Learn Guitar your way with a TakeLessons expert

By Wendy H. - Colorado Springs Guitar Teacher

It’s another beautiful day in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where the sun shines about 360 days a year. In addition to mostly mild weather, there is always something musical going on. My name is Wendy, and I’ve lived here for over 30 years now as a guitar, piano and singing teacher. With the recent introduction of guitar video games, guitar has become all the more popular to learn and play. If you, too, are looking to take guitar lessons in Colorado Springs, here are a few helpful tips that I have to share!

What to Learn

Having taught guitar for over 30 years, I firmly believe that both note reading and music theory are very important to learn, especially if students are going to make music their career. I like to teach my students to read notes because it allows them to be able to look at any piece of music - whether it’s written for guitar or not - and adapt it to be played with their guitar. Music theory is also important to learn, because this is the writing of music. If students are writing out music, such as notes or chords, then they gain a good understanding of how music works. Just as learning the alphabet is necessary to being able to read and write words, sentences or paragraphs, music theory is necessary to being able to read, play and compose music. These are two areas that I work very hard on with my students so that they will be successful with their musical skills.

Where to Get Experience

If guitarists are looking to improve their skills or get out in front of an audience to improve their performance level, there are many ways to accomplish this. The school that they attend may offer a talent show competition. This is a great way to gain some performing experience with minimal pressure. Schools will also offer a yearly city-wide competition which gets guitarists in front of judges who listen and critique their playing and give them helpful hints on improving their overall performance. Many schools are also adding guitarists to the instruments being played in their school bands. This opportunity helps guitarists learn how to work with other instruments in a group setting.

Additionally, there are many opportunities around the city of Colorado Springs to get involved in in order to continue to improve your playing and performance skills. You can play at coffee shops, restaurants, bars, and dance halls. Churches, too, are now using guitarists for Praise and Worship bands, so this is a good way to get more playing experience. Weddings are also going with nontraditional instruments for the ceremony. Guitar is a beautiful alternative for this and many other special occasions, too.

Where to See Live Music

To supplement your own performances and your guitar lessons in Colorado Springs, check out the live music scene in the summer. The city hosts many free concerts in local parks. There are all types and styles of music being play. I like to encourage my students to go and listen to all types of music and instruments being played. It adds to their knowledge of how music is played and what they can do to improve their own skills. These activities can be found by checking the Colorado Springs community websites. Churches have some fantastic free concerts, too. So don’t forget to check church websites for dates and times for these music events. The local music stores, Graner and Meeker Music, have a bulletin board with lots of music activities to join or go see, especially during the summer.

This is a very exciting city to get involved in the local music community. So, if you would like to start guitar lessons in Colorado Springs, then find me on TakeLessons, and schedule some lessons with me!