Your First Guitar Lesson, The start of a great hobby!

So you have decided to give guitar a go. Maybe you have always wanted to, maybe your just looking for a new hobby, I certainly can't read your mind. Whatever the case may be, you may be nervous and unsure what guitar lessons would be like or perhaps your just curious what they might entail.

It's me! Your new teacher

Today I'm going to run through what your FIRST guitar lesson might look like if you decide to choose me as your fancy new guitar teacher. Depending on what you have chosen I would either have just arrived at your house, or you at mine. Most of the time we will be at yours. It seems to be what most people prefer. Personally, I think this creates a more comfortable environment for the student.

We would find a suitable place for us both to sit, a couch, a few chairs. It doesn't really matter wherever is most comfortable for you. We might discuss what brought about the idea for guitar lessons, what music you may be looking to eventually play, your pets or what's on for dinner. I'll run you through what makes up a guitar, naming all of its parts and how it generally functions.

'Acoustic' or 'Electric', there is no optimal guitar type to learn on. Just choose what looks 'cool' or what you think is going to motivate you to practice. If you have a 'pretty' guitar you're probably going to be more inclined to pick it up! If you're unsure how long you'll be learning for, the old guitar in the attic or the one you borrow from a mates place will do just fine.

The next step would be choosing your FIRST song to learn. Generally, I'll give you three or so options. They may include:

'Riptide' - Vance Joy

'House of the Rising Sun' - The Animals

'Time of your life' - Green Day

However, if you answered the question earlier about your musical taste with something other than 'I listen to everything really, don't really have any favourites'. I may be able to teach you something by whomever you really like. I wasn't trying to be mean, that's exactly how I answer that question still to this day. I promise no judgment here, your musical taste is safe with me. A lot of the time songs that you think may be too 'difficult' can be stripped down to an easier version. More often than not you could be learning your favourite song in the very FIRST lesson!

After we have settled on a song we will go about learning it. I'll demonstrate how it sounds and looks to play. We will go through how to read 'TAB' which is our equivalent of 'sheet music'. An easy way of notating guitar music. Generally, we will play some basic chords or run through a basic little melody picking pattern. Whatever that case, you will be playing something that resembles a song. By the end of the lesson if you cant hear a song I must have done a terrible job.

How I would write out our first lesson. Dont mind the stick figure, Ill explain everything!

During this part of the lesson, I'll be teaching you about getting your fingers to look like Harbour Bridges not noodles. Letting you know to use your finger tips and not the squishy paddy parts. I'll be making sure you're holding your pick properly and only with two fingers. I'll give you little tips on changing chords, moving all your fingers at once instead of one at a time. I'll point out relationships between different shapes and check in to make sure you are having a nice time.

Hopefully, we have time at the end for you to ask some questions about music or guitars. Generally, I will probably have gone over time because we were having too much fun or I was far too keen to get you up and playing a song. By this point you will probably be hooked and keen to play after I leave. Now it is up to you to pick the guitar up every day or two for 10 minutes or so. Yes, that is all. If you can commit to that you'll be playing anything you want in no time! I hope you enjoyed your lesson because I enjoyed teaching it. I'll see you next week!

Don't forget to give me a call and book yourself an actual lesson.

Simply Sound Lessons.

Sydney, North Shore, Mosman, Cremorne, Crowsnest, Manly, Neutral Bay, North Sydney

www.simplysoundlessons.com

0426200579

- Nick.