Like most of you reading these guitar lesson reviews, I had an acoustic guitar in my apartment,…read morecollecting dust and figured I'd learn how to play SOME day. Once I decided to try a lesson, I didn't want to sign up for a class that treats adults like, "Why did you wait THIS long?" and "Enjoy your lessons to play 'Mary had a Little Lamb" and "Old McDonald." Something I read on the Williamsburg School of Music (WSM) webpage (and Timeout Magazine's recommendation) made me give WSM a shot.
I've been extremely happy with the classes. Just to jump forward a bit, I'm eleven months invested and I'm learning to play "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "And She Was" ... am I great? Phfft, no! But, I'm learning these songs on my own and I'm getting there.
I enrolled in the Beginning and Intermediate Guitar classes. I was fortunate to have Craig, Dodi, and Shane as my teachers. Each one was VERY different and the differences kinda freaked me out at first, but, I learned so much. One of the teachers ran the beginning class with a lot of structure. The song we'd learn for the day was printed out and the chord progressions made sense. You'd start with the C chord, then the G chord, then the A minor, then... and so on. The pace wasn't too fast; it made sense. Oh, I should mention here, the song selections were from Johnny Cash, the Rolling Stones, and some fun others (I don't want to give away everything); but, we avoided the dreaded "Mary had a Little Lamb" songs... which I REALLY appreciated.
My next teacher (for Intermediate) kinda took what you knew and threw some challenges in there. No music was printed... what do you want to play? Well, let's start there... and let's try these barre chord things. My last teacher wasn't a huge fan of playing covers. He preferred to create, so, we tried all types of randomness. He also, which I really appreciated, allowed me to practice on an electric guitar and I just geeked out. He also played drums while I played... which was awesome!
In summary, if anyone is still reading this review (I know it's long), for any adult learner that wants to learn how to play and wants to learn how to play fun songs, you should really give WSM a chance. Lastly, if I can give one piece of advice, if you're a student, you should practice... it really does help to move the class along.