Guitar playing: back to basics

Last Thursday I began my guitar classes, which I, unfortunately, had to drop last year due to lack of time, however this year I am determined to develop my skills swiftly in order to be able to play both classical and modern music on guitar. Moreover, I'm really fond of this instrument, which will make my experience of learning not only educational, but also entertaining.

The first thing which was asked of me by my teacher was whether or not I remembered anything from last year, and I felt really embarrassed at having to admit that I could recall very little. We began with simply revising the technical part of how to properly position the instrument, in which way to pluck the strings correctly, etc. Afterwards, we moved onto some very basic exercises, and I was glad to discover that even though my mind remembered little of what was learnt, my fingers were able to repeat the exercises correctly, and in fact, quite easily as well: that made me realise that due to the effort I had put into learning this instrument last year, I was able to train my fingers enough for them to recall the correct positioning and movement.

For the next lesson my teacher asked me to continue practicing the exercises in order to jolt my memory of how to handle the instrument correctly, and he also asked me to memorise the positions of the natural notes on the fretboard as well as the way they are recorded on paper. I will try my best to find enough time during the weekdays to practice my guitar skills so as not to disappoint both myself and my teacher on the following lesson.

The homework given to me

Once the lesson was over, I recognised that I was very wrong indeed to not have revised at least a little bit prior to the class, as not only would I have felt more confident and been able to achieve more during the practices, but I would've also appeared as more respectful towards my teacher; now I will make sure that whenever something like this happens next (for example if I have to come back to class after a long break), I will certainly go over the material which I have previously studied in order to give myself more lesson time to learn new aspects of guitar playing, as well as to be more courteous towards my mentor. I also realised that I wasn't concentrating enough during class, as I let my thoughts wander to my schoolwork and personal issues, although I should've been listening attentively to all that was being said to me and trying my hardest to understand the essentials of the instrument, as they are vital in learning to play it; next lesson and for all the others to come I will try to commit myself to the fullest and pay due attention and consideration to what my teacher tells me, so that I could develop my guitar skills significantly faster.

My beautiful Almansa