I quit guitar teaching

[Robert****]

I am done for a while. I still have one bass student, an older guy.

I need to rant now. I have been doing it a whole year now, and I need a break. I have found it interesting and fun when the guitar students come prepared. Too often however, they aren't, and usually don't practice as much as I'd like to see. Sometimes they don't show up and their parents tell me later they couldn't come. Happens too often, and it's quite annoying when you've prepared for the lesson that day.

If I take it up again, I'll prepare a course outline of what I expect from them, and what they can expect from me. You know, more like a contract, that describes how I teach and what they will need to do in order to have me as a teacher. Maybe this sounds strange, but I know private teachers that teach full time have this set up and guess what - they get students who are really motivated. Mostly because the word goes around, something like "that guy really puts expectations on you - don't bother going there if you're not willing to do the work".

Ok, rant over!

[t_ross33]

That must mean you'd have time to tutor someone from, say, Saskatchewan? Hee Hee!

Our daughter's piano teacher has a "contract" that the students AND their parents sign at the beginning of the year. The expectations are pretty high, not just being prepared for each weeks lessons, keeping up with the written assignments etc., but there are performances, recitals, music festivals... And she takes students throughout the week during school hours. It helps that our daughter's teachers are very accomodating, but it can be a hassle getting her to and from her lessons some days when both parents are working.

All that said, she is excelling at piano - way better than I was at her age that's for sure She just performed at an adjudicated music festival and received an A and and A- for her two pieces. Not bad for only 9yrs old and in her second year of piano.

Okay, that was a totally gratutious "Dad Moment", but I wanted say that the contract thing is a good idea.

More time for giggin' - RAWK AND ROOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLl!!!

Trev

[tot_Ou_tard]

I think that's an excellent idea Robert. You're too good to be spinning your wheels with unmotivated students.

I hope you eventually get the students you deserve.

Good luck!

[sunvalleylaw]

I wish you were close enough I could cruise on over and sign a contract. I'd be in. Sounds like a good plan when you decide to return. You may wish to build in some flexibility, but setting expectations on both sides and commiting them to a signed agreement creates sounds great.

[Spudman***]

Good on ya mate. Now that you have a life again... One or two motivated students are SO much better than a bunch of unmotivated ones. Sure the money isn't as good, but you'll have more time for your own life and the rewards of one or two students really "getting it" are much higher. Time to go for a run.

[marnold***]

Welcome to teaching! The first lesson to learn is that few, if any, of your students will be as motivated about the subject as you are. The second lesson is that there need to be parental involvement. If the parents don't give a rat's, neither will the student. There is no easy answer to the first lesson, beyond the contract that you mention. Just realize that that will scare off all but the most dedicated (and arrogant?) students. The contract may help with the second part too--make sure the parents sign off on it. Also if you charge regardless of whether the student shows up or not, you may find that the student suddenly appears regularly.

If you expect that your students will all have the same level of desire and ambition for guitar that you have, you will continue to find teaching to be an incredibly frustrating experience. The art of teaching (and leadership for that matter) is more than just teaching them what the book says or what they need to know. It is convincing the student that what you are teaching is important and that they should care. I've taught college-level courses and grade-school-level courses. I can tell you from firsthand experience that that is easier said than done.

One question to ask yourself is "Why am I teaching guitar?" If your reasons aren't "good" (e.g., I just want to make a few extra loonies) or are unrealistic (e.g., All my students should care as much as I do), then you will find very little joy in teaching. If your reasons are good and you have (or are willing to develop) the patience of a saint, then teaching can be quite enjoyable actually.

I hope this doesn't come across as being arrogant. That's not my point. I just wanted to share what my experience has been with teaching. *Edit* also note that I'm not implying that Robert's reasons for teaching are the ones given in the previous paragraph. They are for example only.

[tot_Ou_tard]

(e.g., I just want to make a few extra loonies)

Whoa-ho! You've been outed as a Canadian!

You've probably mentioned it before, but I forget.

If you charge doubletime on the weekends do you get paid in toonies?

