How to teach guitar?

[Sixwire]

I consider myself an accomplished guitarist, had lots of theory and understand quite a bit about music. Lots of people of all ages have asked if I give lessons. I show other guitarist what I did and give some advice, but have never taught. What is the best way to get a new student going? The method I learned was to start with a crappy guitar and if you don’t wash out, you might make it. I would never start a student the way I did.

Thanks for the advice!

[Joe-Bob]

Originally Posted by Sixwire

I consider myself an accomplished guitarist, had lots of theory and understand quite a bit about music. Lots of people of all ages have asked if I give lessons.

Unfortunately, the world of guitar lessons is flooded with people who think that being a good player equates to the ability to teach.

It does not.

They are completely different skills.

At your age, I suspect that if you had a genuine affinity to teach, that you'd have done it already. Find a skilled teacher to recommend people to.

[Jeff_K]

I don't agree with Joe-Bob. I'm also 51 and although I don't have the desire to set up shop (not to mention don't have the skills!), it didn't stop me from teaching my three sons to play...and I loved it and even now I have such pride and a sense of accomplishment when I hear them playing. Teaching could be an untapped gift that you could pass on to others. As for the method...most here seem to favor a "Hal Leonard" kind of approach. I went the opposite direction. I taught the boys D, C, and G and didn't let them do anything else until they could play the cycle of D > C > G > C > D > etc perfectly well. My thought was that the hardest part of learning to play is the muscle memory for fingering and not only are DCG the most common of chords, they also give your fretting hand three different degrees of stretching across the neck. Once they had that down, the rest was just memorizing other chords. Now they play complicated stuff like Porcupine Tree and it all came from DCG. I recently picked up a lefty guitar to see how hard it would be to play DCG and it was darn near impossible! It was starting new all over again. If I had to learn now, I don't think I would stick with it. A good teacher would know how to get me to play through the difficult and frustrating first month. That's why I didn't hit my kids with any heavy theory at first. The muscle memory thing is hard enough without adding theory to it. I know this is counter-culture around here but it worked for us. Once they have the ability to play, then they can study as much theory as they want. But I know this is not the majority opinion here.

[gtroates]

Jeff,
I think you are right on and I have been teaching since 1982 when I was just a college freshman. Hand coordination for chord changes is what I start beginners out on, I always want them to make musical noises for a while before I start into reading and/or theory, some students just want to learn songs for a while and this is the best thing for them at the beginning stages. No need to take time away from song playing until their hands are used to changing chords and keeping time with their strumming. If you push theory on absolute beginners you run the risk of turning them off of the instrument by making it take longer for them to build a playing repertoire, which makes the instrument feel like work instead of fun. Get them hooked on making music first, the theory comes later. You get my thumbs up for how you taught them!

[Maxwell Street]

Originally Posted by Joe-Bob

At your age, I suspect that if you had a genuine affinity to teach, that you'd have done it already. Find a skilled teacher to recommend people to.

Playing well does not disqualify you as a teacher. It's never too late in life to open new doors.

[metallicsponge]

Originally Posted by Joe-Bob

Unfortunately, the world of guitar lessons is flooded with people who think that being a good player equates to the ability to teach.

It does not.

They are completely different skills.

At your age, I suspect that if you had a genuine affinity to teach, that you'd have done it already. Find a skilled teacher to recommend people to.

I understand exactly where you are coming from, where decent players kind of "moonlight" as passable teachers. They post and ad on craigslist and perform a service, which effectively dilutes the quality of the guitar teacher pool.

But wow, talk about age discrimination there! How can you possibly suspect that his affinity is not genuine, based on his age. The fact that he is consulting with others, should show that his feelings are likely "genuine" as you say.

Finally, when we talk about "good players", I would argue that good players are usually good teachers. Why? Because good guitarists who play out (as the OP seems to based on his post content), generally have gone through an indoctrination process. They need to know, how to improv. in different keys, identify the chord changes, keep the beat, understand how the drums/bass fit in, communicate on the spot with other musicians, in addition to being a "good guitarist". Now contrast that with a great teacher and communicator, who may not play out as often, and lacks this experience. Its this experience, I feel, that is essential. So lets make the distinction between a "good guitarist", who plays in his bedroom, versus a "good player", who plays out. You can get great guitar instruction on youtube, but to become a good "player", seek someone who is also a "player".

To the OP:

First, you need to determine your niche. Are you well versed in shred, blues, rock, jazz, latin, etc? Otherwise you may be an open/bar chord, basic scale, easy tunes, type teacher, in which case you really should focus solely on beginners.

