One of the things that is enjoyable about taking guitar lessons when you're an aspiring young guitar player is the opportunity to check out your teacher's gear. Whereas you may be playing on a hand-me-down guitar while you get a feel for this pastime, your teacher likely has made a significant investment in the different components of his or her guitar rig. This gives you the opportunity to not only learn about these elements as you improve your playing and get closer to making your first guitar purchase, but also try them out to help you narrow down what you wish to buy. Here are three things to try at your guitar lessons.
Guitars
While it can be pretty exciting to test out a few of your guitar teacher's guitars, doing so is also valuable. When you're a beginner, you may struggle with knowing how you want to sound as a player. You may be influenced by certain performers, but until you actually try out various types of guitars — not only different brands, but solid- and hollow-body guitars, and guitars with different pickup configurations — you won't know the direction you want to head. While you can try guitars at your local guitar shop, your guitar teacher is well informed about his or her guitars and can talk to you about them as you try them out.
Amps
It's common for many guitar teachers to have a wide range of amplifiers designed to help them achieve different tones. This, too, serves as an opportunity for you to try various amps to see how they suit your preferred guitar and the type of sound you're going for. Solid-state and tube amps offer dramatically different sounds, and trying out both types will be an educational experience so that when you're ready to make your first amp purchase, you'll know exactly the direction you wish to pursue.
Effects Pedals
No guitar rig is complete without effects pedals, which you place in your signal chain between the guitar and the amp to help you achieve your desired tone. It's ideal to talk to your teacher about his or her guitar pedals — you'll likely learn that some pedals are left on at all times, while others are used only sporadically. Examples of this may be a compressor pedal and a delay pedal, respectively. You'll get to experience which pedals augment your tone and which offer the versatility that you'll eventually need as you improve your skill.
For more information about guitar lessons for kids, talk with a musician in your area.
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