Tips on How to Choose Tutoring Services For Reading and Writing

Tips on How to Choose Tutoring Services For Reading and WritingThere are many ways that you can go about helping your child improve his reading and writing skills. The first thing that you need to consider is what types of learning do you want your child to have. You should find out if your child will be better served by physical, verbal or a combination of the two. Here are some tips on how to choose tutoring services for improving your child's reading and writing skills.First, you should think about the type of tutor that you want. You should think about how flexible you are going to be in terms of a tutor and what kind of fees you are willing to pay for tutoring. If you have extra funds, then you may be able to hire a tutor that will also come to your home to help your child learn reading and writing.The second tip is to find a parent tutor. You should take your child to a tutor who specializes in teaching reading and writing. This will enable your child to get the proper help tha t he needs in order to master the skills.A third tip is to look for a tutoring service that will meet with your child at home. This is an excellent way to help your child get rid of any negative feelings that he may have when it comes to reading and writing. You should make sure that you find out how often your child can expect to be tutored and if this can fit into your schedule.The main reason why parents opt for tutoring is so that their children can catch up on what they have missed while they were off doing other things. If your child is not getting the necessary educational attention while you are at work, then he is more likely to be bored and do poorly in school. Therefore, he is at a greater risk of not doing well in the future.If you are worried about your child learning too much at home, then you should take him to a tutor in his school. This is where he will learn all the basic skills that he does not have time to learn at home. Therefore, if you are working and your chi ld is out of school, then he will still be getting the educational attention that he needs.If you are thinking of hiring a tutor, you should consider the cost of tutoring. You should make sure that you are making a wise investment in your child's education. If you are making the right decision, then you will be able to find tutors who will work with your child until he is ready to move on to the next level of learning.If you need help with your child's learning, you should consider a few tips on how to choose tutoring services for reading and writing. You should ensure that you take your child to a tutor who specializes in teaching reading and writing skills. This will enable your child to enjoy all the benefits of learning at home as well as being exposed to learning that he may have missed while he was attending other activities.

How to Become a Professional Writing Tutor

How to Become a Professional Writing Tutor Check out this awesome  article from our good  friends at DoMyCaseStudy: How to become a professional writing tutor if you have years of experience in personal tutoring? So you’ve been providing your services as a personal tutor for a long time, and you want to branch out into something different. Perhaps, you love writing and have decided that you want to devote your time to becoming a professional writing tutor and start working for one of the writing companies such as DoMyCaseStudy.com. With writing becoming increasingly important in every discipline, there will be no shortage of demand for your services. Here are the steps to embarking on a career as a professional writing tutor. 1. Become Certified Certification with an organization like the National Tutor Association gives you that added edge of credibility. In some states, certification may be a requirement for employment. 2. Start out with a Tutoring Company Striking out as a professional writing tutor on your own can be intimidating. At the beginning stages, try working for a tutoring company. They can take care of finding clients and billing hours while you are trying to find your legs in your new profession. 3. Learn How to Be Adaptable A tutor must be responsive to the needs of their students. Every student has a different learning style, level, and course requirements. Practice adapting to their needs as necessary in the course of a tutoring session. 4. Reflect on Your Work Take the time to do some journaling about your challenges, failures, and successes. The process of self-reflection will help you build your skills and serve you well as you continue to grow and improve. 5. Observe Others Observe your peers during their tutoring sessions. Take notes of those strategies that are successful and consider adding them to your own repertoire. 6. Get as Much Experience as Possible You will need to deepen your skills not only in writing but in working with specific age groups. A fifth-grader will have different needs from those of a college student. Gain experience with the age group that you will be tutoring so that you can learn how to serve them best. 7. Set Clear Goals Write out your own personal goals as a writing tutor. Why do you want to do it? What do you hope to achieve? Articulating your own goals will give you more clarity when setting goals for your students. 8. Visit Classrooms Gain hands-on knowledge of what classroom teachers expect of your students by visiting their classrooms. In the long run, you can save yourself time during your tutoring sessions if you are familiar with the teachers’ expectations and can tailor your sessions to that. 9. Develop a Sense of Your Own Identity Who are you as a writing tutor? What is your philosophy? What are your values and beliefs? Be sure to articulate what you bring to the table as a writing tutor so that you can convey that to your clients. 10. Learn about Pedagogy Read up on the many theories about the teaching of writing. Build a strong foundational knowledge of the vocation of tutoring and develop an idea of your role within it. Follow these steps and you will quickly become the tutor that students return to over and over again.

