I am often asked about my teaching style and how I approach guitar lessons with my students. I’ve provided some information below about my goals for my students, my teaching method and the factors that affect how I approach guitar instruction.
Progress and Fun
As a guitar instructor, it’s important to me that my students make progress in accordance with their goals and that they enjoy the learning process. Taking guitar lessons and playing the guitar should be fun and I always try to make the lessons fun for my students.
Teaching Method
A student’s goals, experience, age and abilities affect how I teach him or her to play guitar. No two students can be taught the exact same way.
In general, I use a structured but flexible and fun teaching method that includes customized lessons for each student, songs, rhythm, soloing, reading and music theory.
For a beginner with no previous experience, I first instill a solid foundation of basic guitar skills and music knowledge. Then I work with the student to develop each area of his or her playing.
For an experienced player, the process is the same but the starting point for each area of his or her playing will be different. Someone who has played or had guitar lessons previously will likely have developed certain areas of his or her playing to some degree and other areas will be underdeveloped or not developed at all.
So, for and experienced guitar player, I first evaluate his or her skills and knowledge of music. Then I fill in the gaps and pick up the instruction from there.
Students’ Goals
There are many reasons that people get involved with music and take guitar lessons, which have to be considered when teaching guitar. Each student’s goals affect which areas of his or her playing that I emphasize when teaching him or her guitar.
- Some students are preparing for a career in music and the auditions to get accepted into a top music school. They want to become professional musicians and music teachers.
- Others want to play in their own band, in their school’s band or in a talent show or a recital at school or church.
- Some experienced players want to work on a specific aspect of the playing that is underdeveloped.
- Many approach their music studies as a fun hobby, which is the most common reason people take guitar lessons. They enjoy learning about music and it’s fun learning how to play guitar.
- Some just want to be able to play some of their favorite songs.
Other Factors
Other factors that affect the way I teach someone include the student’s age, experience and abilities. No two students can be taught the exact same way, even ones with similar or identical goals. Everyone has specific strengths, weaknesses and learning curves that have to be taken into account when teaching guitar.
Flexibility
The teaching method is flexible. Elements of the curriculum can be emphasized, altered or removed, depending on the student.