[TreeHugger]

I taught for a little while, a year or so, after I studied jazz and classical guitar in college. After teaching for several months I felt that I still had a lot to learn before I could pass on the knowledge to someone else. Teaching felt VERY uncomfortable for me.

I can explain the "how" and I can sort of explain the "why" when it comes to theory.

It's ironic... I've found that the best teacher IS "me" when I'm trying to learn something. When I learn a new concept or application, I go over it in my head... like I'm explaining it to someone, or myself, in detail. I do that A LOT when I don't have a guitar in my hands.

Anyway, I knew teaching wasn't for me. But I know great teachers, so I can always refer someone to the right teacher that suits their needs. I'm a heavy, intermediate guitar player, but I wouldn't go to me for lessons, lol.

[AJBaker]

Teaching is hard, and learning to play guitar is hard. It seems hard for us to remember how long it took us to start out. One thing I find difficult to teach is to get the right hand moving rhythmically. Try turning your guitar around and playing left handed (if you're right handed) and you'll know what I mean. The left hand just refuses to strum the way we wan't it to.

[Telenic]

Originally Posted by Joe-Bob

Unfortunately, the world of guitar lessons is flooded with people who think that being a good player equates to the ability to teach.

It does not.

They are completely different skills.

At your age, I suspect that if you had a genuine affinity to teach, that you'd have done it already. Find a skilled teacher to recommend people to.

I completely disagree with the above statement. It's rude, gross ageism, and makes assumptions about this OP that he couldn't possibly begin to know. There could be many valid reasons why the OP hasn't taught, one of them being that he had a decent paying job.

I'm not a teacher but I have been with several teachers. I would suggest the single most important thing is to maintain continuity from one lesson to the next. I do not appreciate it when I walk into a lesson and the teacher can barely remember who I am and has no idea what we did the previous week.

[rolling56]

Originally Posted by Sixwire

I consider myself an accomplished guitarist, had lots of theory and understand quite a bit about music. Lots of people of all ages have asked if I give lessons. I show other guitarist what I did and give some advice, but have never taught. What is the best way to get a new student going? The method I learned was to start with a crappy guitar and if you don’t wash out, you might make it. I would never start a student the way I did.

Thanks for the advice!

no advice but hello Branson from SW of Springfield and hope your staying dry

[dmarg1045]

With kids I try to start 'em on Hal Leonard Guitar Book One for some basic reading and simple chords--a track to run on. I always let them know that we will be learning songs once they can play a little. I have charted out a core list of tunes that I like to teach: Hear of Gold, Day Tripper, Wind Cries Mary, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, etc. I also burn work CD's with my core tunes on it. Once a student can play I'll introduce them to some easy tunes.

With students who can't or won't learn to read, I start them on chords, four beats and one strum per chord leading to the next chord. I'll isolate groups of chords from one of the tunes and turn it into a mini-exercise.

[Sixwire]

Unfortunately, the world of guitar lessons is flooded with people who think that being a good player equates to the ability to teach.

It does not.

They are completely different skills.

At your age, I suspect that if you had a genuine affinity to teach, that you'd have done it already. Find a skilled teacher to recommend people to.

I see everyone's point of view and think I do have a lot of knowledge to offer, but also think the first response holds a lot of merit. My first love is being a player and figuring out challenges on own. I would really like more input on teaching technique. It makes sense to learn a 1-4-5, get comfortable with the changes and add the 2,3 and 6. That could be a foundation to learn about any song. Master a few different keys and begin some scales?? What about books? As a player, almost everything is taken for granted and you focus on keeping the audience entertained and give them a wow factor. At least you hope you do.

I do typically try to recommend a couple good teachers since I would hate to fail them and see them not learn because I used a poor teaching method.

[robotguitar]

I find that beginners are the hardest to teach and require the most attention. Basics like the least amount of pressure to fret a note and the best place to place you fret finger near the fret are important. Teaching a 9 year old to tune the guitar can be a difficult feat. Rather than spend an hour teaching them how to tune in the first lesson, I try to let it sink in as we go. Trying to keep it their interest and make it exciting for them is also important. I was once giving a fairly informal group lesson which I normally don't do to a 9 and 12 yer old. In the middle of it the 9 year old went outside. About five minutes later I asked about him and found that he was playing frisbee.

[jazztele]

Well, there's a lot of things to consider.

1. Every student is different. You can have a template for maybe the first lesson, other than that, you need to tailor it to the player. This means homework for you.

