Guitar lessons Yr 4

[Technoprisoners]

DS1 has just started guitar lessons with the county peri teacher this term. He is not using a course book and there is no feedback from the teacher (just a practise log book).

Now, after just 3 sessions, he has come home with a major scale and a blues scale on a sheet of paper, neither of which makes much sense to us and certainly makes no sense to him. He is very keen to practise but we don't know how to support him. He seems way out of his depth already, which is such a shame as he's musically able and has been doing very well with piano for the last year.

What level of input do your dcs get from your county music department, should I be complaining about what DS1 has received so far, or does this seem normal to you?

TIA

I always have contact with the music teachers so I see what goes on IYSWIM which is not to say that I understand it but I have an idea about what is happening atm. Maybe you could write that he didn't remember how to practise it and you were not able to help him. If the teacher is not at some stage introducing a book so that you and ds can figure out what is going on, maybe look for one independent of the teacher as a reference tool.

I presume they did practise this in class but your ds maybe cannot make the connection between what they did as a class and what is on that piece of paper. It is all very new after just 3 lessons and really even if you know what is going on in the lesson and can join in well, it is hard to remember the next day what you did. I think this is a normal state of affairs but no harm in letting the teacher know IMO. In the meantime, can he practise something he does know (from previous weeks perhaps)?

Does it say on that sheet which major scale he is practising? Youtube has loads of guitar tutorials. Have a look at this which is the first one I found (electric) and see if it rings a bell with ds:

Just made my dd show me and it seems they learn to do it a bit like in this video over the different strings - but I would not teach this to your ds, just so you get an idea of what it is about. He should do what the teacher is working on once he figures that out , but this is basically the idea of the major scale (video 1) and how it looks like in practice at my dd's level (video 2)

Thanks very much for the YouTube links, Zzzen. Hadn't thought of that. I guess we're quite cross that DS1 just comes home with a scrappy bit of photocopied paper with no instructions on it. It just seems like a cop-out from the teacher.

DH teaches guitar. I suspect what your teacher wants your ds to do is to practise making the chords and strumming with them. He may want him to practise changing chord as well, or he may just want him to be clear on the different sound/feel of each chord.

Blues chords are different from major and minor chords and have a different feel. They are used in blues (gosh really?) and in rock. I would ask dh but he's gigging (playing those blues chords!) but if you haven't had satisfactory answers I'll try him tomorrow.

There is no right way or wrong way to teach guitar (I don't know about classical guitar though). I know dh tends to send his pupils home with scrappy bits of paper with chord charts on too. (He's not teaching your ds is he?)

Can your ds interpret what's on the paper? Is it notes on a stave or is it a kind of picture of a guitar neck with dots where the fingers go on the strings?

Thanks Jux (sorry for late reply). DS's scrappy bit of paper involves six horizontal lines from top E to bottom E (is that a stave if it's 6 lines??) with what looks like random dots! Not knowing anything at all about guitar, we weren't sure which way to read the dots - top to bottom, left to right ... who knows. Now we have worked out you start at the bottom of the grid, working from left to right, and you work out how far your fingers have to go. He has a "major scale" set out like this, and a "blues scale". Also, the Simpson's theme and Smoke on the Water (does that sound like your DH?!) But yes, interpreting it has been a bit of a challenge - some written instructions/reminders along with these notes would have helped, especially as DS probably isn't the best at listening to instructions during class. I think we're beginning to make sense of it, but it does seem like v quite progression after only a few weeks. Does your DH use a course book?

No, no book, and he'd produce charts like this too. He would have spent quite a while going through it with a pupil, but probably wouldn't have marked up more than yours either; he 'd expect a pupil to remember! Not sure he'd worry too much if they didn't at first though.

He's been a bit occupied this w/e but I'll ask him for any more detail - assuming there is any - later.

He doesn't do scales as such, but he would do chord progressions.

Oh, staves have 5 lines, btw, so you've def got a chord thing there. Is it called tablature?

