The Right Teacher

Todays post isn't about how to find one, it's not about what kind of teacher (personal, college, online) it's about the importance of their role in your learning. It's about the importance of their role in mine.

If you are serious about wanting to play you need to have drive, determination, passion and a teacher you can connect with. Because it's going to get hard, because you're unique and because you're going to be putting yourself through some tough challenges.

I'm a whole new level of nuts, I want (don't laugh, just because I lack faith in myself doesn't mean I don't dream big) to reach professional level on guitar - some day! And I want to play the bass guitar, piano and drums (man the drums are fun!) to a pretty good level, AND I want to write music. Then factor in my unique personality and, yep, a teacher who is in it for more than the money is pretty crucial.

Again I can't tell you how to find the right teacher only that you need to look for someone who has passion equal to your own. Someone who can adapt to your learning style, someone who inspires you, someone who will push you in the right way. You're looking for someone you can depend on, this is a long journey after all. Find a teacher you trust and respect and it will make a huge difference to your learning.

Both my teachers are far younger than me (I'm still younger than them at heart though 😁) but I have the utmost respect for them and they are very special people because they fit all of the above criteria. Poor Tom, who teaches me across all instruments (he has 4 times the grief and still comes back for more!), has had to endure a lot because I'm complicated and where I've taken on so much it can be extreemly hard for me. I adore him and he's crucial to keeping me on track. Zak who teaches me guitar has a crazy level of faith in me I simply don't understand but I'm very grateful for - that alone is a huge driving force because I don't want to let them down. These bonds are very important to me and I can tell you, unequivocally, without them I wouldn't be where I am - wherever that might be (haha see no faith!) its definately further than I would have been.

So more important than anything when you think about learning to play is your teacher. And don't forget as a side note to make sure they are teaching you correctly - whatever style you want to learn in, both in terms of the actual music (classic/contemporary) and learning method (school/private/distance) make sure they are fully qualified to teach you or you could be picking up some very bad habits.

​Happy learning!