Clear, First Person Instruction™

From Our Free Blog: 8 Ways to Get the Most Out of Guitar Lessons
The following are guidelines to help you have a successful, rewarding, experience in learning the guitar.

1. Starting at the Right Age
Of course adults can start an instrument at any time. The real determining factor of success is the ability and willingness to commit to practicing. Although chances for fame may be slim, students in their 60s and even 70s can start an instrument and find it an enjoyable and rewarding experience. It can be a great way to have fun and stay sharp during the golden years.
For children, starting at the right age is a key factor to the success of their lessons. The sooner the better isn't always right for an optimal learning experience. Waiting until the child has reached the right age and size greatly improves the odds of success.
For guitar lessons I recommend waiting until 7 years of age. In some cases where the desire is great and there is proper guidance, a younger student can have success but this is rare. If the student cannot get a clear tone when they press on the string due to lack of hand strength, then the student would be advised to wait another year. Starting on piano or violin would be a better choice for such a student. Physically, these instruments are easier than the guitar. A student can learn about notes and timing on one of these easier instruments, and then when he or she is ready to switch to guitar later, he or she will have a basic musical foundation to work from.

2. Small Beginners Should Use a Small Guitar
There are child-size acoustic, electric, and bass guitars. For any student 10 or younger, a smaller guitar is often better. Also, an electric guitar is easier to handle (less bulky) than an acoustic, and the tension on the strings is also lighter than on an acoustic - therefore, contrary to popular belief, I would encourage starting on an electric when the child is leaning that direction. The skills developed, and the chord, note, and scale knowledge gained on one type of guitar will directly translate to another type at a later time if the student wants to switch.
If the child or parent prefers an acoustic, then an appropriate-size acoustic or nylon string guitar will work fine. For children, it is important to use “extra light” strings on an acoustic and be sure the guitar is properly set up. Most music stores will set up the instruments as they come from the wholesaler. This is important because the proper set-up insures that the instrument is easy to play and not frustrating for the beginning student. (Stores like Walmart, Target, and Costco, will not set up the guitar for you so you may have to take it to a “real” music store to have it done.)
Due to the larger size of a bass guitar we recommend waiting until at least 10 years old before beginning. Until that time, learning on a standard 6 string would be an excellent starting point.

3. Performing builds confidence
You don't have to be a great musician to perform. A student that has a few months of dedicated practice should be able to play at least one song from start to finish. It doesn't have to be a difficult piece. The experience of performing builds the student's confidence and creates the desire to tackle even more challenging material. So, once the student has practiced even a simple piece, encourage him or her to play it for family and friends. When taking private instruction, be sure the school or academy or instructor offers regular performance opportunities.

4. For the best results, set a consistent practice schedule
It is much better to practice your instrument for 15 to 30 minutes a day for 5 to 7 days a week then to practice for perhaps 2 hours once a week. Set a time as early in the day as possible and try to stick to it. If you miss a day or two don’t punish yourself, just get back on schedule.
Learning an instrument is a cross between learning a sport and learning a subject in school. There are both the physical and the mental aspects to master. Only by consistent repetitive practice will a student gain the physical accuracy and dexterity necessary to play correctly, and mentally revisiting the material on a daily basis will save the student the time of having to relearn what he may have forgotten by waiting several days or a week.

5. Material presented at a reasonable pace and with clear instruction are vital to the success of the student
Many instructional guitar courses are developed by excellent players that have little experience actually teaching. This is why a lot of the fundamentals like: how to tune and how to properly hold the guitar are often breezed over or skipped completely. It is also why the material is not presented in a slow, learning-friendly manner. Always check the product out before you purchase it to see if the pace is reasonable and the presentation is clear enough for “dummies”.
The Musician’s Toolbox First-Person™ approach to instruction is revolutionary because it’s the first and only guitar course that shows the material from the player’s view. Because the student doesn’t have to mentally “reverse” what he or she is watching on the screen, learning is quicker and easier.

6. Learning in an Appropriate Setting
The learning setting is important. The following list is necessary for the optimum experience:
     • A secluded area where other family members will not disturb or be disturbed
     • A comfortable straight-back chair or a stool that allows for proper playing posture
     • A computer, DVD player, or other viewing device (a larger screen is preferable)
     • No phones, pets, or other distractions

7. Use Rewards
Rewards work well no matter what the age. As parents we can reward the child by saying when your practice is complete you can have x number of minutes on the PlayStation or other coveted activity. For adults, making a deal with the spouse is often a great motivator. “Honey, if I learn this song by Christmas can I get that new guitar that we saw at the music store?” If that doesn’t work usually the pride of learning something new is reward enough.

8. Purchase a Chromatic Tuner ASAP
Unfortunately, a guitar must be tuned by the player daily and often several times a day if it's being played for long durations. If the instrument is not tuned, it will usually be somewhere between slightly out of tune and extremely out of tune. The reasons for a guitar going out of tune are numerous. Common reasons would be:
     • Brand new strings (still stretching)
     • Tuners (mechanism used for tuning) getting bumped or moved by accident
     • Change in temperature
     • Change in humidity
     • Tuners that don’t hold tune well
     • Old strings
It really doesn't matter what the reason is, what does matter is that the player be able to get the guitar in tune. There are few things less motivating than playing an out of tune instrument. There are several ways of tuning a guitar. Here are a few possibilities:
     • Tune to a tuning fork
     • Tune to a pitch pipe
     • Tune to another guitar or piano (that has been tuned)
     • Tune to a standard guitar tuner (6 string)
     • Tune to a chromatic tuner (easiest)
Although all of these methods do work, by far easiest is by using a chromatic tuner. The difference between a standard guitar tuner and a chromatic tuner is simple. The standard tuner will only register (respond) when it hears 1 of the 6 notes that the guitar is normally tuned to. That may sound like it solves your problem, but does it really? What if your guitar is out of tune to the point of not even being close to one of these 6 notes? The standard tuner will not help because it can't hear the note. The chromatic tuner will hear any note and display whatever note it is hearing to you. Once you know what note you are actually on then you can decide whether you need to tune higher or lower to get to the note you are supposed to be on. Since the chromatic tuner ($25 - $30) is only about $10 more than a standard tuner it is definitely worth the investment, in our opinion.