April is Guitar Month! This month, we celebrate our amazing guitar teachers and students!
Guitar is an amazing instrument that's able to transverse so many genres of music - folk, rock, metal, jazz, classical, and more!
Maybe you want to strum along to your favourite songs on an acoustic guitar, or play your favourite classic rock solos on electric. Either way, there are lots of reasons to start guitar lessons.
Whether you're interested in beginner guitar lessons, or you're ready to pick up the guitar after a few years off, we've got you covered!
Here are our top five reasons why you should start learning guitar now:
1. Health benefits
Learning guitar is bound to provide you or your child with a safe, and secure emotional outlet. Music is a beautiful form of self-expression, and playing guitar can boost one's creative self-expression, as well as their self-confidence! You'll also most likely experience a boost in mood - especially when you finally nail that piece you've been learning!
Many folks lean into the routine of practicing and playing their guitar throughout the week, and enjoy the time spent with themselves. By taking intentional time for yourself and your learning, creating a practice routine can increase relaxation and mindfulness.
This is especially true if you're an adult student who needs to carve out time for themselves and their interests!
Along with all these positive mental health benefits, playing guitar is going to improve your fine motor skills and overall coordination (especially since guitar requires both hands to play). Many students prefer guitar to other string instruments like the violin or cello, as the guitar has frets. These metal lines along the neck of the guitar, help the student know where to place their fingers - no guesswork or ear training needed.
2. Easily play along with your favourite songs
Guitars are relatively lightweight in comparison to other instruments! This makes the guitar easy to move around the house, as well as bring to your lessons or jam sessions with friends. It's also the perfect instrument for campfire sing-alongs!
Another thing that makes the guitar so great is the power of... the capo!
For those who don't know, the capo is a little object that clamps onto the guitar. It can be placed on any fret to essentially "shorten" the neck of the guitar - changing its key!
This means you can play harder songs, but with the easy chords you're familiar with.
3. Tailor to your learning style and goals
Guitar is a great instrument to play if you love multiple genres of music! There are lots of different styles you can play in: blues, classical, country, flamenco, pop, rock, and more!
Our teachers are well-versed in multiple styles, so we follow your learning style and goals!
Do you want to be able to sing along as you play? Then you'll be working on reading chord charts, memorizing chords and chord switches, and practicing your coordination with strum patterns!
Are you a huge classic rock fan, and want to play that Hotel California solo? Our teachers will get you started by reading tab and improving your ear!
Or maybe you want to be able to simply play the melody of a song on your guitar. That's where learning to read sheet music will come in to play!
Guitar lessons are adaptable and flexible to your learning style, goals, and favourite music.
4. Learn perseverance and self-discipline
Taking any music lessons will help you or your child improve the ability to persevere!
As so many of us learn in different ways, there are always going to be bumps in the road to learning guitar. And that's okay - learning and practicing an instrument gives you experience in overcoming challenges!
At TKAM, we are so aware of the challenges that come with learning an instrument! In fact, we've incorporated Musical Ladder to motivate our students to overcome challenges and meet their learning goals.
5. Look cool and impress your friends
Playing guitar is cool! It's an instrument that sounds good alone, and in a band.
When you know how to play an instrument, you often meet new people at recitals, coffee houses, and especially if you join a community ensemble or band!
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