Morgan, a rising 9th grader and just started Guitar Lessons with us in Herndon, VA. When I received a call from her mom to tell me how well the 1st lesson went, I asked if I could talk to Morgan briefly to get the perspective of a new teenage student directly after her first lesson. She’s 14 and this was her 1st private lesson on guitar or any instrument. Here’s what I learned.
It’s Nice To Have One Around
Morgan didn’t always have a guitar in her house but rather the guitar comes from a friend of her grandmother. She was excited to have it and had spent sometime trying it out before the lesson. She asked her mom to take lessons and her mom agreed since she observed Morgan spending time on the guitar independently.
Why Guitar Lessons
“I thought starting guitar lessons would be easy” Morgan said when I asked her why she choose guitar. She had played Violin shortly in the middle school orchestra but never connected with the instrument. Morgan pointed out wisely that she imagined, with her experience of playing a string instrument (violin), that guitar would relate to what knowledge already learned about music. She also choose guitar because she though it would be cool to cover music that she listens to regularly and to try something new.
First Guitar Lessons Expectations
Morgan pointed out that she was surprised the guitar teacher wasn’t female. I asked her if she thought after the first lesson if that was going to be a deal breaker and she said no, she just assumed that it would be a girl. Larry Orf is her guitar teacher and when I got back on the phone with Morgans mom Angela, she gave me a lot of kudos for Larry’s first lesson. Larry’s great and he’s been on our staff in D.C. since we started. He has a great approach with teens and young kids too.
Another Expectation that Morgan shared was she thought she would learn chords, but she said they actually started learning how to play individual notes. She did mention that Mr Orf explained that they would start with notes and strings, then work their way to chords.
What I Took From The Interview
I found it really refreshing to talk to a student right after the 1st lesson. I’ve never really had the opportunity to do that before, so I really loved it. I asked Morgan if she told Mr Orf that she wanted to learn to play chords and cover songs to which she told me “no”. I asked her not to be hesitant to do that in the future since private lessons are based on individuals rather then a group of students and I think she got it.
Your Song by Elton John
I asked Morgan if she told Mr Orf about any specific song she wanted to play and she said she did not. I of course wanted to know if she felt comfortable to do so and if Mr Orf asked her. She said yes to both and that she just wanted to have her first lesson before she started making request. I advised her not to wait (she sounds so nice) and to always tell her teacher so he can know where her interest are. She told me that she wanted to learn to play Your Song by Elton John. I hope that someday soon she makes a video and I can hear her play it.
She’s Excited And Confident!
Probably my favorite part of the interview was to hear how excited and confident Morgan was to play. “It was easier then i thought” she said. Her mother expressed that after the 1st lesson was over she went right back to the guitar and started playing for an hour. Lookout world, we have a new guitarist on our hands here:). Great Job Morgan, and congratulations on starting guitar lessons!
