That’ll Teach You
I am a 15 year old who has been playing guitar for four years, starting on electric, contrary to the accepted advice. At first I was self-taught, reading online tabs and chord charts. It was only at 13 that I began to receive lessons through my school, where we learned chords and Beatles songs. After the first month, I noticed improvement and started to really dig the Ibanez that had been collecting dust.
Eventually, I discovered Guitarist. It was a Jimi Hendrix issue, with an extra Fender Custom Shop booklet (September 2016). For this mere apprentice of the axe, this was pure gold dust.
Almost a year later, I still enjoy each issue as much as the last; it has been a huge boost to my drive in continuing with the guitar. This month’s issue was what sparked the question: do we really benefit from lessons? In the extra booklet, Gordon Giltrap described his journey in the acoustic guitar world, admitting he is self-taught: a mind-blowing thought. As I thought ‘Well, couldn’t I have taught myself those chords and those scales and those Beatles tunes?’, I started to question the merits of my early lessons, appreciating the value of the feedback and the help I received, but being sceptical of the outcome, eventually arriving at the conclusion, ‘Yes, but the guidance of a teacher is invaluable!’ I wonder what you folks at Guitarist think? Harry Emmott, via email Great to hear you enjoy the mag so much, Harry. To some degree, we’re all a bit ‘selftaught’, as we tend to pick things up like magpies as we go along. But, yes, formal tuition can be a very positive thing, as senior tuition editor, Jason Sidwell, explains: “If you can find a really good guitar teacher, one-to-one lessons provide the fastest way to develop. The tutor can provide you with effective approaches to all manner of technique problems, educate you in aspects of theory and often broaden your musical appreciation, too. By contrast, self-taught guitarists can suffer ‘forbidden zones’: areas outside their comfort zone. A good tutor will help you develop a full spectrum of skills that interlock and support each other, leaving no glaring gaps in your overall playing ability. A pretty good combination for any student of guitar!”