I have been playing the guitar for about a year and a half now, I started using the justinguitar website after a few recommendations on here, after a few months I started taking lessons every couple of weeks. So fast forward a year and to be honest where initially I felt I got a lot out of having lessons recently I have felt that all I get is a song tab put in front of me and shown how to play that song. I don’t really get much advice on technique, we have covered scales, and some finger picking.

Now when I go back to the justinguitar site he has excellent videos and instructions on how to position your hands / fingers when playing new chords and new techniques.

Now am I expecting too much from my teacher or should I be getting more than just shown how to play a song at a time? I have asked a few pointed questions regarding my technique and usually I am told I just need to figure it out on my own.

I’d change teacher. The teacher should be offering the stuff which you can’t get from the internet. You need to be able to go to him and tell him about a weakness in your playing and get him to suggest stuff to sort it out.

I also think that even with the best teacher in the world, you probably need to change things around every once in a while, and try different teachers…it’s unrealistic to expect a single teacher is going to inspire you in everything you want to cover.

I’d deffo keep using a teacher though….even if it’s once a month, the only time my playing really improves is when i’m having lessons.

Where are you?

Kinda what I was thinking lodious, although I do think my teacher is good in her own way I am maybe expecting more. I just was not sure if my expectations were too high.

Cougar, based in Dundee.

There’s little point having a teacher just teach you songs, unless you’re also taught the theory and technique and feel that are used to perform that song. Why not ask your teacher to do that? Analyse the song and then show you how to use those components in other musical situations. As a bass player who’s worked with plenty of good and bad guitarists, a classic oversight is failing to work on rhythmic aspects (syncopation, pocket) and dynamic aspects (ppp to FFF, accents).

Does not sound like they are a good teacher to me

the skill is in explaining stuff rather than just giving you a song to play.

Cougar, based in Dundee.

Ah, bit of a commute to my mate then. Sorry.

I have asked a few pointed questions regarding my technique and usually I am told I just need to figure it out on my own

Change teacher now. A teacher should be covering technique and theory. They should also be teaching you how to transcribe so you can work out your own song tabs. From your description it sounds like you’ve reached the limits of your “teachers” knowledge.

Cool, thanks for the replies. I’ll have a look around for a new teacher this week. 😀

Save your money. There are plenty of resources on the interweb to learn technique and different songs. Loads of practice is the most important.

Specklebob, like I said in my first post I am using the justinguitar site which I find pretty invaluable for many aspects but I don’t think I will progress as well with that alone. Although I feel my lessons are lacking at the moment when I first started they definitely brought me along. Its just that things have plateaued for a while.
Its just the way I am, I am not very good at teaching myself or learning on my own, I benefit a lot from instruction.