Is Taking a Guitar Course at a Music School a Good Idea?

So you want to learn guitar? Well, as you may have noticed, there are a ton of options regarding how to go about learning.

Self teaching (which isn’t an entirely accurate term seeing as “self-taught” guitarists use materials such as books and DVD’s to learn, thus are actually learning from the instructors who make the materials) is one of the most popular methods of learning to play the guitar.

Another popular method is taking guitar lessons at a local guitar shop. Yet another way to learn how to play the guitar is by getting a friend who already knows how to play to teach you.

With all these avenues, you might be asking yourself what else there could possibly be.

Well, there is always the method of taking guitar courses at a music school to learn to play guitar. But is that such a good idea?

It can be expensive if you take a class as a student, and you may not get the greatest education if you learn from a student (after all, they are students, not teachers). In this article, we’ll talk about some of the benefits and some of the pitfalls of taking guitar courses at a music school.

First off, you should understand something; we use the term “music school” in the most technical way. Why are we clarifying this? Because, for argument’s sake, a guitar store can be referred to as a “music school” if it is offering guitar lessons. The type of music school that we are referring to is a teaching school directed solely at teaching music, without any sales involved other than those of the lessons themselves.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get down to business.

Music school teachers usually fit into one of the following categories; (a) professional musicians, (b) musicians in bands with high technical skills, or (c) retired teachers and/or musicians with degrees in music.

Right there tells you that you will be getting a broad range of teachers. Luckily, teachers have to tell you if they do or don’t hold a degree or any form of authentication of their skills and knowledge. Now, just because a guitar teacher has a degree, doesn’t mean they will be a good teacher. Likewise, just because a teacher is a musician from a band, doesn’t mean they will be a bad teacher.

Most of these things can be found out by meeting with the teacher on a one on one basis. If the personalities fit, everything else tends to fall into place. Notice we didn’t say always; just because the teacher is a good person, doesn’t mean they will be a good teacher.

You know what you need as a student, and while taking guitar classes at a music school is a great idea, it may not be for you. The only way to find out if it is is to give it a shot. Look up the school and the teacher and visit both before making any commitments.

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