Might start taking lessons again after 20 years

[Lobster11]

My last teacher did the monthly payments. He is a full-time music teacher, though.

But when you first started with him, did you pay for the first month in advance before even having a single lesson? Or did you have an introductory lesson first -- on a trial basis, so to speak -- before committing to and paying for the next month?

 

[Mach17]

I started live lessons a month or so ago after messing around self-taught for about 20 years. Be prepared to put some work in to "unlearn" your bad habits as well as learning the right ones. String muting was a big issue for me, I never really learned how and open strings were my enemy. Slowing but surely getting used to using good follow-through techniques and coordinating with my fretting hand.

As others have said, I find it fun to learn still and I'm playing along with different styles of music that I normally wouldn't listen to.

 

[akukulich]

When I started taking lessons again as an adult I didn't want to do the 'every Saturday for 30 minutes' kind of lessons. That works okay for kids, but didn't really fit what I wanted to do. So I found a guy who didn't mind if we scheduled them every two or three weeks and the lessons went for 60 - 90 minutes. By the end of 90 minutes, I was usually fried. That open schedule worked really well for me. I found the guy who was teaching bass at the local university. His schedule was a little more flexible than a guy who needs to fill every 30 minute slot at the local music store. That approach worked really well for me and was a productive time.

Adults learn very much differently than kids do. I always suggest that you go into your lessons with a clear idea of what you want to get out of it. Know what you want to improve. That will help your teacher and is likely to help hold your interest.

 

[Mach17]

I agree with that, 30 minutes seems to go by very fast. At least an hour would be nice.

 

[ConnManX]

But when you first started with him, did you pay for the first month in advance before even having a single lesson? Or did you have an introductory lesson first -- on a trial basis, so to speak -- before committing to and paying for the next month?

I paid for the first month in advance.