Classical guitar lessons on the Plateau-Mont-Royal

The neighbourhood where the musicians live

The Plateau holds a density of musicians, students and people doing something creative that few North American neighbourhoods can match. That means two things for a student: the ambient level is high, and there are genuine opportunities to play in front of someone, which is the best engine for practice there is.

Practising in a Plateau apartment

Plateau plexes have thin walls and close neighbours, which rules out a lot of instruments. The classical guitar is not one of them: nylon strings stay discreet, and evening practice is possible without negotiating with anyone.

Starting as an adult

The most common profile on the Plateau is the adult starting out, or picking the instrument back up after giving it up as a teenager. An adult learns quickly but has little time: the mechanism behind each exercise gets explained, anything without immediate use gets dropped, and everything is built around short daily practice instead of long sessions that never happen.

What to have ready

• ✓ A stable chair without armrests.
• ✓ A quiet corner, which in a Plateau apartment usually means the back room.
• ✓ A music stand, or a table at the right height.
• ✓ A nylon-string classical guitar, tuned before the lesson.