This is a question that our guitar teachers are asked all the time, and unfortunately, there just isn’t a straight forward answer for this one. There are lots of different things that have to be taken into consideration first. For example, do you have time to practise? Have you played a musical instrument before? What kind of learner are you? (Are you good at problem-solving? Do you like a challenge? Do you like to see things through to completion once you begin? These elements all make for a fluctuation in the time it takes when learning a musical instrument such as the guitar.
That said, we don’t necessarily agree with Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Theory of Success’ in his famous book ‘Outliers‘. Gladwell states that in order to perfect an interest (such as musicianship) you need to put in 10,000 hours. According to Gladwell’s theory, it would take over 150 days to learn the basics. We usually have our students playing the absolute basics within just a few weeks (practice depending). To go even further, we like to have our students playing at least one simple song during their very first lesson with us.
What about adult learners?
People are usually surprised at the high number of adult learners that attend Morningside School of Music for guitar lessons. Times have changed and it is now completely the norm for adults to learn a musical instrument. Over 60% of our learners are adults with over 40% being over the age of 40 years old. We are open all day till 9pm and we are open at the weekends, so we teach a lot of adults when kids are either at school or in bed sleeping.
Is my child too young for guitar lessons?
The beauty of the guitar is that it is fairly straight forward to master the basics on. This means that for wee ones, we can help them get started quickly. We usually recommend waiting until at least primary one (5 years old) before enrolling your child in guitar lessons. Guitars come in half-size and quarter-size for young children and they can be as cheap as £30 to buy brand new. We are always more than happy to advise parents on what to buy and what not to buy. We have a selection of highly qualified guitar teachers who have many years of experience teaching young children.
One of our friendly guitar teachers would be more than happy to help answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to drop us a quick message and we will be back in touch as soon as possible.
