"Do I really need a music teacher?"

A lot of younger musicians (including myself when I first started music) have mixed feelings about taking formal music lessons, whether from a private teacher or otherwise.

The main argument for this outlook on music lessons sounds something like this:

"Teachers only teach you to sound like them. I want to be original, and have my own style, not sound like everyone else."

Honestly, I completely understand this feeling. When I started playing guitar several years ago, I felt the same way, but before you make any assumptions about what music lessons do or don't do, you should find out a little bit more about them.

My Rebuttal:If a characteristic of your playing is truly you, no teacher will be able to squash it out of you, it will stay with you, and you don't need to be afraid of losing it. However, you should know that originality is NOT the first step to becoming a musician, in fact it's usually the last. You learn the fundamentals first, the same things everyone else learns, (i.e. technique, how to read music, theory, etc.) then you make it personal.

Case in point:I am sure you have seen the thousands of American Idol wannabes, stepping up to achieve their dreams only to be publicly humiliated in front of millions of viewers. A lot of these people feel "unique" and "original", and actually they are! (No one does sound quite like William Hung after all...) The only difference is, they don't have the technique to support this "originality", and they just end up sounding terrible. That's what happens when you try to find your sound before you learn the basics.

Now I am not going to lie to you, like most teachers will, and say that the only way to become a great musicians is through formal training-- that is simply not true. Many great musicians were self-taught, and rose to the top through sheer force of will to succeed. But what you should know about all these musicians is that they weren't just "born that way", they all practiced hours and hours every day to become the legends that they are. If you do plan on pursuing a music career without any teacher advising you, be prepared to work 150% as hard as anyone else.

How music teachers can help:

As I have already stated, some kind form of music lesson, whether by private teacher (recommended) or otherwise, is incredibly beneficial during the beginning stages of musicianship, however, teachers can help with a lot more than that.

• Objective Ears- It's always great to have someone well-educated listen to you, to find out what you need to work on. Teachers will hear things you couldn't possibly hear in yourself. They can pinpoint your flaws, and they can also recognize where your potential lies.
• Materials- Good teachers always know the best books to study out of, they know what songs to learn and where to find them, and they can be great resources for discovering new exercises to work on.
• Guidance- It's easy to feel lost, confused, or even hopeless as a musician at times. At these times you can get your teacher's input on what you should work on, or how you should handle a tough situation, most likely they have been through the same thing.
• Motivation- Especially as a beginning music student, it's easy to become discouraged or disinterested very quickly. Your weekly lesson will give you a reason to keep up the practicing, and it will provide you with constant goals to work towards.
• Plateaus- Every great musician reaches a plateau at some point in his/her music career. It's totally natural to find yourself in a place where you feel that you are just playing the same styles, same licks, same songs over and over again. A big drawback I have noticed in a lot of musicians who lack formal training is that they have trouble adapting to new styles, and though they may sound great, they only sound great playing exactly what they have always played. Teachers can often introduce you to something new, and even help you to discover talents to never knew you had!

Music lessons don't make you a good musician. You can sit through hours of music lessons without any improvement, because ultimately you must teach yourself.

I know its kind of confusing to hear me say that after my whole spiel about how having a music teacher is so great, but it's true (so true I had to write a whole other article about it!).

Here's the thing, you will probably spend 30 minutes to an hour per week in your music lessons. So basically you have 1 day with your teacher, and 6 with yourself every week. During those 6 days, if you sit around doing nothing, you will go back to your teacher and learn the exact same thing again. If you want to really benefit from your music lessons, accept that you will have to work very hard, every minute of your practice time. Your music teacher is there to guide you, and will be very helpful, but you are inevitably your own teacher.

Music is a learned skill, just like algebra or physics, and most people wouldn't try to tackle the latter two subjects without a teacher. I highly recommend anyone and everyone to at least try out music lessons, even if you just take one lesson a month or so. But before you go out and find a teacher, I have to mention the final downside to music lessons, which as probably been on your mind:

Money!

In my opinion, this is the only real negative aspect of music lessons, the cost. And music lessons certainly can get expensive. If you are a beginner, I wouldn't recommend taking lessons that cost any more than $16 per half an hour. I have taken from teachers who charge anywhere from $75-$100 an hour, and honestly I still feel that I learned just as much or even more from some of the less expensive teachers. But still, $16-$32 dollars a week is a lot for some people, especially when they are first starting out with music. Fortunately there are some other options:

• Internet- The web provides hundreds of hours of free music lessons, (I have found some very valuable voice lessons, jazz guitar lessons, theory lessons, and more online) especially for beginning musicians. For some of the better sites, you may be charged a monthly fee for complete access, which I would highly reccommend.
• Friends- If you have friends who are musicians, it is a great idea to get with them for ideas of what you need to work on, or even to just have someone to listen to you and offer you some advice.
• School- You may not be able to take private lessons, but enrolling in music classes in school is highly beneficial. Find whatever ensembles have open enrollment, or if you can find a music theory class, both can be highly beneficial, and you can probably get some one-on-one time with the instructor.
• Books- There are some really, really great books out there, some of which you can buy for just a few dollars on Amazon or Ebay. They can give you some great ideas on new techniques that some teachers may not even know about.

Questions? Feedback? Don't hesitate to email me! Nehal@Musicians-Make-It.com