Piano Lessons in Lake Forest, IL

Instruments: Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

When will I start to see results?
Learning anything takes 10% theory and 90% practice. As long as the student consistently dedicates the 15min a day, the results will be immediate. The secret is to approach the daily 15min practice as a pleasure and not a chore. In that regards, my specialty is to get the student motivated and on fire to get to see results. With regular practice, I expect a student starting from nothing to start see very tangible results starting from 3 months. Chords form the basis of my teaching because they allow the student to play entire songs, and these can be played in all types of settings, family, friends, professional, etc. When the student notices how he can move people with his chords and have them singing and actually share musical moments of joy, he gets even more motivated to learn more, and that's the guitar snowball effect.

How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
As long as the child likes music and will not have any external issue with dedicating 15min daily, I consider him to be ready. As a matter of fact, there is no right age to start. In fact, children are much more capable of over-achieving themselves because they have not developed self-limiting beliefs. Therefore, all a child needs are guidance and mentorship that will spark the light inside of him to get to learn things and envision himself as an actual player. Children do not need to have specific target songs to play. They would start with the basic music fundamentals, with tablature reading, and with playing simple classical tunes. From there, he would learn

What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
In general: In the beginning, focus on learning all chords, and practice changing your hand position from a chord to another. In addition, get a good handle on rhythm and temp, and rigorously use the metronome if needed. When practicing existing songs: Play slow first with the metronome. Focus on correcting the weak elements. Gradually increase speed. Once playing at comfortable speed, play alongside the music, and record yourself. For more advanced players: Focus on improvising, because that's where your skills will take it to the master level, your creativity will explode and you become a self-reliant musician who can play anything anytime anywhere. When jamming with a band or other musicians, make sure you are well grounded with the rhythm and the tempo. Start playing basic. Slowly and gradually change things, alter nuances and add your own signatures. Do NOT EVER panic if you play a wrong note or tone, simply feint it and move, because it is most likely that nobody would have noticed it anyways, and besides, blue notes are part of the game. Last words: Do NOT get discouraged, as it took me several years just to be able to play a basic song from end to end. All you need is a consistent 15min of practice, ideally daily, but at least every other day. Once you learn, not only you cannot unlearn, but your progress speeds up at an impressive rate, and suddenly, after a few months, you end up playing lots of songs.

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