[marnold***]

Whoa-ho! You've been outed as a Canadian!

You've probably mentioned it before, but I forget.

If you charge doubletime on the weekends do you get paid in toonies?

Actually, I grew up in Bay City, Michigan--one of the few places in the continental U.S. where it's faster to go south to get to Canada. Thus, I'm a big fan of many traditionally Canadian things--hockey and beer, to name two. I still pronounce "about" (ah BOWT, not ah BOOT) correctly, though.

[Robert****]

Hey Marnold, thanks for the reply. Just to clarify, I am not new to teaching.

I do expect my students to practice and improve, and if they don't, because they are not motivated or have too many other things to do, etc, then I'd rather not have them as students.

Since I just do this as a side "hobby", is it "elitist" to only take on students I think are worth my time? I guess I don't want get a reputation as a snob who's only interested in students I think have potential, although there may be some element of truth in such a statement. It's just not fun for me to see 12-year olds week after week after week struggle with trying to play A minor and E major.

Trev - bien sure! If you come by, I'd try to throw any guitar knowledge I may have on you!

[Spudman***]

Since I just do this as a side "hobby", is it "elitist" to only take on students I think are worth my time?

I don't think it is for the same reason Donald Trump weeds out people that don't make the grade. You want to breed success. If a student is not willing to do what it takes to succeed then find the ones that are. No shame in that. Since it's only a hobby for you there is no obligation on your part to work with anyone that you don't want to. You'll have more free time to do things that are important in your life instead of selling your time for little reward.

[marnold***]

Since I just do this as a side "hobby", is it "elitist" to only take on students I think are worth my time? I guess I don't want get a reputation as a snob who's only interested in students I think have potential, although there may be some element of truth in such a statement. It's just not fun for me to see 12-year olds week after week after week struggle with trying to play A minor and E major.

Since you aren't in a school per se, you can pick and choose whomever you want. My main point was so that you didn't get turned off from teaching in general. It is not easy, but it can be very rewarding as you no doubt have experienced. I think if you put it right out there in the beginning "This is what I expect of you as a student" then there really can't be any arguing. At least they are going into it with their eyes open.

I live across the street from the middle school. I always feel sorry for the music instructor as he parades the band around the block. I cannot imagine anything worse than someone who truly loves music having to teach kids, the majority whom could care less. Conversely, the public school music teachers that I have met love it so much that the one or two students who really take a liking to it make it all worthwhile.

[Danzego]

I don't think it is for the same reason Donald Trump weeds out people that don't make the grade. You want to breed success. If a student is not willing to do what it takes to succeed then find the ones that are. No shame in that. Since it's only a hobby for you there is no obligation on your part to work with anyone that you don't want to. You'll have more free time to do things that are important in your life instead of selling your time for little reward.

Yeah, Spud, but can you imagine that? "I'm sorry Mr and Mrs Soandso, but I don't think your son is learning fast enough or has any potential. Take care, buh-bye!!"

Robert, I think you just have to put out there that you're accepting medium ability students only or do the contract thing or something, but it's kind of hard to just pick and choose who you want to teach and if you find you don't care for a student, dump them on their head. I mean, what do you do to prevent that? Audition students? That and the previous mentioned things WILL get you that sort of horrible reputation that you don't want real quick.

You just have to take the good with the bad if you want to keep teaching music and make the contract system work for you or do what you're doing now and stick with just one or two students. *shrugs shoulders*

[jpfeifer]

Hi Robert,

Hey that sounds familiar.

I have just stopped teaching too, and for many of the same reasons. I taught for a little over 1 year and I did take it very seriously. I prepared exercises, transcriptions, etc. Often the students would show up without their music, needing to borrow a pick me, with the guitar badly out of tune (these were the ones who never touched their instrument unless they were at my lesson) These kind of students frustrated the hell out of me because they took all the fun out of it. It started feeling more like a job at that point. It's difficult to make anyone play better when they won't put the work into it.

