Teaching Guitar

[onmoris]

A lot of people have begun asking me for guitar lessons. I'm a good guitar player but have never taught anyone before. Is there a book or site I should like that could give me some direction in how to give lessons? I'm self-taught so I never took lessons...

thanks

 

[apl]

Do the first few cheap, like $10 or something. Teach a couple of songs they want to learn. Teach some theory and scales out of a book.

 

[mshilarious]

Do the first few cheap, like $10 or something. Teach a couple of songs they want to learn. Teach some theory and scales out of a book.

Teach proper form and practice technique.

Use a guitar method that is oriented towards the style you are teaching. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. Supplement with whatever tunes the kids want to learn, but make 'em do those exercises in the book.

 

[the edzell]

And stick with it. If your not in it for the long haul don't do it.

 

[rpe]

I'm using a Hal Leonard, Method 1 book to teach my 7 year-old grandson. It seems pretty good and I'm sure I'll pickup some things along the way also.

rpe

 

[Clit Torres]

At first, I'd be selective as to whom I choose to teach. Beginners, IMHO, are generally a lot tougher to get going. When I first started giving lessons I went with intermediate to advanced players first, because for the most part, they already have the dexterity, so the bulk of the work lies in correcting bad technique.

"Do the first few cheap, like $10 or something"

I definately agree with this. I'd also like to add that offering 1 free half hour lesson is an option as well, this way you can assess skill level, give yourself an idea of what direction to go with that particular player, or you may just find out that that person is hopeless, in which case you would turn them down. And on the other side of the coin, the free half hour alleviates any apprehensions they may have about you, and also gives them a chance to bail without feeling as though they've been ripped off.

If you're good, they will come.......

 

[ibanezrocks]

You have to try to keep it fun and teach proper technique and scales. Try to find songs they listen to that they'd be able to learn, and teach them some theory behind it, so they get the best of both.

I can't say anything about teaching even an intermediate player, but I did teach my friend guitar (for free, it was fun) for about half a year, all the way from him first picking up a guitar to learning some harder stuff. The great thing about starting with someone that has never even played guitar before even if you're a great guitar player yourself is that as they get better at playing you'll be getting better at teaching.
I think someone already said this, but teaching someone else how to play, even the most basic stuff if you're teaching them it with proper technique and some theory, will make you a better guitarist.
If you start out teaching people who are really good they may realize that you don't know how to teach, which will make it harder to get better as a teacher.

My point: Don't just stick with people who are already playing guitar, start some new people on it too. And as far as giving a first free lesson, thats definitely a good idea if you're making a long term commitment to teaching.

 

[Sloan]

Just make sure that you teach them to rock.

 

[timmerman]

Each person has mentioned some valid points, I would like to add a few more ideas:

Aks yourself all the time what it is that you are doing, so when you play a chord, how do you finger it, what is left or right hand doing ect. All very VERY simple stuff but pupils do not know, they watch you and just copy, if you can guide them during this process that speeds up the whole thing a lot.

Do not underestimate those simple things like "how to play a note" Well how hard is that eh? Not really, but can you remeber yourself how long it took you to make a note really sing? Getting the sound of the note may be easy, but to get a good tone is another thing. So your students may be able to play the same simiple melodies, but their tone is not anywhere near yours, and hearing these differences will inspire them to try harder to get a good sound too.


Also do not walk away from:"You are the expert idea" again this may sound silly, but people will ask you for ideas about amps, guitars, posture, music and all kind of things. I feel if you are into music and guitars you will usually have an opinion about these matters, and will also be able to give an honest anwer to these questions.

Play with you pupils, no matter how simple or complex, by just hearing how it should sound they get to know how to do it, and eventually they will get there. Usually you need far more words to explain things whereas as simple demonstration will say everything there is to mention.

Be not too critical about things like fingerings with very young pupils [8 to 10 yrs old] but then again all folks are different, some 8 years olds can concentrate for a very long time and may want to know how to play it really well and what fingers to use.

Let people experience for themselves, rather than telling them. Okay how do you do this? Just let them try things, let them "mess about" and this goes for all levels, so when somebody is new to a certain scale they may just "have a go" and see how this new one sounds over those chords, so do not expect them to come up with phrases which do work very well.

It is all about fun, far too often we may become too technical about things, but in the end the fun is probably the fact why people stick to playing, so if they have never experieced this in the first place they may give up very soon.

Mentioned before by someone but very VERY important in teaching [and our own playing] Stick to things..............and revist and reinvent an old idea, so if someone does not get one phrase of lick, just turn it around using a different fingering and all of a sudden it may work.

Teaching is a lot of fun and very rewarding for yourself, it will make you a better player, but also a better human being. Do be honest to people and try to appreciate all of their ideas and habits. Of course teaching is all about dealing with people, and as in any field where you deal with people, you may get fed up with folks from time to time, but just try to keep your cool, as mistakes such as bad behaviour do travel around quickly. Good manners is part of your own advertising.

As a bonus I do this: I travell to people's houses as it is far easier for me to come out than for them to visit me. You see most people are far too busy these days. So for my traveling time I charge a little extra but most folks do appreciate this and are fine with this.

Check out the local rate in your area, you may want to be a little bit cheaper as you are starting out with this, but really you should not go to far out of the range of the average price.

