Took A Guitar Boot Camp Class Today

mikespe · May 13th, 2008, 08:55 PM

I just got back from a guitar boot camp class I signed up for through my local community center. It was only $40 for six one hour classes. There are about 6 students in the class. The instructor is about 19 or 20 years old but very good. He did start off very basic like learning how to tune a guitar by ear. There are 3 of us that have been playing a while. One guy is about a year more than me and is pretty good. I have 3 years, a couple of the guys are about 6 months to a year and 2 guys are first day beginners. I felt bad for the one guy. He is about 50 years old and just started playing. He was so lost with learning basic C and G7 chords. I helped him a bit while the instructor helped the other new guy. I could tell one of the guys was a bit frustrated because he already knew how to tune a guitar and play open chords. But being the first day the instructor has to assume the students know nothing. I happened to mention that I do a lot of 12 bar blues/I IV V stuff and suggested it might be a good place to start for everyone. He agreed and said he would plan his lessons with some very basic stuff for the newer players and add more for the rest of us. He was very open for suggestions. One guy is a drummer learning guitar. The instructor and I were joking with him and said he had trouble tuning his guitar because he was a drummer...who by the way was joking with the rest of us too. The guy that has a bit more experience then me is a lefty and I kept telling him his guitar was backwards. He had an SX Tele from Rondo. He was shocked I knew of Rondo and that I had 2 guitars from there. I gave him the address of this site so he might see this!

Considering the class was only $40 for 6 lessons and I was mostly doing it to network socially I had a lot of fun. I took my MIM Tele and my VCXD amp. The amp impressed everyone. I am looking forward to next Tuesday's class!

pchilson · May 13th, 2008, 09:00 PM

Way to go Mike, that sounds like a load of fun. I would like to find a way to do something like that here.

Stuco · May 13th, 2008, 09:05 PM

That sounds like a really good idea for a class. It would be good if it was big enough to have differnet classes for level of experience but still cool. I took a guitar class at college and it was similar to this except I was the beginner and it was for an hour a week for a semester.

mikespe · May 13th, 2008, 09:10 PM

They have beginner and intermediate classes for kids. This was the first adult one they have done in a while. I am going to ask if they would offer a part TWO to this class. I had a lot of fun and helping the newer players helped me to realize I know more than I thought I did. However, I was doing a simple 12 bar (E7 A7 B7) blues rhythm I have been messing with and the instructor and the other guy jumped in...which of course startled me and I messed up my playing!

May 13th, 2008, 09:05 PM	#3 (permalink)
Stuco Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: GA Posts: 2,758	That sounds like a really good idea for a class. It would be good if it was big enough to have differnet classes for level of experience but still cool. I took a guitar class at college and it was similar to this except I was the beginner and it was for an hour a week for a semester. __________________ -"You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do" J. Garcia

May 13th, 2008, 09:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
pchilson Tele-Holic Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Loveland, Colorado Age: 50 Posts: 608	Way to go Mike, that sounds like a load of fun. I would like to find a way to do something like that here.