What to Expect at Your First Guitar Lesson
The First 10 Minutes
A lot of people have no idea of what to expect when going into their first guitar lesson. Most people are very nervous and usually have never touched a guitar before. For many students, they have never played an instrument before either.
The very first thing I like to do is find out what the student is interested in musically. This includes asking about their goals and what inspired them to pick up the guitar. It is also very important to know what style of music they enjoy. Almost everyone would rather play their favorite song than mine-although I have great taste in music 😊!
After finding out about their goals, the next step is to see what type of experience they have in music and on the guitar. For this post, I will focus on what the new students will learn on the first day.
Hands On
If you are brand new, then I like to take a couple of minutes to go through the guitar and explain how it works. This includes what all of the knobs are for, what the frets are, how to use the tuning pegs, the names of the strings, etc. Then I demonstrate how to hold the guitar and why the hand position is a certain way for different styles.
Once the student is comfortable with the hand position on the guitar, the next step is tuning. This is sometimes tough for the younger kids, so I have them try a single string and I tune the rest for them. It is really fun to watch how each week they improve on their tuning skills. In just a few lessons, they are experts!
Finally, we learn how tablature works and they play a simple melody on the first day. This is where each student realizes how incredibly easy guitar is to learn. It is fun to see them light up after that part of the lesson, and they are ready to pursue music.
Why I Teach
The part I like the most is when a new student wants to try a lesson to see if they even like it and end up becoming totally inspired. The parents immediately pick up on it…that is so rewarding! My goal is to keep learning along with the student. There are always new songs and new ideas to try.
If you have any questions or would like to try a lesson, feel free to contact me. I teach at Boomer Music in Fort Collins, as well as out of my studio here in Greeley.
