Learning to play the guitar can be
an extremely rewarding experience, but it is made even more so if you find the
right teacher who is also a guide that will help you achieve your musical goals
with the right resources. Choosing the right teacher can be frustrating because
it's difficult to figure out which ones are exceptional; in addition to this if
you choose the wrong teacher then you can end up being demotivated through no
fault of your own.
I have been responsible for hiring
all the instructors at my music school Starland Music
Center for 30 years. Teaching
with a plan
The best teachers always prepare and
have a plan: it's said in teaching that for every hour of teaching you need to
prepare twice as much. The best teachers are not afraid to tell you their
methods.
You can always tell the worst
teachers, because they are the ones who "wing it." If you can tell
that your prospective teacher hasn't prepared for the lesson and looks like
they are making up stuff on the spot - they probably are. You may even blame
your lack of progress on some ridiculous notion that "you don't have any
talent."
Travel distance
How to find a good teacher also
depends on how far you are willing to travel for your lessons. The more
consistent you are in not missing your lessons the faster you will progress -
and it's much easier to be consistent if you don't have to travel too far to
see your teacher. Abilities vs. teaching skills
Just because a guitarist is an
amazing performer, does not mean that they could be a great teacher. In fact,
it's more likely that the best teachers are the ones who are unable to perform
so much because they are teaching so much. When you are a beginner, it's best
to go with a teacher who is excellent at teaching you all the basics, you don't
need to worry too much about how great a performer they are. Instructor
experience
1) One way to work out whether your
prospective teacher has enough experience is to see how many students they
teach. If it's true that it takes thousands of hours to learn to play an
instrument, then it's also true that it takes thousands of hours to learn how
to teach! An organized teacher who has many students is also a good choice. This
means taking notes, keeping track of your progress and using some sort of
register.
Personal Note: At one point I had 60
weekly 1/2 hour private students. Though I was working long hours I had no
problems keeping track of each student's progress and giving them my full
attention during the lesson because I had a system.
2) The level of current and past
students is also something that is significant. If you are looking for beginner
lessons look for a teacher who is skilled at teaching beginners. There are
totally different teaching methods and styles involved in teaching different
levels.
3) Age range of students. It's best
to divide students into children, teenagers and adults. Look for a teacher with
experience teaching students of your age range.
Your prospective teacher should not
only be trained at how to play their guitar. Ideally you want to pick a teacher
who has also been taught by good teachers. Good teachers will always model
their lessons on the good teachers' methods that taught them. These types of
teachers will use methods and materials that worked well when they were
learning and keep you away from methods that don't work.
A teacher can also be taught by a
school. College graduates are likely to have training only in classical guitar
as most universities do not offer programs in popular music. But many
instructors that I've hired have been to schools such as Musician's Institute
in L.A., Grove School Without Walls, and Berklee
College of Music in Boston,
MA., which do offer popular music.
The other way to learn to teach
guitar is to take a course with the same name - though the only one I know of
is the one I teach at the Starland
Music Center
using my proprietary system along with the principles and techniques of proper
instruction. You can also get wonderful books on this topic (check out author
Joe Livoti) and you can learn a lot from method books and testing the ideas on
your students.