Writing - Thankfully - ALOHA Mind Math

Writing - Thankfully If you can read and write your can learn anything. Students in our writing program learn skills based on grade level. One of our students was published in an Indian publicationdistributed in the United States. Our students write beautifully and Thankfully as demonstrated in the piece that follows written by one of our South Edison, New Jersey ALOHA students. Written by Dhruvi Sarkar, a grade 4 student, entitled Thanksgiving. (unedited from student) Thanksgiving. It has different meanings for different people. For some, it is an extended holiday weekend. For others, a day of thanks that may or may not include church. For many, it is the time when families get together, have fun, play games, and create good memories. Thanksgiving is a day which we look forward to be thankful and grateful for what we have. Everyone, rich or poor, is very lucky to have a life, weather or not they have everything. The First Thanksgiving was the time the pilgrims, Squanto, and the governor, William Bradford had their feast. During the feast which lasted 3 days, they played, feasted and shot guns and arrows. Previously they called Thanksgiving the Green Corn Dance, or the Harvest Festival. At the feast they prayed for what they were thankful for to god as he is the one who gives us everything. We celebrate Thanksgiving in many different ways. We eat many foods, usually with family. We eat turkey, pie, potatoes, and many more. These are things the pilgrims, Squanto, and the governor ate during their feast. Many Americans still continue the tradition of eating these foods, but with some alterations. Thanksgiving is usually the time for family reunions! Many people celebrate Thanksgiving differently. Some eat turkey, and many other delicious items with their family, and friends. Some go out and do some early holiday shopping during the black Friday sale. This year I am planning to go out with my family and watch a movie. After that we will come home for a relaxing family dinner which will be followed by a game which our whole family loves; Wii. Thanksgiving for me means being thankful for my family, friends, belongings, and good home. My caring family is always ready to support me and guide me whenever I need it, and my friends are always ready to turn my frown upside down with a good laugh. We are so fortunate to have a shelter. Just think about all those needy people with no home and not many belongings. In conclusion, this is how Thanksgiving was started and what I am thankful for. Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday, it is just a day of giving thanks and appreciating what god has given us. Our award winning students will continue to do great things, reading and Writing Thankfully.

Learn How to Speak English Using the Website www BBRussianCom

Learn How to Speak English Using the Website 'www BBRussianCom'Even if you don't know how to speak English, you can learn how to do a www bbcrussian I'm learning English. However, I have noticed that many people tend to assume that learning a language can be done by just memorizing a whole bunch of words. Actually, it can be done by using words in a special way, which is only possible with the help of the internet.If you decide to look for an online course on learning English, you will be confronted with a lot of options. You have to select the best online course to learn English by means of which you can master the language.With the help of the internet, you can make a better choice in choosing the best course on learning English. Many sites will promise you that they can teach you English and then they ask you to pay to their site in order to get the course. Some sites will offer a free course, but in reality you will have to pay a lot of money to get the course.A good option is to enroll in an actual classroom for a distance learning program. The classes are taught in an actual English-speaking environment. You will need to travel to another city in order to attend the class.If you choose to learn English in an actual classroom, you will be able to learn the language at your own pace. In contrast, you will have to pay for each class. As well, you have to wait several months before you can take the next class.Learning to speak English through classes can take up quite a bit of time. In addition, you may have to take classes for several years before you will be able to study the language competently.While the website www.bbcrussian.com is not really an option, I would still recommend that you enroll in a class online. However, you should remember that not all people are comfortable talking to native speakers, so they would rather enroll in a class that will help them learn how to speak the language.

