To all beginning guitarist...have you paid for actual lesson, and if you did, ho

Question:I've been playing my Ibanez acoustic for a little over a month. I've taught myself the major, minor, and some 7 chords, along with how to read a tab chart. The part I'm currently having trouble with is the strumming. I'll know the chords to a song, but somehow I get my strumming all out of whack...and it sounds bad and definitely not smooth. I found a place that offers 4 30 minute lessons for $62 bucks. I thought this was a great deal, I just wanted to know how beneficial these lessons would be.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I've been playing my Ibanez acoustic for a little over a month. I've taught myself the major, minor, and some 7 chords, along with how to read a tab chart. The part I'm currently having trouble with is the strumming. I'll know the chords to a song, but somehow I get my strumming all out of whack...and it sounds bad and definitely not smooth. I found a place that offers 4 30 minute lessons for $62 bucks. I thought this was a great deal, I just wanted to know how beneficial these lessons would be.

I'm not a beginner, I'm a teacher, but as a teacher I can tell you that strumming is something that is not easily taught and you must train yourself at (most lesson consist of chord structure and fingering). Strumming takes allot of practice, it's more to do with coordination and timing than anything else. I learned drums first so it was not difficult for me as I already had the coordination and timing.
As for the lessons, at that price they're probably real basic and of little or no help for strumming.
Lessons can give you a jump start on the basics (some things are better off being shown to you), but then there comes a point where your rate of learning slows down (not learning anything new). This is where it's time to start learning on your own.

no save the money and just practice some more eventually youll get to know basic strum patterns try strummimg with out the chords and just get the right hand rythm down then try to do chord cganges etc etc when you develop more right/left hadn coordination

I'm paying for guitar lessons, but I'm learning a lot more than just strumming. I could probably have learned that by myself...
But, if you find a cool teacher, he could teach you a lot about musical theory, and a better technique. It always depends on how much you need/want to learn

That's about what I was paying for my lessons... each weeks 30 minute session was $15... I have to say that I'm glad I started with it (I took the lessons for a total of month and a half) but quickly realized that I would learn more on my own, I just needed a starting point. However, since you started learning all those things on your own I would say that it would then be a waste of your time and money...

Stick with the lessons. The only problem that I have with a 30 minute lesson is that it's over too soon!. It's difficult to get situated, tuned up, and into a groove with your teacher in such a short amount time, especially at a music store where the next students are waiting & teachers have a tight time frame. But you do the best with what you've got and I started with 30 minute lessons, then later bumped that to an hour a week.

As far as improving your strumming, I recommend taking a simple recording device into your lessons and record the examples your instructor gives you to work on. Whether it's strumming patterns, scales, playing with a metronome (very important), or theory, that's something that I did and it was an incredible learning tool to listen to the lesson in private and really concentrate. Also saves time from having to write everything out on paper.

I've been playing now for over 15 years and still try to take lessons for a month or two each year to learn more. A good instructor will understand the type of player you want to be and give you the tools to get there, but that means you have to stick with a good teacher and put in the time to improve....which you're already doing. Nice.
Good luck to a fellow guitar player!!