All students begin studying the G4 guitar method. The G4 guitar is a comprehensive skills based method comprised of 5 books/levels. It takes about 3-5 years to complete. The G4 method is designed to help students acquire the skill set needed to play the guitar at home and in a professional setting. The skills covered are picking, strumming, reading music notation and guitar tablature, ear training, rhythm studies, scales, chords, arpeggios, songs and improvisation.
We do not require that our students learn to read music notation, but we strongly encourage them to learn. We also introduce guitar tablature. Learning to play guitar by ear is the first way of learning and is very effective in producing skilled and adaptable musicians. It is important to be able to read music notation, but it is more important to be able to understand how to listen critically to the music one hears. Understanding what one hears is not contingent upon having the ability to read music, though reading does help. If a student has an interest in going to college to study music, or becoming a professional musician then reading is very strongly encouraged.
There's no such thing as a beginner guitar. For beginning students, buying a new lower priced starter package guitar from your local shop is a good way to begin.
If you want to wait before buying a guitar because you want to try a few lessons beforehand, you can find a music shop that will rent you one.
Students should expect to take at least one month of private guitar lessons before beginning the group guitar lesson program.
During the first month, the teacher and student will cover the basic concepts such as posture, how to hold the guitar and pick, how to tune the guitar and some basics such as picking single note melodies and strumming simple chords. Eventually, students will be enouraged to come to the group lessons as they progress in their private lessons.