Finding a Chemistry Tutor

Finding a Chemistry TutorIf you are interested in learning chemistry, then the first thing you need to do is decide if you are interested in a pre-requisite course that will teach you everything you need to know to get your degree. Of course, there are other ways to get a Bachelor's degree, but you should always look into how you can get started quickly.With that said, if you choose to take an online chemistry course, then you will not only be able to finish the course quickly, but you will also have the option of studying with a tutor from the comfort of your own home. Most chemists want to get their degree on time and they usually want to complete it at the same time as their full-time job or they can do it after their business.When you decide that you want to study chemistry, you should also consider the level of education required to be successful. If you think that you have the opportunity and the skills to succeed, then go for it. If you have to take a certificate course to get your Bachelor's degree, then go for it.One of the biggest things that you have to think about when choosing a school to study with is the reputation of the school and the accreditation that they have. If you are going to work in the chemical industry, then the school should have to make sure that they have been approved by the American Chemical Society to do so.If you choose to study chemistry online, then you should also look into the reputation of the school. When you find the school that has a great reputation, then you should consider taking their program because there are many people who will be able to help you with your career.When you go to your choice of Chemistry tutors, make sure that you are talking to someone who knows all of the skills you need to learn. If you have a real understanding of chemistry, then you can make a much better decision about what the right program is for you.So when you are looking for a school to study with, make sure that you take into consider ation the reputation of the school and the level of education that they offer. If you find that you are lacking a certain skill that you need to learn, then you may want to consider a certificate program to help you get back on track.

Learning Computer Science Opens Doors

Learning Computer Science Opens Doors If I could go back to my teenage years and pick one skill to start learning younger, it would be programming. Learning computer science has opened countless doors for me, even though I started late and had very little formal training. I often think about how much further I would have progressed by now if I had started younger and been taught by someone other than the forums of StackOverflow. But the truth is that most teens don’t have the opportunity to learn programming because it’s not taught widely in school. This is why I’m so excited that TutorPace has decided to start offering online computer science tutoring. How it Opens Doors High-Paying Career According to Forbes, the average salary for someone with a computer science Bachelor’s degreewas $60,000 in 2013, compared to the average of $45,000 for all degrees. Differentiating Factor during Job Search Even if you don’t decide to work as a full-time software engineer, knowing how to program can still help you get a great job. I know this because it did for me. When I was searching for a job in the final semester of my MBA program, my ability to program landed me a great job as a Big Data Analyst. My brother had a similar experience. He was a graphic designer who learned how to program and build websites. He’s now the Creative Director at a design agency. Be Your Own Boss Knowing how to program can also enable you to become your own boss, in two different ways. First, if you have a business idea and decide to found a startup, your life will be much easier if you can program. It can save you from having to hire an expensive developer and being beholden to them every time you want a new feature or an upgrade to your website. Second, web developers can work as freelancers. You can either earn extra money on the side or set out on your own. I can tell you that my tutoring business would never have grown to what it is today if I didn’t know how to program. Without that knowledge, I couldn’t have built a tutor search engine that helps students find a tutor. And I couldn’t have built a tutor pricing calculator that helps tutors and students discover how much tutors charge near them. How to Learn Computer Science Now that you know how valuable computer science knowledge is, how can you begin to learn? Teens TutorPace’s online computer science tutoring Emagination’s Computer Camps College Students Take a couple courses in the computer science department Participate in a Hackathon Adults and Professionals For the autodidact, try StackOverflow Hire a tutor through an agency like TutorPace This is a guest post written by Jared Rand

5 Goals for the Ambitious Introvert for 2015 - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 5 Goals for the Ambitious Introvert for 2015 - Introvert Whisperer 5 Goals for the Ambitious Introvert for 2015 If you pooh-pooh New Year’s resolutions, this article is for you. I’m not going to suggest resolutions, nor am I going to tell you should tax your wintering  brain to figure some out. I’ve done that for you. All you need to do it print these out, tape them on your desk wall and begin taking action. Any time. Including February. Seriously, could it get any easier? Goal #1: Make a Career Plan Be honest. You probably don’t have a career plan, do you? Where will you end up if you don’t? Too many people think that “something will happen” and are just holding out for that breakthrough moment. Here’s the thing: those moments don’t usually happen without your active involvement. Figure out where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. (Like this thought? Tweet it!) Goal #2: Have a Conversation With the Boss Do you know how the boss views your performance? It does matter. You have to take responsibility for your own career, and one of those responsibilities is engaging the boss in a meaningful conversation about how well you’re doing. Goal #3: Learn to Network Better You may already think you’re networking, but there’s almost certainly room to improve. Make this the year you take your game to the next level. You won’t get ahead without this all-important activity. To start off, try contacting people you used to work with. Just that alone is probably far more than you’ve been doing. See it’s not so painful, is it? Goal #4: Be Heard This can be a tough one for some with introverted tendencies, but there’s an easy solution. Make a goal to speak up 3 times in each meeting you attend. Don’t worry if what you say is a rehash of what someone else has said. There is a lot of repetition in conversations and meetings. If you intend to be a leader, people have to hear from you on all matters. Setting a goal to be heard makes it easier to engage. Goals #5: Make Alliances Make deliberate relationships at work. Pick out a mentor who will give you all kinds of great insight. Find a couple of people at your level who you know have skills that you don’t. You can learn from these people and in turn, share some of your expertise. Think of it like bartering. You’ll notice that 4 out of 5 of these goals involve other people. Our ability to interact with other successfully is known as Emotional Intelligence. You can’t have too much, and recent studies have said it is the number 1 factor for personal and professional success. Make 2015 your Emotional Intelligence development year. Your future depends on it. Go to top Where do you want to take your career this year? Share your Ambitious Introvert goals in the comments! Image: Flickr Personal Branding starts with how well you speak about YOU.   I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my eBook â€" The Definitive Guide to Creating and Using an Elevator Speech.   In this guide, I give you simple to follow instructions for creating a “wardrobe” of ways to talk about you â€" to leave a lasting impression.   Get your copy now: CLICK HERE Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleash your professional potential.

