Q: What will my first five lessons look like?

A: Generally, we believe group guitar lessons are superior to one-on-one: statistically you are more likely to stick to guitar if you're learning with a friend or group, you get insights from your peers you might not have from just a single teacher and, frankly, it's just more fun!

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However, it is important to orientate yourself to the basic mechanics of the guitar so the first five lessons will be just you and a teacher to allow you to get your grounding. Your teacher will take you through the core competencies of guitar: picking, strumming chords, learning basic scales, learning to read music and more. By the end of this initial phase you will have a knowledge of the rudiments of guitar. 

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The more time and effort you put into these initial lessons the better equipped you will be for ongoing lessons. This is particularly true of young children, who may not understand that it takes effort to master something. These initial lessons are set up such that if practice standards are properly adhered to, you will find the rest of your guitar journey much easier so really take it seriously.

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Q: Am I too old to learn the guitar?

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A: Definitely not! Over the years, we had success teaching guitar students well into their 80's and even beyond that.  In fact, learning guitar may actually assist in the maintenance of mental health and fitness. There's a wealth of research that suggests learning to play the guitar (or any musical instrument) is great for keeping you sharp well into old age. It's never too late to start!

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Q: When is the best time for my child to start learning guitar?

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A: We recommend that young students start guitar lessons as early as 4. That's about the time when they have developed the motor skills to begin complex movements like playing the frets and strumming. However, you can start introducing them to music and guitar toys after only a couple of months. 

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Q: How long does take to learn guitar?

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A: That is a big question with lots of variables. Some guitarists can play songs within just a week or two, some can take years to make any meaningful progress. However, generally, players go through a few stages:

 

1 to 5 weeks:

You have just started and are in the honeymoon phase. You can't really play anything yet, but you're excited and are practicing hard.

 

5 weeks to 3 months:

You realise guitar is a bit harder than you thought. If you have a good teacher you can usually play a simple riff or two, but mainly you're focusing on your basics: chords, notes and rhythm.

 

3 months to 6 months:

You might find yourself really struggling at this point. Yeah, you can

play some stuff but the endless practice doesn't seem to be really

getting you anywhere. Many players quit at this point. Which is a

shame because:

 

6 months to a year: 

Most guitar players (especially if they have a quality teacher)

will have a breakthrough by this point. Your strumming come

s together and you can change fluently between chords. The

scales are starting to make more sense to you and you can

improvise at a basic level. Now you can actually play some stuff and

that feels great!

1 year to 3 years:

This is where most guitarists will start to specialise. You might go into

blues rock, or start to learn jazz voicings. Maybe you want to be a

metal guitarist. All the things that you heard that made you want to

pick up the guitar in the first place are becoming available to you.

You're not perfectly proficient yet, but you can see where things are

going.

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3 to 5 years:

By this time, if you've been practicing diligently, you can likely play anything you set your mind to. Yes, there might be some crazy-fast players with licks that are beyond you but generally, given enough time and instruction, you can figure it out. 

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Q: How often should practice the guitar?

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A: As often as possible, obviously: the more guitar practice you do the faster you're going to get good. But if you want a hard number to set for your weekly practice amount, 3 hours a week will get you where you need to be.

 

Ideally, you want to break this into several sessions of half an hour or twenty minutes. Think of it like the gym: if you just do one 3 hour session you're going to fatigue yourself and not get the incremental improvement you need for sustained effort. Be consistent and you'll get there.

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Q: How do I get my child to practice?

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A: This is by far the most common issue I find most parents have when their child begins learning guitar. The typical response to asking how they're doing is, "She loves the lessons, but she hates practicing!"

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I'd say this is the case for most students, probably, four out of every five so. If you're struggle to get your child to sit down and practice, don't worry, your in the majority. Most adults find it hard to stick to a regular practice routine, let alone kids. All is not lost though.

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The first thing is to actually expect resistance. Understand when they say, "I just have to finish doing this," or "But I don't want to do," that this is not really your child saying they don't want to learn guitar: it's them saying, "I find this hard and I need you to help me." The best way to do that is to make it a routine. Sit down with your child and try and find a reasonable time for them to do consistent practice. Attaching guitar practice to an already established habit is an easy option. Bundling this in with homework (I would recommend before rather than after) is a good avenue for this. 

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Another technique if your schedule is a bit more regulated is setting a specific time every day. Set an alarm and when it goes off, it's guitar time. Just be aware that you're likely to get some pushback and this is totally normal and ok. "Let's just do ten minutes and see how we feel after that," is a good one to get them going. 

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Finally, make sure to reward your child after they finish their practice. This can be anything from a favourite snack to a song they like, or even a silly dance that makes them laugh. We're teaching them to associate guitar with positive emotions.

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After a few weeks (or even months) you'll notice the pushback will decline and eventually, your child will end up playing guitar all by themselves. At this point, you know they've formed a habit and you have successfully taught them one of the key skills they'll need to learn guitar.

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