Our rock guitar program for teenagers not only teaches them songs, but develops them as well-rounded and competent musicians, grounding them in the basics before providing tuition in advanced techniques, theory, sight-reading, improvisation and composition.
Pre-conceptions About Rock Guitar
Rock guitar is often seen as a “soft” option, not only by parents but also by academic music institutions, and the truth is: Often that is the case, with your average rock guitarist being capable of playing some songs, often having a good level of technique, but very poor theory knowledge.
Here at Uxbridge Guitar Lessons, we’re working to actively change that stereotype, guiding students through not only advanced techniques, but giving them the theory skills and knowledge that would make classical violinists blush and scrambling for a textbook.
Why Do Teenagers Not Want to Learn Theory?
Teenagers need to “see it to beleive it”, they’re at the age where their minds are developing more conceptually. Teenagers have no patience for hypocrisy or anything that seems like a waste of time.
Learning songs has an obvious pay-off: It leaves them able to play their favourite songs.
Learning more theoretical subjects often has no obvious pay-off - after all, what’s the point of sitting with a book on music theory when you could be playing guitar and doing something fun?
Why Our Approach Is Different
To Know And Not To Do, Is Not To Know
— Lao Tzu
Having studied music theory to an advanced level, I firmly believe that music theory does not exist for the sake of learning something new, it exists to help us understand how music works… so that we can make music.
Our approach to music theory us to use it as a tool to help our students play music on the guitar, whether it’s applying scale harmonisations to helping the student compose not only their first song, but more songs than they can shake a stick at; or using scales to help a student improvise and make music on the spot; or taking a variety of skills and helping them perform and improvise over a jazz standard; we guide students through not just learning music theory, but applying it to making music.
Some people believe that learning music theory “stifles” creativity by giving the student a set of rules they “must” follow. We use music theory to unlock creativity, showing students how it can be used as a creative toolbox to achieve certain results.
And in this way, seeing how each new theory lesson unlocks a greater understanding and a more developed skillset, teenagers can “fall in love” with the process, seeing their own abilities increase.
The Benefits of Teenagers Taking a Disciplined Approach to Rock Guitar
Part of being a teenager is learning self-discipline and that creating results often requires a process of sustained effort.
There is no better way to implicitly learn this than through learning guitar.
While the learning curve starts relatively simple, with students being able to play music from the very first lesson, with the study of improvisation from the first or second lessons leaving the student with the ability to jam along along to songs and making their own (admittedly simple, but still their own) music, more advanced skills take time.
Helping them play thir first song from start to finish takes a few weeks. Developing their ability with barre chords can take several months. Lead guitar skills can take months to develop a single skill. The study of theory and composition can take years depending on the level they want to achieve. Learning to perform their own compositions can require several months of study for each piece.
It’s easy to see how, if left to their own devices, they probably wouldn’t follow through on the studying, self-application and practice required to develop these skills to an advanced level… and in their defence, who would?
But when guided with an expert teacher who can help them through the process, guide them through misunderstandings and show them the approaches that get results; following through on the process becomes much easier.
And once they’ve attained more advanced levels of performance and understanding, they’ll be able to reflect back on the process and see that yes, while challenging, they are capable…
That they can take on a challenge, work at the process for months or even years, and become more capable individuals.
In the real world, results don’t come easy, and achieving success takes a prolonged period of sustained effort. With our guitar lessons, that concept will be implicitly drilled into them, leaving them with the confidence to take on the world.
Social and Team-Working Benefits
Learning, studying and performing music with others is a constant test in communication and team-work.
Even a simple situation as jamming with one other guitar player requires thinking-ahead, communication and team-work:
- What key are we playing in?
- What chords are we playing?
- How many bars are we going to play chords?
- How are we going to swap between rhythm and lead?
And this covers just the explcit communication that takes place. While jamming, both students are making decisions on millisecond based timescales, listening to each others playing and making performance decisions about what rhythms and notes to play next.
Their brains are in overdrive, listening and playing and making dozens of small decisions every second.
Students playing in a band have further team-working logistics that must be planned and considered:
- When are we rehearsing next?
- Where are we rehearsing?
- What are we going to play?
- How do I learn the parts in time for the rehearsal?
- What equipment do I need for the rehearsal?
All of which involve the decision making and planning skills that, as adults, we have to use every day.
A Screen Free Environment
A blessing and a curse, the smart phone and it’s 24/7 social media feeds are here to stay.
Guitar lessons are a screen-free environment where your teenager can take a breath from their social media feeds and focus on doing something useful, that they enjoy and will benefit them for the rest of their life.
We don’t use screens or AI, we teach music and we teach guitar. Lessons are not a place to muck about on Snapchat, they are a focussed (and fun) environment where the student can develop their abilities.
As they learn guitar and develop their abilities, they’ll see and enjoy the benefits of practice and study, leading to less time on the phone and more time developing themselves and working on their guitar playing.
I think we can all agree that working on improvisation or a new composition is more beneficial than doom scrolling on a phone.
Benefits for Higher Academic Applications
Academic institutions often value applicants who can play a musical instrument to an advanced level.
At Uxbridge Guitar Lessons we strongly encourage students to develop their skills in improvisation and composition.
We believe that a student being able to submit a CD and printed notation of their compositions would be an impressive and distinguishing feature of a university application.
It seems common-sense that, given two applications, one saying “I can play grade 3 cello”, and one saying “Please find attached printed scores and a recording of my 6 preludes for rock guitar”, that the letter would be more impressive… and certainly more unique and eye (or should we say ’ear’?) catching.
The Secret Brain Development That Musicians Benefit From
Science is still unlocking exactly how the brain works, but it’s already revealed a few secrets behind how the brain of musicians differs from that of “normal” people.
Learning an instrument fundamentally changes how the brain is structured. It’s been shown that learning an instrument increases the “cross-talk” between the brains two hemispehres.
Learning an instrument is also associated with a higher IQ, creativity and success in the professional world.
It implicitly teaches stress management and the joy of learning. Thanks to evolution and the fundamental need to conserve energy, the brain has a “use it or lose” feature, and repeatedly working on challenging music is an incredible way to keep the brain functioning.
Additionally, musicians have been shown to be more resilient to the effects and problems associated with the brain aging.
MRI scans of musicians have shown that, when playing an instrument, the brain lights up like a Christmas tree.
Learning an instrument is one of the best things that can be done for the brain, and at Uxbridge Guitar Lessons we ensure that the student’s brain development is pushed as far as possible.
Book Your Free Introductory Lesson
Fill out the following form and I'll personally call you back to book your free introductory guitar lesson: