Who else teaches guitar of us Fretters?

[Robert****]

I usually teach 4-7 students each week in evenings and weekends. Anyone else here teach guitar?

It's sometimes quite fun to see students "get it" - they get very excited and I feel good that got it across to them.

[jpfeifer]

Hi Robert,

I teach on the weekends too. I've limited myself to having only 5 students per week due to limited time that I have for this. I've been enjoying the teaching quite a bit. It can be a lot of work to prepare lessons for all of them but I'm finding that it keeps me interested in guitar and helps me to collect my own concepts and put them on paper.

It's really fun when a student clicks to an idea that I give them and learns something they can use. It's not always easy, and it's certainly not always intuitive. Sometimes I'll try like crazy to motivate them with a concept and get nowhere. Other times I'll show them something that I suspect they will hate and they love it. Through this I'm starting to learn more about what students want. Here is the basic guideline that I use. Please share your own ideas too:

- People love to learn songs. If you can wrap a lesson around a song and use it as a vehicle to teach them about theory then you're way better off and they're more likely to remember the theory. I've been collecting some basic songs to expose them to differing musical concepts, but I always try to incorporate some kind of song for them to learn. It keeps them focused on the goal (kind of like the carrot on the end of the stick)

- Students don't pay to hear you play, they pay to learn. I've had guitar instructors in the past who were horrible teachers, but great players. Students don't like to sit and watch you play. They want to learn. So, I always try to get the student to play as much as possible. I usually work through examples where we play together and I force them to hold up their end of the duet.

- The other thing that I like to do with them is give them a lot of positive comments and praise. I remind them that guitar is not easy to learn and that they should be happy with every new thing that they get under their fingers. I also make it a point to give them a chance to show off when they get something down. When the parents arrive to pick them up at the end of the lesson, we always play a short tune so that the parents can see how they're progressing. This also helps to motivate them to pay attention during the lesson because they know I'm going to make them give a short performance at the end. :-)

-- Jim

[Katastrophe]

What a timely post! I have been approached about teaching some kids a few things recently. I had a regular student in the past (for only a few months though), and would pass along the concepts I learned in my lessons for a very small fee. I love showing guitar stuff to people, and even went so far as to write lessons down once. Wish I'd have made copies of that stuff, because it made a lot of sense.

What's the going rate in your area?

Do you teach individual classes or groups?

I think it would be really cool to get about 4-5 students, teach 'em up on some good ol' rock and roll and go play somewhere for an evening...

[Spudman***]

I think it would be really cool to get about 4-5 students, teach 'em up on some good ol' rock and roll and go play somewhere for an evening...

Cool. Now go rent the Jack Black movie School Of Rock if you haven't seen it yet. Brilliant idea to have a student gig.

[Tim]

I wish some of your guys lived near me. I could use a good teacher.

[Katastrophe]

Cool. Now go rent the Jack Black movie School Of Rock if you haven't seen it yet. Brilliant idea to have a student gig.

We own it, and my stepdaughter plays the ending scene over, and over, and over...