One thing to keep in mind is that your instructor works for you. You are the one paying the money, and you deserve to get your money’s worth. If he/she is not working out the way you would like, you have every right to shop around for another one. A great place to start is music stores, such as Guitar Center or George’s Music Store. They typically have instructors on their staff, and have a tendency to hire very skilled musicians.

And one more thing, keep your eye on your instructor’s dedication to your progress. If he/she is firm on sticking only to the time allotted, then they may be a bit too focused on dollar signs instead of your progress. A good instructor is more concerned about ensuring you are grasping the lesson instead of taking off as soon as the timer on their cell phone goes off. Mine, for example, will make sure that I understand what I’ve been taught, and then take the time to answer questions, help me tune up my guitars and fix any issues with them, and maybe just chat for a few minutes. I know that they need to get paid, but that extra few minutes of interaction goes a long way with me.

I want to play love songs and country music songs finger picking. I took 2 years of standard guitar lessons so I know about 60 barre chords including open chords.

Am I ready to take on finger picking lessons or do I keep taking standard guitar lessons to learn more chords and rock style soloing before going finger style and finger picking?

Why limit yourself like that? Narrowing things down to such restrictive labels… ugh, it’s just pointless.

A decent classical player could play with all those styles/methods and not think twice. A good player is versatile. It shows control. If all you can do is Travis picking (or any of those other things) then you’re not a very versatile player. You’re limited.

I just told him I really needed the money (I needed it for gas, college, etc., but you don’t have to give reasons), that I really appreciated his time and that I learned a lot from him, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. I also didn’t have the time because I was in a band, had homework, etc. He tried to lower the price but I said, "I appreciate your willingness to lower the price, but I really can’t afford anything at all, and I just don’t have the time."

He was cool with that, and I think your teacher will be ok too.

As far as affordable guitars there are plenty out there, but make sure you understand what you are looking for. I’ve attached some guides for starting out that go over what to look for in a starter guitar. That will help you out.

Is this OK to get the most out of my learning? I’m 20 years old.
Thanks - but from browsing various teachers, £20 an hour is the cheapest rate I could find in my area.

If the teacher charges £20 an hour, then have half hour lessons, once a week, for £10. You won’t need one-hour-long lessons for a few years.

I have some students who in these financial times can only come once every 2 weeks. It is not ideal, and progress is generally steady, but more difficult than it was. And you will need to practice every day so you can consistently build up your ability and your knowledge.

Yes. Here’s a little background.

Contrary to what some others are saying it is not illegal to run a small business from one’s apartment in many jurisdictions. I’ll explain:

Some zoning bylaws do permit certain types of small businesses to be run from one’s apartment. In the state of California for example there are millions that do it and it is done legally however, it does require the consent of the landlord and the landlord must make sure that all legalities/criteria such as zoning bylaws, additional insurance etc. are satisfactorily met.

Your landlord may have told you it is not allowed where you live because local zoning bylaws prohibit a small business being operated from an apartment or because your particular business is not permitted. Even if running a small business is permitted, the landlord will consider other factors:

- will there be ongoing people traffic and if so how much weekly foot traffic will there be [in your case it will be going 5 or 6x on a weekly basis]
- is there potential to cause disruption and disturbance/excessive noise to other tenants [in your case there is as far as the landlord is concerned]. It is one thing to play your piano occasionally. It is very much a different case to having it being played with great frequency. Even if you were playing it privately for personal enjoyment or for practice, a landlord must assure that other tenants are not being unduly disturbed.
- insurance liability issues/security issues

Though your landlord may not have detailed this particular condition in your lease, if you were to research and find that zoning bylaws allow for a small business to be operated from one’s apartment in your area it will still be up to the discretion of the landlord whether he wants to permit it or not. For example if you were to challenge him on this and say it is not against the law and there was nothing in the agreement prohibiting it your landlord could simply tell you that such activity is creating an inconvenience and disturbance to other tenants and tell you to discontinue.

Your landlord’s main concerns would be: disruption/disturbance to other tenants, amount of foot traffic coming in and out of the building, security, concerns about others running other types of small businesses if he were to allow you to do this, insurance/liability issues and zoning bylaw issues.