Reviews
How do AGS students feel about their lessons?
Relaxed atmosphere with a structured teaching approach…
I knew other people who’ve been at AGS for a while and who had been very happy with the teachers, tutoring etc. It’s a very enjoyable, relaxed atmosphere but with a structured teaching approach, which is wonderful. I can now listen to a song, work things out and play along. I’ve got a better understanding of how songs are made up, how chord progressions work, what key the song is in. When I pick up the guitar at home now, I can play things that sound good, that I was never able to do before. Kai Andreas (student since March 2017)
There’s constant attention towards your playing – it’s easier than going online – with the teacher with me, they can tell me what I need to work on… I love the attitude all the teachers have towards teaching – they’re really friendly and always wanting to help… Taking lessons is way better than just trying to learn off YouTube – I know a lot of self-taught guitarists who’ve been playing for years and they’re still at a beginner level. Zarne Sorensen (student since July 2013)
I was learning mainly from YouTube and my playing wasn’t really going anywhere. The lessons are really well structured at AGS … during the Jam session I can use what I learnt in the class and apply it – I enjoy that the most. I thought I couldn’t improvise but I feel very comfortable now (after 6 months), and more confident, and that has improved my playing a lot.
Charles Deng
I wanted something that was more structured (than previous lessons) and that had a good balance. Now I can actually understand what I’m playing… and understand the piece of music, which I couldn’t do before… Getting up onstage and playing the songs you want to play is great! Tony Horton (student since June 2018)
{Having lessons at AGS has} helped me discover different ways to learn about music – you learn about theory, you learn about different styles of playing, different genres of music. The thing I like most is that it has structured sections, so that we can focus on for example fingerstyle playing, and then we’ll go into chords and goals so we can focus on our own things. I’ve been able to write songs, play along with friends, get together and just jam, play something I’ve learnt in class, which is always fun.
Rico Ashmore
I feel I’ve learnt more here in the past 3 months than I have in the last 5 years. The nice thing for me is I feel like it sticks, and I don’t feel like I’ve learnt it and it’s just “gone”. My playing has dramatically improved, along with my confidence in what I’m playing. My wife will attest to the fact that she thinks my playing is a lot more fluid and makes more sense 
It feels like a safe place to learn and a good place to learn. It’s better than any teacher I’ve experienced before.
Peter Simpson (student since March 2017)
I think for me it was a whole new experience because it actually made me want to go home and practise and learn, rather than coming to lessons just for the sake of commitment… Learning jazz opened me up to being more fluid and being able to convey what I want to say musically, like a conversation. It opened my eyes and my ears to a lot of things… If you are self-taught and you rely on that, there are a lot of patches that need to be fixed and I think it’s good to have someone guide you through.
Mark Bulos
My son started at the School first – I’d been playing on my own for years without really getting anywhere and when I saw his progress, I wanted to be a part of it! I had other teachers previously, but I wasn’t making any progress – I never got to a point where I had anything polished enough to perform. At AGS I’ve developed self-discipline and confidence and I now have tunes I can play for friends and family. To be able to pick up a beautiful instrument and play it half-decently is hugely rewarding!
Lauren Worsley
I honestly thought that I was too old to go back to school – I was so wrong. I’ve enjoyed every moment, and all I can say is that if you’re thinking of learning guitar you’ve got to come to AGS. The teachers have always had a “you can do it” attitude where sometimes I’ve felt “I can’t do this” and they’ve worked me through it and been right every time. The teachers here have taken me from having no idea to reading music and playing songs successfully and it’s been a throughly enjoyable learning curve for me.
Terry Saville
I’m largely self-taught since I was 13/14 and felt I’d reached a bit of a “flat spot”, I needed something to push me along further. “It might sound funny from someone who’s played guitar for many years but the lessons have given me confidence to move outside my comfort zone .. confidence to do more and understand more about what you can do with this thing… It’s just a great environment at the School.
Peter Finlay
It’s a lot easier when there’s someone there helping you along. If you do it by yourself it’s easy to get side-tracked and do stuff that isn’t really relevant – you end up just learning songs and not actually how to properly play… [The lessons are] really designed for what I want to do and it’s the best thing for me to be able to get better – it’s not just something out of a book, it’s something that’s designed specifically for you and it’s much more interesting that way. [I benefit from] being able to talk to someone who really knows what they’re talking about and being able to get some insight into what to do and they can help you along – the teachers don’t just say exactly what to do, they will help you to try and figure it out yourself, which is good as it means you can figure stuff out on your own.
Leo Strode-Penny
You can always look stuff up on YouTube … but when you do lessons you’re put on a pathway and you stick to that pathway, instead of just learning this and this… You constantly get rewarded by what you’re learning; sometimes you are pushed in your lessons (in a good way) and it’s really rewarding.
Lachlan Carr
I decided to come here because it looked really professional and was what I was looking for. I feel like I get a lot of time with the teacher giving me tips and techniques to help with my playing. I just feel like I’ve become better at playing the guitar, just all round. You learn things right down to the core. There are some teachers who will only teach you how to play the song and that’s kind of it but here they teach you techniques that go along with the song and I feel like that really helps.
