Homepage Forums Discussion Popular Topics why do I stink at guitar lessons with my teacher

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  • #19985
    Anonymous
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    I go to guitar lessons once a week for almost a year, I have one on one instruction with my teacher, I am older student around 52. The last 2 months I have had alot of difficulty with my guitar assigments. I am using Mel Bays Complete Method for Modern Guitar. Mr. Bays songs have a lot of fingering and mutiple combinations of notes being played at the same time to form the melody.

    Lately I have not been able to even complete one assigned lesson with my teacher without making mistakes, the teacher and I play the song together. I seem to make a lot of mistakes when I am at my lessons which results that I am stuck on the same lesson for 2 to 3 lessons, and I never really master the lesson before we move onto the next one.

    When my teacher asks me to play a previous song from earlier lessons I do a complete brain dump.

    So I am reaching a point of frustration and self doubt that I will ever play the guitar. I practice at home every day, but sometimes I feel that my practice is not efficient. I books on guitars but few of them spend a lot of time on practice.

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    • #95608
      Anonymous
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      Here is my 2 cents. I’m pretty confident with my playing and this is how I learned to play the guitar: 1) I was doing a lot of stupid exercises (e.g. scales, arpeggios, etc.) just to strengthen the fingers and make them more flexible. Boring but it works. 2) Most importantly, I was trying to transcribe anything I could from my favourite players. And I mean everything "I could". For example I was transcribing Dave Gilmour. Now, this guy doesn’t play technically challenging things, but his taste on the note choosing and his tone is what makes him such an incredible player. So I was trying to understand HOW and WHY he was playing every note. That helps a lot to master the necessary vocabulary for different styles of music. I strongly believe that FIRST you have to know what other people have done before you in order to find your own place in this world (musically, philosophically, and so on). I hope that helps even just a little. : I go to guitar lessons once a week for almost a year, I have one on one instruction with my teacher, I am older student around 52. The last 2 months I have had alot of difficulty with my guitar assigments. I am using Mel Bays Complete Method for Modern Guitar. Mr. Bays songs have a lot of fingering and mutiple combinations of notes being played at the same time to form the melody. : Lately I have not been able to even complete one assigned lesson with my teacher without making mistakes, the teacher and I play the song together. I seem to make a lot of mistakes when I am at my lessons which results that I am stuck on the same lesson for 2 to 3 lessons, and I never really master the lesson before we move onto the next one. : When my teacher asks me to play a previous song from earlier lessons I do a complete brain dump. : So I am reaching a point of frustration and self doubt that I will ever play the guitar. I practice at home every day, but sometimes I feel that my practice is not efficient. I books on guitars but few of them spend a lot of time on practice.

    • #95634
      Anonymous
      Guest

      Hmm.How long do you practice for? One hour day,for example,isn’t enough.I’ll also say this…FORGET THE MEL BAY book!Instead,I’d concentrate on chord(Music) structure,scales and picking.By choosing the music YOU like,each lesson will become more enjoyable.Take some records of stuff YOU want to play and ask the teacher,"Hey,what’s going on here??" I did. I think it unwise to start with the Theory aspect.The "Learning by Doing" approach is usually better.Conversly,YOU MUST LEARN SOME THEORY sooner or later!But your teacher should show you how to PHYSICALLY relate to the guitar first. I had a young student who knew some basic chords but didn’t know how to use them.I showed him 2 blues progressions,pentatonics and picking excersise.In two weeks he totally shocked me with his progress!! My point is…it’s probably NOT you! I think you’re just not being taught right. Good Luck

    • #95486
      Anonymous
      Guest

      1st off relax have fun,thats far more important that hitting that 16th note double stop. next if it where that improtant to be perfect we’d all think Jimi sucked. Your techer should grade you more on tecneic then perfect exicution and so should you!! I think if you just tryied to find new things to play and learn tecneics and how songs work you’ll be better off the concentrating on songs. find out why metheny plays that F# in the key of D and why it worked. good luck

    • #95467
      Anonymous
      Guest

      Why don’t you try another teacher and/or another method? : I go to guitar lessons once a week for almost a year, I have one on one instruction with my teacher, I am older student around 52. The last 2 months I have had alot of difficulty with my guitar assigments. I am using Mel Bays Complete Method for Modern Guitar. Mr. Bays songs have a lot of fingering and mutiple combinations of notes being played at the same time to form the melody. : Lately I have not been able to even complete one assigned lesson with my teacher without making mistakes, the teacher and I play the song together. I seem to make a lot of mistakes when I am at my lessons which results that I am stuck on the same lesson for 2 to 3 lessons, and I never really master the lesson before we move onto the next one. : When my teacher asks me to play a previous song from earlier lessons I do a complete brain dump. : So I am reaching a point of frustration and self doubt that I will ever play the guitar. I practice at home every day, but sometimes I feel that my practice is not efficient. I books on guitars but few of them spend a lot of time on practice.

      • #110498
        Anonymous
        Guest

        I agree, if you are not enjoying the lessons (both going to them and the material) then that is probally the main ‘problem’… if you are learning for personal enjoyment, then after a year of lessons you probally have a pretty good understanding of ‘theory’ and technique, so just have ‘fun’ playing, have the teacher teach you what you want to play/learn, and when you come across something you want to learn for a song or that interests you then work on that… I know it sort of sounds like the same old lame advice (you have to enjoy what you are doing), but I have found it’s true, I have always found it much harder to learn when it is for a peice I don’t really care about but ‘have to’ learn for a set… but when something I hear really gets my interest it’s amazing how much more I put into learning it and how much steeper the learning curve is… well good luck !!!! : Why don’t you try another teacher and/or another method? : : I go to guitar lessons once a week for almost a year, I have one on one instruction with my teacher, I am older student around 52. The last 2 months I have had alot of difficulty with my guitar assigments. I am using Mel Bays Complete Method for Modern Guitar. Mr. Bays songs have a lot of fingering and mutiple combinations of notes being played at the same time to form the melody. : : Lately I have not been able to even complete one assigned lesson with my teacher without making mistakes, the teacher and I play the song together. I seem to make a lot of mistakes when I am at my lessons which results that I am stuck on the same lesson for 2 to 3 lessons, and I never really master the lesson before we move onto the next one. : : When my teacher asks me to play a previous song from earlier lessons I do a complete brain dump. : : So I am reaching a point of frustration and self doubt that I will ever play the guitar. I practice at home every day, but sometimes I feel that my practice is not efficient. I books on guitars but few of them spend a lot of time on practice.

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