Questions & Answers with Neil Hogan #9

Q. Can you give me any recommendations about beginner guitar lessons?

A. I used to think that when someone came to me asking about beginner guitar lessons I could steer him or her toward anyone I knew who was teaching guitar, figuring that as a beginner, learning anything would be a big improvement. As years went on and I saw many “experienced” guitar students who really didn’t have a clue, I began to realize that the beginning student had the most potential if the teacher got them on the right path.

The right path from day one is essential; most of the adults who come my way have practiced and perfected so many bad habits that the beginning student really has a huge head start on the “experienced” student. This is also why teaching beginning students is one of the most important and difficult jobs a teacher can undertake.

Coming to this realization leads me to take all the beginning students I have time for as they have the most to learn with the least amount of practice baggage. This is another area where adults and children are different. The beginning young student does not understand how difficult learning an instrument is. The adult student sometimes looks for an excuse to not succeed by saying it’s too hard.

The beginning student looking for music lessons is the most important student we have, because with a good teacher, they will become a good guitar player in the least amount of time.

Click here for more about beginner guitar lessons.