If you are thinking of taking beginner guitar lessons you are in for a great adventure.  The guitar is said to be easy to learn but hard to master; the beauty of the instrument is that nearly anyone can play it to entertain themselves or choose to take more guitar instruction and learn to bring joy to others.  During your first guitar lesson you will learn a few basics and most likely return home able to play a simple melody and a couple of chords.

Choosing the Right Instructor

Before you start taking beginner guitar lessons it’s important to find a teacher who is a good fit with your style.  If you like death metal shredding you won’t learn much from an instructor that specializes in folk music!  Likewise, if you want to play classical pieces you probably don’t want guitar instruction from the ex-guitarist of your famous local punk band.  Before you take that first guitar lesson, be sure that your instructor shares your musical interests and is proficient in all the nuances and developments of your chosen genre.

After you’ve chosen a teacher your first lesson might seem a bit anticlimactic but you won’t realize how much you’ve learned until you begin to practice at home!  Your first guitar instruction will most likely involve learning the names of the six strings, a rudimentary introduction to intervals and the shapes of a couple of basic chords.  If you’ve chosen an hour’s guitar instruction opposed to the standard thirty minutes you’ll likely leave with a beginner’s knowledge of tablature.  Tablature shows a guitarist where to put their fingers to strike a note or shape a chord as opposed to standard notation.

Once you get home you’ll probably want to practice what you’ve learned right away, while it’s fresh in your mind.  Your teacher may have jotted down a melody and chords for you to practice so that you can begin to learn your way around the fretboard.  You’ll internalize the information and train your fine motor muscles more effectively if you have a place to practice that is free of distractions and fairly quiet.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practicing is a very important part of beginner guitar lessons.  Ask any professional guitarist about practicing and he or she will probably tell you they look at it as a full time job—that’s why they are able sell CDs and play to sell-out crowds!  While you probably don’t have that much time you should practice your weekly guitar lesson at least thirty minutes a day.  That will give your fingers time to memorize positions and picking patterns until you can do it without thinking about it.  Guitar instruction is just the beginning; training your muscles to memorize movements is the hard part.  It will get easier as your brain develops the neural pathways needed to give your fine muscles the reflexes needed to play like a pro.

Your first guitar lesson is the beginning of a fun journey into a world of endless fascination.  There’s no limit to how much you can do with music and beginner guitar lessons are the first step.  Guitar instruction is fun and there’s no end to what you can learn—with an instructor or with your own creativity!