Signed up for lessons and I'm actually getting nervous!

dave64o · #1 10-21-2008, 11:19 AM

I played some guitar in college and got to the point where I was able to hook up with a band who needed a singer. Then after graduating I didn't play much for a lot of years.

Then I started playing bass pretty late in life seven years ago (I was 37!) with a co-worker who was a pretty good guitarist and we started writing and recording songs together. However, he moved about two years ago and is now about 3.5 hours away, so we haven't managed to get together to work on any new material since then. In that time just about all I've done is learn songs in my basement and try more or less unsuccessfully to work my way through some books on my own. One of my old neighbors plays some guitar and we got together a few times but nothing really serious came from it and then I moved about six months ago so that's over with, too.

Well, last week I finally decided if I'm going to advance my bass playing any more the best thing to do is to find an instructor and study for real. Since my son's school wind ensemble and jazz band has a list of recommended music teachers for private lessons, I called the music store they suggested for their jazz band guitarists and bassists.

I'm really looking forward to doing this, but dang it if I'm not as nervous as I was when I moved and went to a new school back when I was 12 years old! I'm 44 now and I know I'm going to be three times the age of the average student and probably twice the age of the instructor. I don't start until next week but I'm already feeling awkward without ever even setting foot in the store.

Should be interesting - for both me AND the instructor! If I finally earn the right to change my self-applied tagline ("a TB leader in low talent/gear ratios!" I would have accomplished something meaningful!

DudeWheresMy182 · #2 10-21-2008, 11:22 AM

dont feel awkward at all! you are getting lessons cause you love bass and want to learn more, and im sure the instructor feels the same way about teaching. Cracking a little joke with the instructor may help you relax a little bit, but i know youre going to be fine!

SteveC · #3 10-21-2008, 11:26 AM

My best students were "older than average" so just go and have fun.

DudeistMonk · #4 10-21-2008, 11:52 AM

I was a swim instructor for awhile when I was a teenager. I loved teaching the adult classes....they learn fast, they get my jokes, they don't cry, they actually practiced...they didn't hit me with plastic diving rings, or kick off me to get a head start...

I used to teach my late class for an extra 30 minutes I enjoyed it so much. My bass lessons go the same way, my instructor teaches me until I have to start packing up on my own cause its 9:00 and I haven't eaten dinner.

quale213 · #5 10-21-2008, 01:05 PM

I had my first lesson last night and wow was I impressed. I have been playing for 8 years, a similar amount of time as you have, and it is nice to have another, for me at least "more theoretical", viewpoint. Lessons are great and I had a blast. Remember, if the instructor is lame there are always others.

paganjack · #6 10-21-2008, 01:12 PM

yeah i'm going in for my first bass lesson tonight. i've taken some other lessons, but i'm pretty stoked to get actually better at my favorite instrument.

i'm sure it will be fine- you're playing cause you like it, they teach because they like it. it's win win!

Deacon_Blues · #7 10-21-2008, 01:53 PM

I'm not as sure music teachers teach because they like it - many teachers don't consider it being much other than another job giving them a steady income.

However, I bet any teacher would like to teach an adult, because they're more serious about it than the average child or teenager. At least that is my experience as a guitar teacher since two months.

StyleOverShow · #8 10-21-2008, 01:58 PM

Your experience will show through too. You've played longer than probably everyone there except the instructor and it will show. Good luck with the growing pains.

tZer · #9 10-21-2008, 02:05 PM

Yes - don't be nervous. You are not going to be judged, you're going to be taught stuff. Just relax and think about stuff you really want to understand so you can help your teacher teach you.

DocBop · #10 10-21-2008, 02:22 PM

Love of playing and listening to music is a great equalizer. Just relax go in talk and play some bass and enjoy. When I take lessons it usually the one thing I look forward to all week, an hour to spend with someone who digs bass as much as I do.

BassChuck · #11 10-22-2008, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deacon_Blues

I'm not as sure music teachers teach because they like it - many teachers don't consider it being much other than another job giving them a steady income.

This would the the definition of a poor teacher.... or someone who isn't going to last long on the job.

85vf500rr · #12 10-22-2008, 06:01 AM

Relax and have fun. I've only been to 3 lessons so far, and one yesterday with my son's guitar teacher. I'm a complete rookie, so it was a little scary at first to be "judged" so to speak. I just tried to go at it like my first week on trombone in Jr. High - basically like I knew nothing other than what it looked like. We've been working on scales, theory, rhythm, and I'm learning the bassline to play along with the songs my son is learning. We're working beyond the self taught tab reading so I can make up my own basslines as I follow the chord progressions in a song.

It's all new and exciting. You won't regret taking lessons.

Deacon_Blues · #13 10-22-2008, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassChuck

This would be the definition of a poor teacher.... or someone who isn't going to last long on the job.

Sadly, I know a lot of people who teach mostly because it's rather easy money and a steady source of income. If a musician here has the time to give lessons, they do it. Good players will always be asked for lessons whether they're good teachers or not. Few people will say no to the extra income they can earn just because they don't really like teaching. They only do it I believe if they've got an alternative that pays better...

I'm perhaps a bit cynical here, but I guess it's not too far from the truth.

DudeistMonk · #14 10-22-2008, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Sadly, I know a lot of people who teach mostly because it's rather easy money and a steady source of income. If a musician here has the time to give lessons, they do it. Good players will always be asked for lessons whether they're good teachers or not. Few people will say no to the extra income they can earn just because they don't really like teaching. They only do it I believe if they've got an alternative that pays better...

I'm perhaps a bit cynical here, but I guess it's not too far from the truth.

I can see your point, I had a teacher like that at one point...you could tell he was just sick of teaching teenagers, curmudgeonly old crusty guy...he would basically throw modes at me without teaching me what they where, or what they where for, I could have done that myself on the internet...that lasted a month before I stopped practicing and 2 before I quit.

New instructor I have been with for half a year now, I've gone through a binder full of material with him, I don't plan on stopping till he has nothing left to teach me. I gives me modes and chords and all that stuff too but I don't mind cause I understand why, and he puts it into context and then we apply it.

LowDown Hal · #15 10-22-2008, 10:19 AM

Recently started playing, and taking lessons, at the age of 50.

I'm only nervous when I don't feel that I have properly prepared the weeks lesson.

RED5 · #16 10-22-2008, 10:32 AM

When my instructor told me he wasn't going to change what I know but add to it? I was relieved. I wasn't greatly worried to begin with, but it did help the hear that.

dave64o · #17 10-24-2008, 11:16 AM

Thanks for all the posts, guys. It was especially cool to hear from guys that took lessons for the first time when they were my age and older. I'd love to hear more about those stories.

Since making that phone call I've been in the basement playing as much as I can, which unfortunately isn't a lot give the way "life" can get in the way. But I also know I'm not going to go much further without putting in the effort and some time, so hopefully a goal and this newly found desire will keep me motivated.

Of course, it would also help if I transferred some of the time I spend in the Basses, Miscellaneous, Off Topic, and For Sale forums into the Instruction and the Technique forums and then transferred most of the rest into actually practicing.