Teacher time

After noodling around and riffing on the one scale pattern I remember from playing guitar a decade again (1st position minor pentatonic, but of course), it's time to settle in and schedule some lessons. I need structure, and I need it fast, or I'm going to end up playing a few songs a few nights a week until I slowly stop picking up the bass again.

So, how am I going to find a teacher? I figure there are two predominant ways. First, I checked craigslist. I figure anyone giving lessons freelance would post there. Second, I looked at local music stores.

My craigslist search brought up two possibilities. Price-wise, they were the same as in-store teachers, or close enough to make no difference. One was came to your house to give lessons, which I imagine is a bonus for some people. For me, it sounds like a plan for unnecessary anxiety. The other fellow had an out of date website, but other than that, seemed nice enough. Nothing inspired me to actually want to take lessons with him though.

The other option I looked at was taking a lesson through a store. There are three local music stores that offer lessons in my area. The closest to my work is the smallest. I carpool though, so proximity to my home is more important. The closest place to my apartment does lessons, but didn't have any information online about scheduling. I hate the "call us for more information" line. I'm already looking for information. Why not let me know a little bit about your teachers, rates, and schedule?

In the end, I decided to give the third place a call to see what I can set up. Elderly Instruments is a local business with a national catalog that's pretty great. Their store has a great vibe, and the teacher biographies has a few people who matched up to what I was looking to learn.

The only thing left to do is decide when I want to take lessons, and for how long. I'm leaning towards half an hour once a week, but once every two weeks might make sense too. Wednesday seems like a strong candidate, but I'm not sure the day of the week actually makes a difference at this point.

The plan is to make a call tomorrow and see what I can set up. Lesson might not start right away, but I want to get them scheduled so I have something to look forward to (and work towards).

UPDATE: Booked my first lesson for Thursday, February 3rd. I'm thinking half hour lessons weekly after that, but I think I'll wait and see how the first one goes.)