However, I did have a select few students what were highly motivated and practiced very hard with the material I gave to them. These were the ones that I really liked. I actually had to work harder for these kind of students because they always kept me on my toes, and even made me a better player because I had to stay out in front of them with material. The sad part is that there aren't as many of these kind of students. There are just many more who don't want to put anything into it.

I took a break from the guitar teaching mostly because of time constraints due to my work and family commitments. I just couldn't justify giving up more time with my family on the weekend to students who weren't into practicing, making the guitar lessons a real drag. I decided that my limited "guitar time" was better spent working on recording projects in my home studio so that's were I've focused for now.

-- Jim

[sunvalleylaw]

You just have to take the good with the bad if you want to keep teaching music and make the contract system work for you or do what you're doing now and stick with just one or two students. *shrugs shoulders*

Good thoughts Danzego, and a nice counterweight to the discussion. It sounds to me like a very limited number of students with contracts, or I will call them engagement agreements, is what you (Robert) should do. If you were generally advertising instruction, I think you need to accept some different commitment levels, but can still help it somewhat with an engagement agreement that helps to set the expectations on both sides in writing. But from your posts, it sounds like at least for a while, you should accept just a very select few and develop what expectations are right for you with their engagement agreements. Just my $.02. Also, then you can devote some time to "passive income" teaching, like the blues oriented DVD you have discussed! I don't know if I can claim first in line, but I am right up there when it becomes available.

[Robert****]

Jim, that is exactly how I feel too - it takes too much time away from my family and if it's a real drag on top of that, why do it.

Steve, the Blues DVD is much more motivational to me, and it's my priority now when ever I have time. Just don't trick me into spending a lot of time on the Fret Jams! I would really love to, but then my Blues DVD will never get done...

[helliott***]

I'm not a veteran like many who have responded so far, but I'm gonna take a stab anyway. (At many sites, rookies have less street cred, but I don't have that sense here, so here goes ...)
I tried teaching and gave it up because I'm not the right sort of personality. But I learned enough in the process to know that it takes a special sort of player and coach to do this work. More so when teaching is an add on to other life activities. I agree with others who've said it's fine to be quite discerning about students. I think an aptitude and motivational test is not unreasonable for students who want a really serious instructor. If I had the personality, I'd stress that students get what they invest, practise, time, money etc., and if they aren't ready to invest, they should find another instructor. That probably sounds harsh, but it's probably realistic, too, at least for people who've got the fortitude to teach. To all the teachers, my hat's off and glass raised.

[jpfeifer]

When I was in high school I found a guitar instructor who was really good (an older guy that played fingerstyle Jazz). This guy would only take students by referal. You had to audition for the guy before he would decide to take you. I remember being scared out of my wits when I had to play for the guy first before he would take me as a student, but I think that I understand now why he did this.

He was trying to weed out the players who weren't serious. You had to play for him and then explain what you wanted to focus on in your studies. He would then decide whether to take you as a student or refer you to another instructor.

The other thing that he would do is give you assignments to work on and force you to play for him the next week. This was motivation to either learn the material or be embarrassed when you couldn't play it for him. He was a really nice guy but he expected you to work at it. I felt like I was having to learn the guitar all over again from step 1 because when I started with him I didn't know what I was doing (musically) and only knew fragments of the blues scale.

-- Jim

[sunvalleylaw]

Some of these descriptions fit Arthur's piano teacher on the kid's show on PBS. I have thought of him during this thread. He was known as demanding and even mean. He demanded at least that the Arthur try. A few mistakes were ok as long as he tried. Once Arthur understood that, he really flourished under his tutelage, and respected his approach. The right kid or student responds well to understood guidlines, expectations or rules. In real life, I think it would have to be a strictly limited referral basis and an interview process. I know, I watch too much kids' TV. Occupational hazard.

. . . just believe in yourself, it's a place to start.
Ziggy Marley, Arthur theme song

[Earful]

Interesting discussion....I am a neophyte player that has taken formal lessons from a private teacher for aprox. 6 months. I felt like I myself, was not progressing enough, not vice versa. The contract idea is good, especially for younger players. Have to taylor it a bit for me, an older beginner!