Home Tutoring on Wednesdays and at the Weekend

Home Tutoring on Wednesdays and at the Weekend Why you Should Spread your Private Tuition throughout the Week ChaptersHow Can You Juggle Work and Leisure?Find a Time to Schedule Work and Homework.Finding Private Tutors for Wednesday and Weekend Classes can Give You More Free TimePrivate Tuition: Less Work for the HolidaysMake the Most of the Evenings with Academic Support on Wednesdays and WeekendsDon’t Work or Revise Late at NightNowadays, around a quarter of school pupils have worked with private tutors! These figures are even more impressive when it comes to tutoring in subjects such as:Maths,Physics and Chemistry,French,English,Spanish,Biology,Geography.With all these tutorials available, why would it be wise to hire tutors on Wednesdays and at the weekend?What are the advantages of one on one tutoring at these times? When is the best time to consider private tutoring or online tutoring services? CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Tea cher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £5 0/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsHow Can You Juggle Work and Leisure?School keeps kids busy almost every day throughout the week.We understand that they want to do something else when they get home! You should do some extra-curricular activities like:dance classes,piano lessons,violin lessons,singing lessons,guitar lessons,or even sports.Of course, relaxation shouldn’t get in the way of work. You need to organise your children so that they do their homework (either with or without the help of a private tutor) and then take them to their other activities.You can have fun while revising during the holidays. We promise! (Source:  Evelina Östlund)Wednesday is the perfect day for leisure activities and home tutoring!Why? Because engaging extra-curricular activities can help break up a child’s week and mean they go back t o school on Thursday re-energised.Don’t forget that a child’s hobbies can quickly turn into their passion.Think about it! If you find a tutor for their hobbies, it might even determine their future career!Find a Time to Schedule Work and Homework.Good revision techniques are hugely important.Scheduling homework, private tutorials, game sessions, and outdoor activities is the best way to create a routine and work effectively.A student needs to be motivated and interested by their classes if they want to succeed in school. If they feel lost or struggle with a certain teaching style, they might fail and be more reluctant to work. This means each student must have a carefully-calculated amount of work outside of their classes!In terms of how many hours of home tutoring they’ll need, this will depend massively on the level of the student and how far behind they are.An A Level maths student taking an intensive course of study will obviously need a lot more hours of tuition than a ch ild in primary school learning to count or do simple sums.Is there a right age for hiring a private tutor? Have you considered hiring an online tutor?A secondary school student studying a foreign language and struggling in class will need more hours one on one tutoring than a primary school student just starting out with the language.Doing your homework with the help of a private tutor is the key to success. (Source:  orizzontescuola.it)All catch-up one to one tutorials need to be adapted to the students' needs, whether for scientific subjects like maths and physics or humanities like French, philosophy or economics.Once the targets have been set, it’s time to set up an hourly programme for the term and establish a routine. By making them habitual, private tutorials will quickly become a part of your child’s daily life.Don’t forget that the best tutors can help a student get ready for going to university whether they’re studying science, business, engineering, arts, etc. Cal umDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhys ics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsFinding Private Tutors for Wednesday and Weekend Classes can Give You More Free TimeThe advantage of studying on Wednesdays and at the weekends is that the other days can be dedicated to relaxation!However, if the Monday’s homework is due on Tuesday morning, a tutoring schedule can't help with that. There’s no time for watching TV! You’ll need to schedule time to do it, whether it’s via homework help at school or with the parents.Alternating between academic activities and sporting activities is a great idea!Children can relax by playing football on Monday before taking their Tuesday music tutor ials where they’re going to need to concentrate a lot. Though some parents like to dedicate Sunday to family activities, it’s also a good idea to