when do you stop taking lessons?

[D Rokk]

my old bass teacher went on to the "bring in a cd and we learn the song" method pretty early on.. i wasnt learning much unless i brought in a challenging song to play... this method started to wear thin but i enjoyed playing with this guy so i kept going.. i had auditioned for a band in the area and i talked to the guitarist about how my teacher taught.. he suggested i ask him to teach me diatonic scales and if the guy couldnt do that quit right then and there.. so i asked and a new world of learning opened up to me.. he did infact have alot to teach me it was like the movie "i robot" you have to ask the right questions

now the sad part of the story.. my parents had promised as long as i kept taking lessons they would keep paying for them.. this proved to hold as much water as a collander they came to me two weeks after i had finally started learning and said "you've been taking lessons for almost a year, it is time you start paying for them or quit.. " i couldnt afford it at that point in my life and havent went back because of time constraints..

thanx for reading my ramblings

 

[Freddels]

Four lessons? You should pretty much know everything by now. j/k

When to stop? Well, you know the saying (or maybe you don't) "snatch the pebble from my hand"

 

[dulouz]

You can still have teachers even if you are not taking lessons. You can learn something from everyone.

 

[Bassmickeyd]

D Rokk
"you have to ask the right questions"

You got it.
That's what lessons should teach you.
How to ask the right questions.
Now, you're learned that it's time for you to learn how to answer those questions for yourself.
How do you do that?
Start with simple questions to yourself.
Why does this note sound good played before or after that note, but these other notes sounds bad?
Remember the major scale has all the answers.
The major scale holds all the answers to the major, minor and diminished scale.
Learn them inside and out.
Doesn't matter how long it takes you.
The key word to that sentence is "YOU".
Start asking 'yourself' the right questions and 'you' don't need a teacher.
Remember Jaco never took one bass lesson.
It's all inside you, you just got to get it out.

I look at 'songs' as little trips to the mall.
One day you go to this store, one day you go to a different store.
Learning a song is learning how to wiggle your fingers, stop, then repeat.
Learn how to play music and you can play any song ever written.

 

[Stumbo]

Check out the link in my sig. Once you know everything there you can stop taking lessons for a couple months.

 

[markkoelsch]

This is a highly personal thing. It depends on a number of things. First, you have 4 lessons....keep working hard and do not think about quiting until a one or more of the following happen.

First, you can sight read well. I cannot read well, and wish I could. Now, I have a job, Wife, son, and a house. I have little time to work on this. It really is the gateway to learning so many things that to ignore it is foolish. I wish I had worked harder at it.

Secondly, you have solid fingerstyle, pop and slap,and maybe pick. A good teacher can help here a lot.

That being said though, I think you can hit a point where you have enough material to work on, to internalize if you will, that stopping leassons for a while makes sense. For instance, if you have a decent grasp on the above stuff, but you want to really focus on learning to play faster and cleaner the only way to do it is to play a bunch. This is the type of thing where paying for weekly lessons makes little or no sense.

Also, when you become a more mature player I think taking lessons occasionally is a great idea. I am trying to find a teacher who would be willing to do a lesson or two a month. This works because it would fit my schedule better, and at the point I am at in my development a lot of things are more thought than mechanics. This can take time to really work up before going for a follow up lesson.