Classical guitar lessons in Ville-Marie

A neighbourhood of apartments and shifting schedules

Ville-Marie is the densest part of Montreal: residential towers, condos, students from UQAM, McGill and Concordia, and professionals whose week never looks like the last one. It is also where lessons at home solve a real problem, because crossing town on a Tuesday at six in the evening with a guitar on your back discourages more students than any technical difficulty ever does.

Playing classical guitar in an apartment

Good news for anyone in a tower or a plex: the nylon-string classical guitar is one of the quietest instruments there is. You can practise in the evening without bothering the neighbours, unlike a piano or anything with a bell. That is a common reason downtown adults choose it over something else.

What to have ready

• ✓ A stable chair without armrests, not an armchair or a counter stool.
• ✓ A corner out of the way, which in a one-bedroom usually means the bedroom rather than the living room.
• ✓ A music stand, or a table at the right height.
• ✓ A nylon-string classical guitar, tuned before the lesson starts.
• ✓ The intercom code and floor number, sent ahead of time.

Students and young professionals

Most adult students downtown start with no musical background at all, often after years of telling themselves it is too late. It is not, and the method suits a full schedule: fifteen to twenty minutes of daily practice builds more coordination than two hours on Sunday.