Guitar Lessons in Tucson, AZ

Instruments: Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
If your child has not developed the necessary strength to hold an instrument, practicing will be of little avail as they need time to mature. However, regardless of when they can start, I would highly recommend that you have them get started with exposing them to all different types of music. This is especially true if your child is anywhere from third trimester to 2-3 years of age where they can either harness or "prune" off the natural born ability to hear music with what's been called absolute pitch or perfect pitch recognition. Plus, listening to music will inspire them to learn more about the subject giving them a great advantage that I never experienced in my early years. Help them out; it's really darn important to get them involved ASAP!

When will I start to see results?
If all goes well, the first day you should have seen and felt elevations by way of building passion and desire to learn and gain more from your future experiences. However, just as many people fail in many other endeavors in life, it is possible that if no efforts are made, that you will not see results, EVER! That's right, why not address the elephant in the room, which is to say, you will learn in due time that the student is the best teacher. As my favorite teacher and professor passed on to me his phrases, I will forward them to you: Embrace the Process, Trust the Process, Enjoy the Process!

What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
Being efficient is a product of acquiring and honing various tools. Over time they will allow you to master any type of music with ease and great enjoyment. There's a long list of tools that I, or any competent educator for that matter, can offer you. It's important to use one tool at a time for maximum benefit. Three of the most effective tools I have come across for simple mastery thus far: is singing all of the melody, singing the harmonic layers separately - but treated like a melodic line, and singing the bass. It is important to note that while singing, we must have a clear musical intent in mind so as to transfer this musicality to our instruments. The final tool, for now, is practicing v e r y s l o w l y. It should seem meditative. While being fully aware of mind and body, we can pinpoint the errors of our understanding greatly with this tool. Overall, if you give time and effort, in an accurate and consistent manner, and rotate the use of these tools, over long periods time but broken up in small manageable goals, one can achieve a staggering amount of progress in minimal amounts of time. It's fun to practice getting better! From my experience, I highly recommend having a dedicated teacher to help teach and develop these tools with the student.

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