Guitar Courses In London
What 6th forms/ Colleges have courses in guitar making/repairs?

Anybody know of any 6th forms colleges in London where they do these courses.

Courses in guitar making/repairs? I would be amazed to find such a narrow course in any Sixth Form college in London. I think you might be better thinking more broadly and considering engineering? or manufacturing? or resistant materials?

First, consider what qualification you want: A levels? I think you should consider NVQs in Manufacturing.

Otherwise you might be better off in an Training/Apprenticeship with a guitar manufacturer.

Either way, broaden your thinking by researching Sixth Form. Look at: http://direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/Workandcareers/index.htm
Consider any options, and note the Connexions link on the right hand side who can advise you in some direction though it will probably require you visiting the local Office if you are that impressed with them (Connexions don’t impress me really but they have good CV examples). If not discuss this guitar thing you have going with your current tutors.

Guitar Courses In London

Beginner Guitar Lessons – Online and Offline

One of the first things you think of if you contemplate beginner guitar lessons is the cost. What is a fair price to pay for guitar lessons? If you are thinking about taking lessons from a local guitar teacher, then the first thing you should know is that this has become the most expensive way of taking lessons on the guitar. Prices charged by guitar teachers vary widely so you are likely to be charged more in Sydney, London or New York than you are in a small town in Outer Slobovia. And we have not even started to talk about how teachers vary in quality and experience.

If you are not confident about learning guitar from a book or an online course, then you will need to make some kind of value judgement about whatever guitar teachers are available and sign up for whatever the minimum number of lessons is. Once you have gotten the basics from your teacher, try learning from books or online courses. If it does not work out, you can always go back to your teacher. The cost of guitar tutor books will depend on whether you buy new or secondhand. Chords, scales and songs are just as good in the books you pick up at the local garage sale or markets. If you find a book that has the material you want to learn, then buy it and work on it for a while.

How you choose your book or online course depends on how good your teacher has been at guiding you in your choice of musical style, and your understanding of how far you need to go as a beginner guitar student. During your first few lessons with a teacher you will probably have decided whether you are going to learn to read musical notation or guitar tablature. You will probably also have an idea about how to tune your guitar even if you are not good at it yet. If you do not know these things then you will need to go investigating online.

An ongoing concern should be keeping your guitar in tune. If your guitar is not kept in tune then your friends will not want to hear you play. In fact your playing might make them want to hurt you. You can find guitar tuners online. You can even find tuners that you can save on your computer. A metronome is also essential, so find and download yourself a free metronome and get into the habit of using it as you practice. You can set the metronome for very slow speeds to begin with and increase the speed as your technique gets better.

Warming up is as important for a beginner guitar player as it is for an athlete. You can do serious damage to yourself by holding your guitar in a way that puts too much strain on your back, plus the way you make chord shapes or use the plectrum could also be leaving you open to repetitive strain injury. If you do not know anybody who can give you advice on this subject, do an internet search. The principals are the same for typists, musicians or anybody who does fine, repetitive work, so read up on it wherever you can. This leads onto the subject of strumming patterns. Once you have learnt a few chords you will need some strumming patterns to practice. This is as much to keep your learning chord changes fresh as for learning strumming itself.

The things I have mentioned in this article are the very basic topics that a beginner guitar player should consider when thinking about lessons. As you do more research you will find many more things to learn about guitar lessons in general and your musical genre in particular.

About the Author

Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.

Would it be better to do a guitar course at a music school instead of taking private lessons?

I have been saving up for a year now while practicing guitar by myself and I’ve goten to the stage where I feel stuck like I’m not making any progress.

I have decided I want to be taught now and don’t know whether I should take private lessons or look for a music school to attend.

If it would be better to go to a music school and learn acoustic/jazz guitar where would be a good school to go?

I am in UK in the london area by the way.

Advice will be much appreciated.

It depends on the instructor. The late Craig Bolyn, one of the best guitarists I ever knew, easily on a par with Clapton, refused to teach anyone who owned a Silvertone or other cheap guitar with the strings a quarter of an inch from the frets. He himself played an old Les Paul, whose action made it possible for him to play with little effort. If you find a private instructor like that, he’s worth every penny. I only wish I had taken lessons! (My consolation is that I became fluent on blues harp!)

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