TLDR: Take lessons with Alex if you want to really play the guitar. There are a ton of ways to dabble, experiment, or mess around with the guitar. How many people simply get stuck doing the same chords (and songs) over and over?
This happens, but Alex will get you playing the guitar in a surprisingly short time. I mean really playing it -- like you were meant to!
Detail:
After dabbling with the guitar and learning some of the very basic stuff, I decided to take a plunge and hire a guitar teacher. It was the best decision I ever made for my guitar playing! I have advanced much more quickly than I expected. I love in-person lessons with Alex, yet even his LVLUPGTR.com site has been a great resource for learning. In addition, I kept up lessons through the lockdowns and found his Zoom lessons equally valuable. Don't let location deter you--you have a great teacher here waiting to help you along your guitar journey!
Soloing/Theory: Alex is a phenomenal theory teacher, and he really helps the students understand the reasons behind a theory. His approach to theory is practical--does it help you understand the song and play better? Alex helps students play songs they are interested in better, his theory approach also helps students learn to write and solo on their own. His approach to modal theory was a particularly welcome change from stodgy theory courses. Learning theory with Alex, the student will analyze just about any song and understand the chord progression and what scale would best fit improvisations---and he/she will know WHY!
What will I learn: That depends! That depends on you. More so than any other teacher I've had, Alex allows the student to explore areas of interest. I have brought him songs from incredibly diverse musical genres, and he has been able to delve into all of them. Certainly there will need to be some basis of instruction so that student & teacher can speak the same language when it comes to discussing pentatonic scales, modal scales, etc. However, I found Alex able to explain these ground-floor concepts in an incredibly short amount of time. It all came together relatively quickly under his direction!
Alex has literally hundreds of, if not 1000+, songs under his fingertips. If you want to learn basic blues and its derivatives, he can help you. If you want to learn classic rock, progressive rock, punk, pop, or any other genres, he can help. You want to learn some folk songs, a holiday song for the family, and even country songs -- Alex is a easily competent there as well. Importantly, you will learn rhythm and lead!
I have been taking lessons for a few years now and can play reasonably well with friends in a weekend get together. We play what interests us just to have fun. No, I don't have any scholarships, unlike many of Alex's students. I don't have any brag-worthy skills (hell, I am old as it is), but I am playing what I want and having a blast!
I still have so much to learn--yes, it can be daunting! Alex helps me get through these plateaus and obstacles, and I am playing what I want and getting better each week. Also, I now have fun actually playing with other musicians now. It's not just me playing along with a streamed song. My confidence and competence are growing weekly. Yes, I have a long way to go, but a few short years ago, I never thought I would be playing what I'm playing now.
So, if you've read this far, thank you! - and congrats! You wouldn't be here or reading this were you not interested and looking for that one difference--that one thing that stands out above all the other options out there! That lesson guidance that gets you playing what you want to play at a level you want to be playing at. Seriously, Alex will help you get there. read more
