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There is also something which you'll only discover from sitting down with them - how the two of you get on, and whether their teaching style suits you. This isn't anything to do with their musical abilities. I have, by and large, got on with most of the teachers that I've had, but I do know of people who do not like my main teacher, who is someone who has a considerable depth of music knowledge, and who is a very able guitarist.
I do get a bit tired of these competitive geek guitarists, who spent all their teen years in their bedroom playing scales, and now they feel the need to show you what they can do. No one cares. You’re in your 30’s and you’re not exactly competing with John Mayer in a debate about who’s the greatest guitarist of our generation. It’s like a Conference League player, turning up at a Sunday league match and doing keep-ups, to show how good he is compared to those around him, but never actually made it himself.
Sorry rant over...
I would look for someone mature and who has a structure they follow. But it comes down to how you like to learn ultimately. For me, I want someone to sets me a task and then reviews it at the next lesson. I’ve had teachers who just wing the lessons and wouldn’t have a clue what you did the week before with them. You still might pick some things up from them, but for me it’s not progressive enough.
They have to have a structured approach.
I have a teacher who is an amazing player and great Jazz player ;he never shows off or wastes time with "impressing me" but he is a poor teacher who races ahead assuming I will automatically know a few suspensions and passing chords that fall into the flow of a tune comfortably between principal chords and loses me after a couple of bars.....I point out that I can't understand where a certain chord came from or the theoretical knowledge that spawned it and he says "don't worry that was just a substitution .......you'll figure it out "! WTF
Playing wise - I find a lot of time is spent talking/building confidence/encouraging/sharing experience, and I try and do as little playing as possible myself; they're not paying to hear me play.
https://www.facebook.com/benswanwickguitar
I am looking to be proficient enough to play some music that i like, don't intend to join a band or anything like that, pure self enjoyment really.
What do you suggest in terms of length? 30mins? Because as much as I like an hour, i am not sure how useful that 2nd half hour is in terms of actual learning instead of sitting there practicing and i can do that without paying someone sitting there.
30 minutes will absolutely fly by, once you've done a bit of chat, gone over your homework, picked up on new stuff etc. etc. Teaching time and practice time are very different things - you can do a hell of a lot of practice in 30 minutes, but not so much teaching/learning.
A good tutor will also motivate and inspire you to pick it up and practice outside of lessons and provide some structure to your learning, unlike some I've seen above who make up lessons each week with no progression/continuity. They should also be able to introduce you to new bands/artists matching your music taste. So for example, say you like a particular artist and a song b them you want to learn but its too advanced. They should be able to choose a similar artist/song but not as advanced.
Also a good teacher will recognise your skill level to match to appropriate repertoire, so someone who's only been playing a few months can't be expected to learn the Beat It Solo, and a grade 5 standard would want something a bit more advanced than Knockin' On Heaven's Door. They will know the right things a learner needs to be working on to develop them and make progress. Simply churning out the same songs for everyone isn't the best way to cater for individual tastes.
I also don't play much during my lessons either, merely to demonstrate and play along with the learner, and that's it. Showing off can intimidate/demotivate them. A quality tutor will save years of frustration.
Lastly, finding someone you connect with is important, for me I'd say 9/10 people I do get on well with there's just that one small minority of person I just don't think we get on. Doesn't necessarily have to be the same age or music tastes, although it helps but someone who has a good sense of humour and keeps things simple.
And I always do hourly lessons, 30 minutes is way too short and not worth travelling for (most of mine travel for nearly that time) and by the time you've got in the door, had a bit of a catchup, unpacked guitars, tuned up, you've lost 10 minutes already. Add to that 5 minutes at the end to wrap and get them out, another part of the 30 minutes is lost. So all in all you're only getting 15 minutes of actual learning time.
Try to steer clear of cheaper tutors below £25 per hour, they probably are hobbyist tutors who are only doing it for a bit of side-cash. They probably have a lot of playing experience but not so much development and teaching experience. If I'm looking for a tutor I'd be looking at £30+ per hour. You do get what you pay for in most instances. Lower quality tutors feel guilty for taking so much money of someone doing something they do that they don't class as a "profession" hence charging cheap prices.
And I don't like tutors who solely rely on a grade syllabus or a book to teach from. Its too "one-size-fits-all" for me. A book can't tell if you're struggling with a particular section, or try to adapt to your learning style. I prefer to see the individual learner's strength's and how they learn (aural/visual etc). After all Gordon Ramsay doesn't go on YouTube to look up how to cook a meal does he?
Price can be an indication, but check what the prices around your area are like first before judging on that. I charge the approx going rate for where I live (£25/hour) purely because if I ramped it up I'd get less custom. I'd love to, but can't really. There's a guy around here who charges a tenner more and I seriously doubt whether he's that busy, and he's not exactly offering anything I can't do (not intending to diss him, I'm sure he's a nice guy - just going on impressions from website details!). On the other hand there's a guy near here who is a seriously good jazz player and charges the same as me...so take a look.
I've only had a couple so far who haven't come back; one was clearly incredibly nervous, the other spent an hour and a half (!) playing his own riffs to me, asking why he was playing these notes and not listening to anything I said. I was pretty glad when he said he'd got it sorted and would actually be ok without lessons....!
https://www.facebook.com/benswanwickguitar
I've had my fair share of nightmare learners too, the over-talkative ones are irritating, even an hour isn't enough! Small chit-chat is good but I prefer to just get on with the lesson otherwise we always run out of time to cover all the things we need to look at.
All lesson notes and handouts are done ahead of the lesson ready for that 1 hour. Really annoys me when I see tutors tabbing out the song as they go.
I generally find that if I think about what might piss me off if I went for a lesson - and then NOT doing that - tends to work.
Only interruption in my lessons is generally when a cat has hidden in the room without me knowing and then emerges mid-lesson....or brings in a mouse from outside. Still, keeps it interesting.
https://www.facebook.com/benswanwickguitar