Guitar Lesson F.A.Q.'s

London Ontario Guitar Instruction by Suzanne Frank

How long are the guitar lessons?

Lessons are half-hour, 45 minutes or an hour depending on what’s available and the needs of the student. Usually students come each week in the same time slot.

Can you teach anyone to play?

Yes if there is no physical problem with the hands.

My son or daughter wants to learn guitar. Do you teach children?

I don’t usually teach anyone younger than 10 or 11 because their hands are not strong enough to do chords which involve pressing down on more than one string at a time with the left hand (to play right-handed). I like students to experience good results and not feel that they’ve failed when their hands aren’t quite ready for guitar.

I’ve heard of the Suzuki Method. Is that what you teach?

No, I don’t teach the Suzuki Method. It can be explained in detail by going to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_method.  Children can start much younger in this method. I can recommend a good Suzuki teacher in the London area.

I’ve been playing guitar for years, what can you teach me?

Learning new things about the guitar and music never stops. Many people play very well but don’t understand what they’re doing technically. This can limit them from learning new music easily or keep them from feeling comfortable with other musicians who have more technical knowledge.

Some guitarists can’t read music and play only by ear; others can’t play without music in front of them. It’s nice to do both when appropriate.

There are many different styles of guitar music; some people want lessons to learn a whole new style. Students may want to learn more about song writing and composition. There is always more to learn.

Can I bring in my own music?

Yes. You can bring your own music in many forms; recorded on an iPod, MP3 player, cell phone (not usually the best sound quality), CD, or notated music (charts are fine). 

Where is your studio?

My studio is in Wortley Village between Bruce Street and Elmwood Avenue. Put in "Suzanne Frank Guitar Lessons" to Google Maps. The map will show you exactly where my studio is located. There is free parking for my students in the lot behind the building.

What do you particularly like to teach?

I enjoy teaching many styles. My favourite music is finger-style (right-hand finger-picking) anything. jazz, blues, folk, classical, rock, alternate tuning slide guitar and more. What makes me happy is when a student is dying to play a particular piece of music of any style. I also like working with singers who need to accompany themselves on guitar.

Are your lessons structured at all?

Yes, there are certain basics that are important to know in order to build on and expand your knowledge of music. Your lessons will cover chords (the study of harmony), scales, arpeggios, ear-training (listening, recognizing and finding notes and chords on the guitar), right-hand fingerstyle and pick techniques and reading notation in a musical way.

The very first thing whenever you play a guitar is tuning! Then, after checking the tuning, I begin each lesson by doing warm-up exercises with the student. (This is equivalent to a runner stretching before sprinting) Some students prefer to warm-up with scales; others like to play a song they know very well but at half the speed. I have lots of exercises that sound very musical; tremolo or arpeggiation studies that make great warm-ups.

Then, depending on the individual student, we review the last week’s lesson content and address any questions or concerns about that information. Then we move on to the new information in a given lesson. I usually write the date and the information covered in each lesson. This becomes part of each student’s personal course.

Do you provide a guitar?

No, I can recommend where to buy or rent a guitar. If you are a beginner it's a good idea to rent (or borrow) a guitar because it gives you time to figure out --a) if you really like playing the guitar and --b) what type of guitar you might like to own. There are several local music stores that have guitar rentals. There is usually a three month period where the rent can be put toward the purchase of a guitar (not necessarily the one you've rented). This doesn't cost as much as buying a guitar outright. You need to specify whether you want a steel-string, nylon-string or electric guitar. Most stores require a phone call to verify if they have any rentals available on a given day.

 Contact me for more guitar lesson information.