Howdy from Indiana

Just bought my first G&L, a Tribute Invader. Been picking on a Starcaster Strat, but that will go in the closet after picking on the Invader. I am a real newbie at guitar. I'm not looking to join a band, just pick a few tunes to amuse me and the wife, and the grandkids
I'm 55 and working my butt off 6/week, 8 or 10 hours a day, so practice time is really valuable to me.
I am having problems in learning though. My teacher has me doing pentatonics and nothing else. I've been taking classes for over 4 months now. Much of the time in class is spent jabbering.

Any suggestions on how an old man with poor memory and eyesight can learn to play blues?

Any help would really be appreciated.

are these private lessons? i would suggest a new teacher who will actually teach.

Yep, private, one on one lessons. Teacher is nice guy, who plays in various blues bands. We just aren't meshing on the learning thing.

you need a good teacher, and not a nice guy. just because someone can play, that doesn't mean they can teach as well.

where are you located?

Columbus

I'm kinda doing the same thing as you .... other than I'm not a total newbe , been chord jammimg a long time , just play at home for the most part , I'll turn 52 this year and just decided to try to learn lead guitar ......

first off even though I'm new on this site , i've been here long enough to know that Lois is one smart guy and I take his advice strongly and you should too ....

for myself I've had a music book that has a CD with it that I've owned since 1983 but really didn't know how to read it as tabliture was brand new back then , the book is called "Easy Blues songbook" by Ed Lozano , so when I decide to take lessons here just recently on how to play lead my "new" music teacher asked me what I wanted to learn and play, I told him I wanted to learn my music book .... some of my lesson are just me asking question on how to read the music or approach a particular riff , but after 4 months of lessons I'm really starting to rip some decent leads and able to play right along with the CD ..... it takes me a month to learn a song start to finish and be able to play along right with it the whole song , by know means am I in any of these guy's "league" like Lois but this is one helluva site to belong too , there is a bunch of great people on here , but it for sure sounds like you need a different teacher , and the next might not be any better but if you have the desire to learn don't give up , it may take a few tries before you get a teacher you really learn from ... been playing off and on for over 40 and had maybe 5 music teachers in my life , but at 52 I realize now the first four teachers I had when I was young were not very good ..... these guy's for sure will point you in the right direction ..... have fun with your Invader , couple picts would be nice ...lol

colombus is a big place. you shouldn't have a problem trying out a few different teachers. fumble is correct, sometimes you gotta keep looking. how your personality fits with the teacher's will have a lot to do with how you progress. think about how much better you learned in school when you liked the teacher. that is still true. maybe some of the guys around here know a good teacher in colombus.