After a while you will develop your own teaching style and people will repond to you. Yes you may look at how others do things, but really do not be affraid to develop your own ideas and methods. I use books, ideas from magazines ect. but most of the ideas I use are from myself, it helps people seeing that you can be creative on any level. A lot of this is about confindence and background. So often people get told: "no you cannot do this, ect." whereas if people can experiece that they can do it in their own way that is really very rewarding.

Okay have some fun with all and all the best.

Eddie

 

[retromal]

Loads of very good pointers in the above.... I have had the fortune of teaching a couple of kids from nothing to them being accepted into a college course (this has just happened), yep it takes up a fair amount of time and dedication on both sides, but the feeling you get when they manage to get what you are trying to teach them and now for me that they are both going on to college is wonderful. (I taught both free of charge, all I wanted to do was pass on my knowledge) Don't feel as if you can't do it, your enthusiam as a musician will shine through....

Mal

 

[junplugged]

does anyone teach thru a music store? does anyone stress reading or sight reading or more of playing by ear and what the student wants to learn, if it's not reading, etc.

 

[ibanezrocks]

I wouldn't stress note reading so much, I've never found it to be all that useful, and I did learn note reading. However definitely teach them scales and the theory behind chords.

 

[timmerman]

What is the musical environment like in your area? HOw does this affect you?

does anyone teach thru a music store? does anyone stress reading or sight reading or more of playing by ear and what the student wants to learn, if it's not reading, etc.

I have thaught through a music store, but as they did not have enough space it was better for me to take the pupils home and teach them from my house, so the store would just pass on the pupils to me. As a reward for them passing pupils on to my way I gave them some money in return. Fair enough eh? These days most of my students come to me on their own account, yes they did find my phonenumber somewhere [Musicstore or any other public place] or got recommended by another pupil.

The sightreading is a deep one. I feel any pupil will benefit from this, and will also appreciate it within time, however a lot of this depends on age. A 14 yr old who starts out may just want to rock, but within two years time this kid may become also interested in acoustic guitar, and may want to go deeper with harmony and melody.

For people who are more intermediate I will recommend the reading idea, as their fretboardknowledge and general musicianship will benefit from it.

Being able to sight read will also give you access to different styles of music, usually styles which depend a bit more on written notation such as classical music.

Really sight reading is just another tool for communication, just as tab. is. Having access to both tab. and the notes is great as you can make your own choices about how to learn new pieces. Would you like to notes for a Satriani riff or just the tab.? Changes are you will have access to the music, so using the tab. may be far easier. What about learning a Bach violin sonate? Well with this one the musical notation may be easier to use as you may not have a recording of this piece, and even if you have it may to be to complex to nail it precisely by only using your ears.

Would I stress playing by ear? Certainly as we are dealing with sound, we are "soundmerchants" so you need to develop your hearing and also become free with your instrument. I value the fact that people can work out songs by ear rather than using tab. as it will make them freeer on their instrument. Okay I agree it is a process, and there are different levels of this too. Most of my pupils will start with the tab. of their favourite songs, but within time they will mange to hear the chordsequences by ear, and yes I will give them pointers as in what to listen out for when working things out by ear.

Would I let people decide what they want to learn? Well most of the time it is like: "I want to get better" and they do not have any idea how to do this, so it is for us, teachers, to see how you can take them up to the next level, and the better you are at this the more successful you will be as a teacher.

Now some more questions for all of you:

How is the average environment where you life. I mean what kind of students do you get?

I live in Leeds in England [UK] and this is a city of moderate size, however there are many many musicshops [at least more that 10], there is a University with a music department and a Music College as well. All of this helps to stimulate the musical environment. What is not here is a thriving recording industry with major artists and major record labels, so anyone of you living in LA or New York may find themselves in a totally different environment.

You see in LA you may get advanced students who would like to take lessons from a well-know player. This calls for a totally different scenario teachingwise, as prices, attitude ect. may be completely different from the environment I am used to.

Most of my students are beginners or people who have played a little bit, so they may just be looking for some inspiration which would take their playing up to the next level, but teaching them for example "Eruption" of Van Halen will go straight over their heads. To be honest in all my years of teaching I have not had many requests from people doing this song [or any other "tech. challenging guitarmusic"] Change are, anyone who would like so learn this kind of stuff already knows how to help themselves. For that matter, how many of us here would take lessons themselves from someone? You probably know how to learn any kind of thing musicwise, you may just need some time and patience to get it right.

The average person I see wants to make a start with guitar, or improve upon what they already know, or would like to learn to improvise or get deeper into classical or any other kind of fingerstyle guitar.

So how often do you get requests to work out Satriani songs or anything of that kind?

Cheers,

Eddie

 

[HapiCmpur]

Take a look at Fretboard Logic by Bill Edwards. I've never taught guitar, but if I did I'd use that book. (It's a series, but I've only looked at Volume 1 so far.) I just discovered it last month after nearly 30 years of playing, and it's the first instruction book I've seen that made sense and that doesn't require the student to play crap like "Camptown Races" and "The Volga Boatman."

http://www.billedwards.com/frameset.html

Regardless of what book you choose, the most important thing is to watch the "School of Rock" DVD for inspiration.