That's what I thought, that the dots must represent chords, but he has a piece of paper with 2, 6-line grids or charts on it, one a "major scale", the other the blues scale, and it seems to sound like a scale if you start bottom left, work through the line, then up to the next line, left to right, and so on up to top E.

Arrgghh. This guitar music is totally counter-intuitive to me.

Thanks for checking with your DH though - I'd really appreciate it if a proper bona-fide guitar teacher can say if this sounds about right or not for beginners.

If I were taking the lessons, I'd be failing miserably [hconfused]

poor kid. yeah, it does help a lot if either parent can actually play the instrument or at least be able to read notes..... >>>> Technoprisoners Fri 21-Oct-11 15:30:25 DS1 has just started guitar lessons with the county peri teacher this term. He is not using a course book and there is no feedback from the teacher (just a practise log book). Now, after just 3 sessions, he has come home with a major scale and a blues scale on a sheet of paper, neither of which makes much sense to us and certainly makes no sense to him. He is very keen to practise but we don't know how to support him. He seems way out of his depth already, which is such a shame as he's musically able and has been doing very well with piano for the last year.

I'm sorry I haven't managed to get dh to the screen, he is much occupied with trying to sort things out over his senile old mum who lives 150 miles away and his mind isn't really capable of thinking about much else, coupled with the fact that he needs a new bass player and there are slim pickings round here.

I haven't forgotten though. I imagine you're nearly at the next lesson now though, aren't you? Is he playing those scales one note at a time? I think that's what I'd do; at the least it would help him get an idea of where things are on the neck and of plucking a string at the same time as making a note, getting both hands working together but doing different things.

I have c&p'd your posts and am printing them out. When dh sees it in the morning he will almost certainly be beguiled and come up with a response; which I will pass on to you, obviously

I'm sorry to have taken so long.

The bass player he auditioned this evening was brilliant so he is very happy.

Thanks so much for going to all this trouble Jux, esp asking your DH on my behalf. Glad he has found a good bass player!

Yes, we are just trying to work our way through the scales one note at a time, either moving up one space, or two (semi-tones etc??) It's hard work on the fingers, isn't it? DS1 will have to hurry up and develop some callouses!

Hi again. DH has drawn a load of diagrams for me - he does one and then "on the other hand, it could be like this" and draws another . I can't scan them in atm, but if you can scan yours and email them to me then dh can put a proper response up here. He has just said you can phone him and talk it through.... I'll pm you.

Have pm'd you Jux.

He's looking at your scans as we 'speak'.

OK, this is what he says:

The scales are generic scales, giving the 'shape' of a major scale and of a blues scale, no matter where you start on the neck/what fret you start on. Once you know the shape you can play any chord, but you'll know that as it's pretty much the same with the piano.

As for the tablature, he can't really work out what's happening there. He's played it to me and it is neither the Simpsons nor smoke on the water, and we don't recognise it at all. The bit underneath is an explanation of how the tablature works, but it still doesn't come up with anything any of us recognise. Sorry.

DH doesn't use a book, and can't recommend one. He will start with a couple of easy basic chords and how to strum. Then he will add new chords, ask the pupil to bring in a song he'd like to play - any band, any song - on cd. If dh doesn't know it he'll work it out there and then (thus demonstrating to pupil how to do it). His lessons are very much geared to each individual pupil.

I'm sorry that after all this time the only thing he could help you with was the scales, which you'd got sussed already.

Thank you so much Jux and special thanks to Mr Jux for looking at it for us. I didnt' realise you can start the scales anywhere, so that's very helpful to know. I don't think the Simpsons and Smoke on the Water were on those particular scraps - probably buried somewhere else!

Good luck to Mr Jux and his new bass player! If I get any more little guitar niggles, would you mind if I pm'd you, esp as DS's teacher is only in school a short while each week and difficult to get hold of? Thanks Techno x

My son started guitar in year 4 and his teacher uses the Guitarist Way. My son is half way through book 2 after a year of lessons. It is a well structured book and my son is making excellent progress. We have a little book which the teacher writes in to tell us what to practice.

Tab notation is easy and youtube has some good videos to explain it.