Should I Take Guitar Lessons?
Posted in guitar lessons on 05. May, 2010
Keep the guitar lessons questions coming! I liked this one:
Question: I’m 12 years old and been playing guitar for about 2 years. i’m self taught and never taken a lesson before and i learn by reading tabs and playing along with songs. i’m doing pretty good and learning different skills throughout songs. so far I think I am a beginner in intermediate or maybe in the middle. lately my family told me i should take guitar lessons and i don’t if i should go or continue what i’m doing.
Answer: Hi! I think I am the perfect person to answer your question because I started playing the guitar when I was 7 and I started taking formal lessons when I was 12! I always played everything by ear. My advice would be this: if you have the gift of being able to play the guitar by ear, I wouldn’t settle for just any guitar teacher. You don’t want a guitar teacher who is just going to teach you tabs and spoon feed you how to play songs. I’ve seen so many people waste money that way. You want a guitar teacher who is going to cultivate your ‘ear’. Someone who is going to respect the fact that you have natural ability. You want to find a teacher who will teach you theory. Playing tabs is fine and all, but by taking lessons–even beginner theory (like I learned at 12), this will make playing by ear even easier! I never bothered to learn to read music because I could play everything I wanted to by ear, and it was easy for me to write songs from the heart. That was until about 5 years ago when I realized that I couldn’t play any of my favorite jazz or classical music by ear (your tastes in music mature as you get older! I still love Steve Vai and Zappa!). Basically, I would say this: there are many great guitarists who didn’t know anything about theory and never learned to read music. Personally, I believe a whole new world opens up at your fingertips once you start learning music theory. The possibilities are endless, and I can guarantee, if you start learning theory at your age, you will never grow tired of your instrument. Just do a little shopping around, and don’t settle for a teacher until you find one who knocks your socks off with his or her playing. You want your teacher to inspire you! I hope you get a lifetime of enjoyment out of playing the guitar!