put aside an hour for academic support, especially at the end of the day after spending it with the family.What about private tutorials in the evening?Private Tuition: Less Work for the HolidaysAnother important advantage of having supplemental instruction on Wednesdays and at the weekend is that when the holidays come around, there’ll be less work to do and more time to enjoy them.Time to breathe, relax, and make the most of their free time! Travelling, visiting cultural sites, spending time with the family, learning to cook, etc. All these activities can be great for children.Did you know that the PISA Institute (Program for International Student Assessment), which publishes studies on European students, found a link between “too much homework” and “failing exams”?You should also check out why you should be having private t utorials before you take your exams.According to PISA, overworking children under 15 years old almost always has a negative effect on their exam results. This can be resolved. Usually with the help of an in-home tutor.Get your child away from the humdrum routine of school and give them opportunities to discover what they’re passionate about! Days off can be used to:Discover new cultures by travelling,Appreciate art by taking a painting class,Become a team player by playing a sport, etc.If you revise during the summer, you'll have a better chance of remembering everything your learnt during the year. (Source: Pexels)For those studying A Levels, holidays are a good time to revise and catch up with their studies.Their academic support throughout the year, whether just to improve or to work on their weaknesses, can help students to work effectively on scheduling their revision sessions.By involving someone else in their academic success, students will feel much less stressed when it c omes to the exams. In fact, they won’t worry about doing any last-minute revision the morning of the exam because of their academic coaching throughout the year!Make the Most of the Evenings with Academic Support on Wednesdays and WeekendsBy scheduling private tutorials on Wednesdays and at the weekends, the other evenings in the week are free for spending time with family or friends.Teenagers will love this type of freedom! Giving them autonomy will teach them to be independent, even if they’re still receiving help from a private tutor in some subjects.You can use this time to bring the family closer together, chat, and play games. Spreading the work out across the year means you’ll have more time every day to relax.However, it’s difficult to schedule two consecutive hours of maths and chemistry tuition together for secondary school students who tend to finish school later than those at primary school.Don’t forget that by employing a private tutor for academic support, yo u’re playing a positive role in your child’s development. You’re making the right decision by allowing a qualified professional who specialises in helping children who struggle to guide your child through their academic programme.You’re also focusing your children’s evening on personal development and fulfilment!Don’t Work or Revise Late at NightFor young children, revising or studying late at night can be detrimental.They’ll get annoyed if they’re tired, be reluctant to learn, and won’t want to do their homework. Rather than forcing them to learn, it’s better to have a professional come round on Wednesday after school and during the day on weekends, when they’re not tired.Should you revise everything you learnt throughout the year? Yes. But don't leave it too late! (Source: Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary)Revising in the evening is a good idea for teenagers. They can look back over their lessons and remember them. However, it’s not the only time they ca n revise!It’s best to read the important points again from the day’s lessons so that they can remember them, then let them relax by watching a film, playing a board game with the family or let them unwind by playing a computer game.Whether your child is in primary school or secondary school, sleeping is important.In fact, a teenager should sleep between 8 and 10 hours a night.Children between 6 and 12 years old need somewhere between 9 and 11 hours of sleep every night!Make sure your child goes to sleep early, especially if they have an exam the next day.Preparing for exams with in-home private tutorials or with academic support is the key to success! There’s no point in losing out on sleep just to do some last-minute revision. Students who do this usually try to learn too much in too little time.If I'm searching for tutors near me  for private tutorials on Wednesday evenings or over the weekend, I get in touch with a private tutors via Superprof!

