Serious help...

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Serious help...; new guitar teacher?
Topic Started: Jul 5 2008, 02:43 PM (184 Views)
mynameisDavid	Jul 5 2008, 02:43 PM Post #1
Member Posts: 829 Group: Moderator Member #294 Joined: March 2, 2007	Okay in my years of playing it seems i have plateau'd on my skill level, it seems I haven't played anything challenging in my lessons... In fact the only thing i do is play songs.. Is this because of my teacher? I've stayed consistent in my lessons, So what should I do?
	Every drop of blood Every little tear Every bead of sweat I LIVE FOR THIS If you don't for something you'll die for nothing


Bullet	Jul 6 2008, 01:24 PM Post #2
Admin Posts: 1,833 Group: Admin Member #183 Joined: January 13, 2007	I have this problem at the moment. When I was at home teaching myself, I learned what I wanted when I wanted. But now im on a performance course at college, I'm not playing anything challenging anymore I would get a new teacher before it's too late.....



Tone Deaf Dave	Jul 7 2008, 08:11 PM Post #3
Newbie Posts: 4 Group: Members Member #8,649 Joined: July 7, 2008	I had a teacher who would never let me learn a song/piece to perfection. As soon as I started to get it he would say that I was no longer being stretched and it was time to move on to the next thing. Sounds frustrating but I learn a hell of a lot in a short amount of time.
	Online guitar lessons blog - it's new so not much there yet! Tone Deaf Music - Click here for guitar (and other musical) gear


mynameisDavid	Jul 7 2008, 10:38 PM Post #4
Member Posts: 829 Group: Moderator Member #294 Joined: March 2, 2007	Well mine I learn a lot of songs but no scales or learning new things it's kinda like a play together sort of thing
	Every drop of blood Every little tear Every bead of sweat I LIVE FOR THIS If you don't for something you'll die for nothing


monwobobbo	Jul 8 2008, 12:59 AM Post #5
Top Contributor Posts: 379 Group: Members Member #8,625 Joined: June 23, 2008	mynameisDavid Jul 7 2008, 10:38 PM Well mine I learn a lot of songs but no scales or learning new things it's kinda like a play together sort of thing i do some teaching and don't believe in the lets learn songs approach. if you don't know why a guitarist is doing what he's doing then you've learned nothing. my students tend to grumble at first because everyone wants to play a song but later thank me for making them learn. get a new teacher and have him teach you how to play as opposed to how to play a song. i use parts of songs to illustrate my point but thats it. when i was young i drove my teacher nuts because most of his students just wanted to learn songs. i made him think hard every week for new scales and finger exercises as well as chord approaches. i may not be the greatest guitar player but i have the confidence to play my own stuff because i learned to be a player and not a copyist. after you learn you'll be able to figure the songs out yourself.
	and now for something completely different


Bullet	Aug 3 2008, 11:26 PM Post #6
Admin Posts: 1,833 Group: Admin Member #183 Joined: January 13, 2007	monwobobbo Jul 8 2008, 12:59 AM mynameisDavid Jul 7 2008, 10:38 PM Well mine I learn a lot of songs but no scales or learning new things it's kinda like a play together sort of thing i do some teaching and don't believe in the lets learn songs approach. if you don't know why a guitarist is doing what he's doing then you've learned nothing. my students tend to grumble at first because everyone wants to play a song but later thank me for making them learn. get a new teacher and have him teach you how to play as opposed to how to play a song. i use parts of songs to illustrate my point but thats it. when i was young i drove my teacher nuts because most of his students just wanted to learn songs. i made him think hard every week for new scales and finger exercises as well as chord approaches. i may not be the greatest guitar player but i have the confidence to play my own stuff because i learned to be a player and not a copyist. after you learn you'll be able to figure the songs out yourself. While I agree with this... I do thing it is better to start out learning songs on your own. I am self tought and I know that if I had a teacher in the beginning telling me to learn chords and scales I would have put the guitar down and never gone back to it. Every new player wants to learn their favourite songs... that is what makes it worth doing and fun... if it seems like a chore, most people would forget about it. After about 2 years or so of doing this and confident with my playing, I wanted to learn about the theory side of things and now I'm having alot of fun doing it



mynameisDavid	Aug 4 2008, 01:24 AM Post #7
Member Posts: 829 Group: Moderator Member #294 Joined: March 2, 2007	Bullet Aug 3 2008, 11:26 PM monwobobbo Jul 8 2008, 12:59 AM mynameisDavid Jul 7 2008, 10:38 PM Well mine I learn a lot of songs but no scales or learning new things it's kinda like a play together sort of thing i do some teaching and don't believe in the lets learn songs approach. if you don't know why a guitarist is doing what he's doing then you've learned nothing. my students tend to grumble at first because everyone wants to play a song but later thank me for making them learn. get a new teacher and have him teach you how to play as opposed to how to play a song. i use parts of songs to illustrate my point but thats it. when i was young i drove my teacher nuts because most of his students just wanted to learn songs. i made him think hard every week for new scales and finger exercises as well as chord approaches. i may not be the greatest guitar player but i have the confidence to play my own stuff because i learned to be a player and not a copyist. after you learn you'll be able to figure the songs out yourself. While I agree with this... I do thing it is better to start out learning songs on your own. I am self tought and I know that if I had a teacher in the beginning telling me to learn chords and scales I would have put the guitar down and never gone back to it. Every new player wants to learn their favourite songs... that is what makes it worth doing and fun... if it seems like a chore, most people would forget about it. After about 2 years or so of doing this and confident with my playing, I wanted to learn about the theory side of things and now I'm having alot of fun doing it Yeah but this has been going on for...almost the whole time of me playing guitar
	Every drop of blood Every little tear Every bead of sweat I LIVE FOR THIS If you don't for something you'll die for nothing


monwobobbo	Aug 4 2008, 11:53 AM Post #8
Top Contributor Posts: 379 Group: Members Member #8,625 Joined: June 23, 2008	i think guitar playing is like waiting for the pot to boil, if you watch it it seems to take forever. we all hit those slow spots where it seems that it's not getting any better. perhaps you need to look for a new challenge. do you write songs of your own? if not then do. do you have a way to record them if you do? applying what you've learned usually helps. thats something my teacher did for me and i still play the 2 tapes for people 17 years latter. i recently got a Zoom 8-track and after i've got a handle on it will be recording some of my songs and using as a teaching method myself. i know that people want to learn there favorite songs. i teach beginners and try to give them the basics before sending them off to other teachers for more advanced playing. when they go they can play things like the main riff for Smoke on the Water or Iron Man but more inmportantly they know what they are playing and have an idea of how the riffs are put together. i also instill in them that making your own music is where its at. there is nothing better than playing something of your own and having people ask wow whats that. telling them its yours is a great feeling and why i play.
	and now for something completely different


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