a lot, but learn a lot. Find out the cost of the instruction not per hours but to actually reach a milestone. For example, until you learn a song that you love to play..
This ties into goal setting. An experienced instructor can tell you how long it would take for you to play basic songs that you like means that the better understanding how much you have to spend to reach that point.
Who is a teacher?
A teacher is much more than a resume. There are specific characteristics the a teacher must possess to be effective. Many of these qualities could not be written up in a resume. Caring, the ability to motivate you without stressing you, organizational skills and adaptability are a few of these skills.
If you’re planning to take guitar lessons online, you can just watch sample videos and see if that works for you. But if you’re planning to take the lessons in person you need to meet the instructor and see how it feels.
Visit Your Guitar Studio
In a private setting, meeting the instructor may be enough. An experienced instructor could teach anywhere. But in a group setting there is a dynamic that you could only feel by attending a class or a complimentary session.
Follow your heart
Ultimately playing any musical instrument is a matter of the heart being expressed through techniques.
Human beings carry a lot of wisdom within their hearts which may be hidden from their minds. With a little bit of attention and practice you can unlock the wisdom that is within your heart. This steps is perhaps the most significant step in learning to express yourself through music.
