I have had two teachers in my life: their names were Vic LaRocca and Chris Lennox. Both were amazing guitar players, and helped me the best way possible.
Vic taught me the chords I know, while Chris helped me with my playing. Chris has helped me invent my own style of rhythm playing which has made any musician who has heard me think that I'm a damn good rhythm player.
I met Vic in 2002, when I was 11. I knew nothing about PLAYING guitar, but I knew about the different guitar makers and models, and he was impressed to say the least. I am a perfectionist, and so when I was first learning I was very shy about playing in front of people. My Epiphone Les Paul copy had very light strings on it, so I'd always be breaking strings. This caused me to stop practicing completely because I was scared about breaking strings.
When my mom threatened to take Vic away from me, I knew I had to shape up. I saved money to buy a better guitar than what I had (I bought an '03 360/12FG), I discovered Tom Petty and learned about finding chords and tabs to my favorite songs online. I became better, and I was able to jam to songs with Vic. In May of 2006, Vic said he didn't like teaching, so he quit, and we had a sad goodbye. I still talk with Vic via phone and email, and we're still friends.
Chris came about two weeks after Vic left. I knew Chris because he worked at the music shop were Vic taught. In about September 2005, he saw me carrying a rectangular case, and asked what was in it. I showed him the 360/12, and he was amazed (he bought in 2007, only to sell it a year later due to financial troubles). When I first played with Chris, we played "Time Is on My Side" by the Stones, and he told me that I know my chords, but I need to not play so fast and hard. The more I played with Chris, the better I became. He taught me how to play slide guitar, as well as the first riff I ever learned ("Satisfation" by The Stones) In November of 2006, Chris was moving into New Orleans, and he wanted to get settled into his new home, but promised that if he could come back, he would.
In March of 2007, I got a call from him saying his buddies opened up a guitar studio, and he wanted to teach me again. While at this guitar studio, I learned even more riffs, and we started experimenting with our sound by bringing in different guitars (usually two) to try and recreate the sounds on the records, or just experiment for fun! The last time we played at the studio was June 30, 2007, the day after my 660/12 arrived.
Chris didn't have the money to keep teaching at the studio, so we came up with the idea to move to my Grandma's house and start jamming, while he taught me different scales, as well as licks and riffs. We took the sound to the next level by bringing in more guitars, and I started playing harmonica. Last year, in December, we had planned for a small concert at my grandma's house inviting all of our friends, but that was soon terminated when my dad put me on punishment. This past June, the economy started to suffer, which meant Chris couldn't come down to my Grandma's anymore. As with Vic, I still talk to him on the phone, and this Christmas, we both agreed that we'll have a jam session, just the two of us, like the old days.
So, if you have a good guitar teacher that you feel comfortable with, you can get attached to him/her, just like I did with Chris and Vic. Good luck with your new teacher, and may you learn great things from him/her
