Home Forums Guitar Discussion Guitar So I’ve decided to teach guitar lessons…

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  • #23295
    vitaminE
    Participant

    …after years of informally “showin’ stuff” to people here and there. My first student is a 16 year old girl who wants to move to Minneapolis and start a band. The other is an 11 year old girl who wants to eventually play guitar in the high school orchestra. Apparently this has created somewhat of a buzz and I’m expecting more students down the line. The 11 year old is getting the Noad method and the 16 year old will eventually play like Trey Anastasio but better.

    Having never taken lessons myself I am looking for any and all advice from the folks on this board – good / bad experiences with instructors, what kept you going or turned you off, etc.

    Thanks in advance!

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    • #72821
      1bassleft
      Participant

      So I’m “McEnroe”, now. Well, I’m a lefty and it makes a change from “got beat by a kid” jibes 😆 . Glad to hear the lessons are going well, Toco, and nice of you to look in on the thread, Bob.

      What was that bit about playing with restraint? I could use such a lesson…

    • #72831
      vitaminE
      Participant

      Thanks guys!

      Lessons are going well. My younger student has great brain-to-fingers wiring and can already play all the major chords. She has the names of the strings memorized, can recite all the lines and spaces of the treble clef, but is still struggling with the concept of relative tuning.

      My older student is also doing well. I have her hacking through sweep picking and have introduced her to the major scale, blues scale, and phrygian mode along with all the major and some minor chords.

      Interestingly enough, I allowed her boyfriend to sit in on our last lesson. He was able to play some offspring and nirvana tunes, but didn’t know the names of ANY chords and had really no clue about any sort of theory – another victim of tablature; more like a player piano than a musician.

      That is indeed a very nice website, Bob. We ended our last lesson with a flurry of E7#9 chords and discussion about tasteful playing and restraint. 😉

    • #72818
      bobhoulston
      Participant

      [quote=”lee_UK”]Thats a good little website Bob, is it all your own work?[/quote]

      Many contributions from website visitors gratefully received.
      Plus, I had the help of a teenage nephew to construct the site!?;) ________ [URL=http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Honda_CL160]HONDA CL160[/URL]

    • #72813
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Thats a good little website Bob, is it all your own work? the lessons i mean not the site itself.

    • #72855
      bobhoulston
      Participant

      [quote=”vitaminE”]…I am looking for any and all advice from the folks on this board – good / bad experiences with instructors, what kept you going or turned you off, etc.

      Thanks in advance![/quote]

      I love teaching guitar. I approach each lesson as if it were a gig. I am the backing musician and my student is the star. I have been a guitar tutor for some twenty years now so I guess I must be doing something right. You might like to access my Free guitar tips + tabs via:
      http://clix.to/tips
      Good luck,
      Bob #==(o ) ________ [URL=http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Ducati_F1]Ducati F1[/URL]

    • #72848

      My advice is to teach what they want to play. When I first started playing, I wanted to play rock/metal (of course). My first teacher would not teach me anything but blues and jazz. I understand that students need a foundation, but I lost interest pretty quick because I wasn’t learning how to play what I wanted. Hope that helps.

    • #72832
      Michael
      Participant

      I can’t really offer as many words of wisdom as McEnroe did above, but from teacher mates, make sure you have your lessons planned out thouroughly. It will save yourself embarrasment and obviously improve the quality of the session.

    • #72835
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Toco, this isn’t the most useful info ever, but I’ll post it anyway 😳

      The technical side is one thing, but it’s at least as important that the student (a) enjoys the sessions and (b) feels that they are improving under your tutelage. As long as you keep those two criteria at the forefront of your mind, then you’re getting somewhere.

      I’m honestly not qualified to say anything about “do this scale, then that scale” but, if you like to be paid, then bear the above two points in mind. I’ve seen tennis kids ground into hating the sight of a racquet because of the pressure. Mostly from parents rather than coaches. Like any other form of teaching; it’s about differentiation. Matching the level of the lesson to the ability of the student so that they make progress and stay motivated.

      Sorry, this may read like tripe. I’m more of a boggo teacher than a playing coach. Perhaps you could PM Bob Houlston if he doesn’t look in on this himself?

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