2. Raw beginners are beginners! A 1-4-5 is too much for the first lesson. Make sure they're holding the instrument correctly, pushing down strings correctly, consistently hitting the correct string with the picking hand...that seems so obvious to us who've been playing a long time, and also boring, but a beginner needs to be shown the correct way, or they start developing bad habits from day one.

3. DEMAND that any older students you take (I'm talking teenage and up) set goals. You aren't a mind reader. Ask them to help you help them, it'll tell you quickly if said student is serious, a hobbyist but wants to know more, just in it for fun, etc...

4. Set goals for the little ones. Be very patient if you take any students under say, 11-12 years old. Develop a relationship with their parents--make sure mom or dad or both know what you're working on, and have them keep a practice log. A 30 minute lesson with a 9 year old that didn't practice is enough to make some folks have a "belltower" moment.

5. Divide up "fun" and "not as fun, but important" time. Guitar playing IS fun, and it should be, but if you get, for example, a student who just LOVES Eric Johnson...sure, learning "Cliffs of Dover" from a transcription will be fun, but be sure to break down what's going on in the tune as well. It's the "give a man a fish/teach a man to fish" principle.

6. Have I mentioned being patient yet?

7. Whenever you can, apply what you're teaching to a song. Knowledge has to be useful for most folks or it leaks out their ear into their pillow at night.

Just because you haven't taught before doesn't mean you're not cut out for it--but I will admit, I do feel most good teachers (not all) I've come across have usually had a moment where they say "I wanna teach!" as opposed to "I wonder if I should teach?" But whatever your case, go for it--you might be excellent at it...just be patient (have I mentioned that?)

[JayFreddy]

Originally Posted by jazztele

Well, there's a lot of things to consider.

1. Every student is different. You can have a template for maybe the first lesson, other than that, you need to tailor it to the player. This means homework for you.

2. Raw beginners are beginners! A 1-4-5 is too much for the first lesson. Make sure they're holding the instrument correctly, pushing down strings correctly, consistently hitting the correct string with the picking hand...that seems so obvious to us who've been playing a long time, and also boring, but a beginner needs to be shown the correct way, or they start developing bad habits from day one.

3. DEMAND that any older students you take (I'm talking teenage and up) set goals. You aren't a mind reader. Ask them to help you help them, it'll tell you quickly if said student is serious, a hobbyist but wants to know more, just in it for fun, etc...

4. Set goals for the little ones. Be very patient if you take any students under say, 11-12 years old. Develop a relationship with their parents--make sure mom or dad or both know what you're working on, and have them keep a practice log. A 30 minute lesson with a 9 year old that didn't practice is enough to make some folks have a "belltower" moment.

5. Divide up "fun" and "not as fun, but important" time. Guitar playing IS fun, and it should be, but if you get, for example, a student who just LOVES Eric Johnson...sure, learning "Cliffs of Dover" from a transcription will be fun, but be sure to break down what's going on in the tune as well. It's the "give a man a fish/teach a man to fish" principle.

6. Have I mentioned being patient yet?

7. Whenever you can, apply what you're teaching to a song. Knowledge has to be useful for most folks or it leaks out their ear into their pillow at night.

Just because you haven't taught before doesn't mean you're not cut out for it--but I will admit, I do feel most good teachers (not all) I've come across have usually had a moment where they say "I wanna teach!" as opposed to "I wonder if I should teach?" But whatever your case, go for it--you might be excellent at it...just be patient (have I mentioned that?)

^^^ What he said...^^^

Nice post JT.

[eddiewagner]

Originally Posted by jazztele

2. Raw beginners are beginners!, and also boring,

hi jazztele, sorry that i took your words apart.
i am teaching for quite a while now. it is a cool running little business. but i slowly start loosing interest and my hands are starting to hurt, specially my left index-finger.
and it looks like the guys never, ever really practice!
but you learn a lot from teching yourself. that is almost worth the hassle. and you get paid for it....
eddie

[stringslinger]

Originally Posted by eddiewagner

hi jazztele, sorry that i took your words apart.
i am teaching for quite a while now. it is a cool running little business. but i slowly start loosing interest and my hands are starting to hurt, specially my left index-finger.
and it looks like the guys never, ever really practice!
but you learn a lot from teching yourself. that is almost worth the hassle. and you get paid for it....
eddie

It's so very true, you learn a lot more about yourself when teaching. How to communicate ideas, connect concepts. A good challenge would be trying to teach an entire lesson withOUT playing yourself. A while ago my left wrist was bothering me, so I practically went a whole week without playing....but I still had to teach 30-some lessons. You end up talking a lot more! :)