Blog – Raleigh Guitar Players

Why Choose Ron Parent?

Ron Parent offers quality lessons at a reasonable price. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music, teaches superior guitar technique, and is able to provide additional music theory that equals or exceeds other teaching facilities. Teaching lessons at his home studio allows for a cost savings equivalent to students getting a free lesson each month as compared to the prices charged at other teaching establishments.

Ron is also available to provide off-site teaching and welcomes the opportunity to teach students who receive their education in a home-schooled environment.

Ron provides each student with the proper level of music theory to help them achieve their goals and objectives. A goal for all students is to develop into a well-rounded musician who learns not only proper playing technique, but also obtains a valuable working knowledge of music and music theory.

As a result of Ron’s personal experience playing with bands from various music genres, he has an excellent understanding of various styles of music. He has an expanded perspective of stringed instruments based on his experience playing lead, rhythm, and acoustic guitar, as well as some slide guitar and bass. Ron’s keyboard abilities also enhance his understanding of each instrument’s role in ensemble playing.

Ron is also experienced in songwriting and home recording.

Taking Guitar Lessons with Ron Parent

Ron Parent’s lessons are designed for students of various levels, from beginners interested in learning how to play the guitar to more advanced players interested in improving their guitar-playing skills. Regardless of skill level, every student can benefit by taking lessons with a guitar instructor like Ron as opposed to self-learning using a lesson book, CD, or DVD. Personal guitar instruction prevents the development of improper guitar technique and bad habits.

There are pros and cons to both group and private lessons. To progress as a guitar player, students should attend lessons on a regular, consistent basis, regardless of whether it is group sessions or private lessons.

What is expected of you:

Be open and honest about your playing level and current skills. If you’ve never attempted to play, that’s fine. That’s what guitar lessons are for!

Have an idea of your initial focus. If you are a beginner, you’ll want to learn the basics and how to get started.

Understand that there is no prescribed rate of learning. You will progress at a pace that is comfortable for you, understanding that it takes time and practice to learn how to play the guitar and to improve your guitar-playing skills.

Over the course of sessions, some music theory may be necessary. Like many other things you’ve learned in your past experiences, everything may not make total sense right away. Eventually you’ll experience the “a-ha moment.”

Please be considerate of your instructor’s time. While everyone understands that life happens, if something comes up and you will not be able to attend a session, please inform Ron as soon as possible.

If the lessons are not meeting your expectations, please inform Ron so that he can realign the lessons to meet your needs.

The Pros and Cons of Group Guitar Lessons

There are many advantages to taking group guitar lessons. First of all, learning together is fun and can build camaraderie, plus questions posed by students can provide additional insight to the other students in the group session. Students can discuss topics with each other outside of the sessions and even get together to play and practice. Friendly competitions may develop in group sessions, resulting in students practicing more diligently in an effort to play as well or better than others in the group.

Students who participate in group sessions will also be more comfortable playing in front of other people when the opportunity arises. Having already played in front of other students, solo performance should come easier to a group session participant than one who has never performed in front of others.

Additionally, group lessons are offered at a lower price, so the initial investment is less than private sessions.

While there are many benefits to group lessons, there can also be drawbacks. For example, because each session serves the group as a whole, the sessions progress at the best pace for the majority of the students, which may cause a student to feel that the class is either too fast or too slow for them. Although some individual attention is provided, each student does not receive the personalized instruction in a group session that they would receive in a private lesson. It is also possible that shy students may feel intimidated by the presence of other students and may not participate as fully in the group environment as they would in an individual session.