5 Ways To Prepare For Bluegrass Guitar Lessons

5 Ways To Prepare For Bluegrass Guitar Lessons Suzy S. Starting bluegrass guitar lessons is fun and exciting, and odds are youll have a lot to learn! Guitar teacher  Samuel B.  shares a few things youll want to do before you get started Bluegrass is as much a piece of American musical culture as jazz, blues, country, gospel and early rock and roll. All of these styles (save for jazz) are based on the same three chords: C, F and G7th. Three of these styles (blues, country and gospel) are based on a slow rhythm that allows the guitarist room to experiment with varied melodic patterns within the space of a single chord. What sets bluegrass apart from these other categories is not its chord structure, but the way that its chords are played hitting the bottom string and strumming the chord only once. Bluegrass picking must be in perfect sync with the fast-paced rhythm that this pattern imposes. There are a few things you can do before you start your bluegrass guitar lessons to begin recognizing and appreciating the intricate melodies you will eventually be learning to play that stem from this rhythm. 1. Do a Lot of Listening One piece of songwriting advice that resonates with me is this: determine what specifically moves you about your favorite songs and copy those elements in the ones you write. Comparably, youll want to familiarize yourself with the music of various bluegrass artists (I recommend Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, and Alison Krauss), in order to get a clear idea of who you want to sound like (or perhaps not sound like). If you live in or near a music-friendly city, go to a few local bluegrass shows. They need not be held at sports arenas nor should you treat these outings like field research. Theyre just opportunities to surround yourself with the music and let it sink in over a sandwich and a drink. Bring a friend or other loved one and share the experience. 2. Do a Guided Visualization In order to a gain a more in-depth understanding of the music and why it matters to you, listen to your favorite piece of bluegrass music with your eyes closed and then write down what it made you think of. Whats familiar to you about the sound? What isnt? Is there a specific landscape or region of the world that came to mind? If so, who was there? What was this person or these people doing? What colors do you remember from the scene? What sounds? What smells? Was anyone serving food? If so, what do you suppose it would have tasted like? Would anything pertaining to your sense of touch have been relevant? If so, what did it feel like? In a manner similar to what I described about the shows, your visualization should not be treated like its supposed to be prize-winning literature. Your answers need not be relevant to the music in any historical or socially significant way â€" just true to how it made you feel and what it made you think of. 3. Consider Joining a Bluegrass Song Circle If youre already familiar with first-position chords (the ones on the first three frets), a song circle will provide you a chance to learn some new tricks as well as introduce you to a network of other musicians you might perform or record with in the future. Above all, song circles will actively engage you with bluegrass music and musicians in a communal format unavailable in one-one-one bluegrass guitar lessons. What youll learn in the lessons will compliment what you learn in the circle and vice versa. 4. Practice Your Scales You probably saw this one coming a mile away, but scale mastery is pertinent to every genre. Bluegrass is certainly no exception. Unless you want to play only chords, practicing scales (particularly major ones) is the only way of improving your dexterity, as well as your familiarity with the notes that comprise the form. Start with the major scale in C,  and learn it backwards and forward: E|O||-O| B|O||-O| G||O|| D||O|-O| A||O|-O| E|O||-O| Then, take it up a full step to D, and do the same: E||O-|O||-O| B||O-|O||-O| G||O-||O|| D||O-||O|-O| A||O-||O|-O| E||O-|O||-O| 5. Do Some Research About Appalachia If youre a serious musician (or are at least intent on becoming one), youll want some understanding of what inspired your specific genre to come through in your playing. Youll want to know about the daily livelihoods and struggles of the people who originally made the music. How did they provide for their basic needs, such as food, clothing and shelter? What were their personal struggles (medicine, family life)? Their professional ones (industrial)? In what ways do you suppose all of these daily uncertainties inspired their music? One of my favorite books about the region is October Sky. Written by former NASA engineer Homer Hickam Junior, it chronicles the slow collapse of a West Virginia mining town. While bluegrass music is a mostly pleasant and playful-sounding form, its inspiration lies in the rugged, desolate and often bleak environment its original makers inhabited. Your goal as a musician should be to paint a both colorful and heartfelt portrait of this environment. Dont wait to get started with your guitar lessons! Search for a guitar teacher now. Samuel B. teaches beginner  guitar lessons in Austin, TX. He teaches lessons face-to-face without sheet music, which is his adaptation of Japanese instruction (involving a call-and-response method).  Learn more about Samuel here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo by  Elvert Barnes