Started out with trumpet/cornet lessons in grade school--learned guitar informally, from friends and playing bands in high school and college--studied music in an actual music school and was certified to teach--started taking guitar lessons from a jazz guitarist after playing for about 10 years and discovered the right way to do a lot of things I had fudged my way through for years, as well as practical theory(that stuff that you use) and all those mundane things you need to know when you are serious about working with people--

When I started teaching, I talked to a lot of people who had played but stopped, and they tended to tell me that they hadn't learned enough of the basics to move ahead--

I always tried to make sure my students had the basics, and they had them right--also that they learned stuff that was broadly useful--*never* taught anyone to play a tune just like the record,but I did teach how to listen to the record, and how to put together an arrangement using the same elements--