Alice Cawley
I just wanted to go in, have a course set out, know that the exercises would nail what I wanted to learn, and know that each week it would build up and consolidate. It’s amazing the amount of progress I’ve made (in 2 months of lessons) – before this I was kind of afraid to pick up the guitar… but here, you build your confidence really quickly, and it’s just so enjoyable. The thing I enjoy the most is that you’re with actual human beings, not just stuck in front of a computer trying to watch YouTube. The teacher is right there for immediate feedback, for immediate advice, for tips. They’re all trained really well, and they’re friendly and encouraging. A lot of people have had teachers where it just didn’t work out for them – I would say here, it’s just very different.
Aaron Watkinson
I decided to take lessons as it was something I’ve wanted to do for years. I read different things about people who had tried self-teaching and never got anywhere and I thought no, I want to do it right, I want a good teacher – and so I found Auckland Guitar School! The teachers are super encouraging… they have so much patience. It’s something that has become a part of my life!
Julia Kanzso
The good thing about having “real” lessons is that you can have your technique assessed and adjusted and learn to do things correctly, whereas with online lessons you’re just hoping you’ve got it right. Taking lessons at the School… my playing is just completely different from before. I’ve learnt to play properly, you learn the right way to do stuff so you don’t waste time by making mistakes and getting it wrong, and finally finding out what you should have been doing! I like the fact there’s a good structure to the lessons, and lots of variation. It makes it really interesting – it’s never boring learning to play the guitar here!
Laura Witty
I’ve learnt more in less than 12 months with Dylan than 7 years of lessons when I was a teenager – it’s fabulous. The pace of learning is excellent – I feel pushed in a positive way – challenged, but not that I can’t cope with it. I didn’t realise how much I could achieve. Having lessons motivates me to practice, and now I’ve got to the point where I’m completely addicted to practising and I can’t stop practising. I’m inspired to play and see a future where I’m a really competent musician. It’s not just the weekly lessons it’s the whole offering – it’s almost like being part of a family of musicians. You’ll feel like you’re part of something… obviously, all teachers are not created equal.
Carren Richardson
I’m learning so much every week and I find that inspires me to pick the guitar up any chance I get… The constant feedback and encouragement, and tips and advice – I just find it invaluable, and find myself soaking it up, just loving it… I really look forward to the band sessions every month. They’re so much fun, and it makes you feel just a little bit like a musician :-)… My playing has progressed so fast compared to what I could possibly have learnt by surfing YouTube or trying to figure out somebody’s interpretation on Tabs.
Marty Kemp
I felt I’d hit a plateau with my playing and wasn’t really improving. At the introductory lesson, I really got the feeling that you knew how to teach guitar – you’re a good guitar player and have a lot of good education and teaching experience but you were interested in what I wanted to get out of the guitar. {The lessons} are planned – it’s not like you just get a song and you turn up, and you play the song, and then you learn another song once you’ve got that song sorted. It’s not just guitar tuition; it’s musical tuition as well. People have seen the improvement in me. A lot of my friends have always thought that I’ve been a pretty good guitar player but now they think “oh wow, that’s really improved.
Matt Taylor
Before taking lessons I was playing Rocksmith… but I didn’t know if I was even doing the basics correct. One of the key things I’ve got out of the lessons is improvising over chord progressions – I’ve really, really enjoyed doing that. {Having lessons at AGS} gives me more encouragement to practice and it’s improved my confidence when playing – especially when we’re improvising, even after 6 months I feel a lot more confident doing it now and it’s a lot of fun. And I find now that I can pick songs up a lot quicker. I’ve been playing 2 years in total now – I’ve learnt more in the last 6 months {at AGS} than I learnt in the previous year and a half (by far).
Karl Gunn
It was taking a long time to learn [by myself] and I wanted to speed the whole process up… I was struggling, not getting anywhere fast, not knowing if I was doing anything right… Trying to self-teach off the internet, off YouTube, and learning Tabs, but it would only take me so far. The lessons have helped to expand my understanding of music in general as well, not just playing guitar. I’ve got a lot out of the lessons – and feel like I’m more involved in music rather than just playing music. I feel like I’m a musician.
Steve Sollberger (student for 7 years)
I was getting nowhere fast by looking at the internet, I was finding myself picking up the guitar and just playing the same thing over and over. {In the lessons} I’ve learned a lot of chords that I didn’t know existed and I’m learning to do lead licks over chords. I like the group sessions – at first I thought learning with a group might not be the best for me, but sitting down with other guys and keeping up with them helps you along really quickly. {Thanks to} Dylan’s knowledge of guitar and music in general and his willingness to see his students succeed, I haven’t looked back. I thought I might do a couple of months and maybe give up but I’m inspired to carry on!
Neil MacGregor
I bought some books and CDs and DVDs and I tried on my own but I couldn’t see any progress for about 3 months and after that I pretty much stopped playing guitar and didn’t play for about 3 years… Whatever we practice in the lesson, you supply a lot of material – written, video and MP3 – you can actually practice at home and improve… There is a lot of structure, there are objectives and goals after every lesson – if you do those during the week, it feels a lot easier to play the guitar… You have to persevere… you provide enough support and encouragement for people to keep on going rather than quitting.
Tom Kudoic
I tried self-teaching but the progress is much slower, you don’t know what you don’t know, and it’s frustrating… someone who’s taught that before could say “do this and this” and it’s problem solved… With my shift work, I needed someone who could be flexible with times and could tailor the approach for my level of knowledge. I chose Dylan because of his background… and the professional approach when I first made contact with him… It’s forced me to address how I practise things and how I learn skills. Because of that, I’m learning guitar much faster than I would somewhere else and there’s also cross-over into other things I do in life.
Jarrod Kirk
How soon could you be playing
guitar the way you want to?