When can I teach?

[Gizzmo0815]

So I've been playing guitar for some time now (5+ years) and have played music for over 20 years, so the theory I'm good on. The basics of guitar I'm good on and even some intermediate things as well. I've got a good practice routine that I've found works for me and has worked for several people that I've "lent" it to. I'm curious what qualifies me to actually start charging for lessons? In other words, I feel that I'm more than qualified to teach kids for example, in both theory and guitar (even trumpet since that's my primary instrument) but I don't know what would actually give me the "right" for lack of a better term to charge for my services. Any advice?

[pamackie]

Flexibility is key. You're going to get kids coming in who want to play all kinds of different things, and you're going to need to be able to indulge them. Nothing kills a kid's enthusiasm for the instrument faster than putting them through theory without putting it in context.

 

Structure and theory are important but in the end, those aren't the things that keep them coming back. Keep them playing what they want to play and keep encouraging them to stretch out, and they will start seeking knowledge on their own.

[Stackabones]

You can start teaching once you start getting students.

[guitarmore.com]

I like the answer that you can teach as soon as you have a student. I feel that if you believe strongly that you have someting to teach, and in a way that is better or more unique in some way than other the other teaching methods that are available, you should go for it.

 

Also, the best way to learn is to teach.

 

 

http://GuitarMore.com

[bigboy_78]

http://www.teachguitar.com

[Jasco]

You can start teaching once you start getting students.

 

:lol:

[Jasco]

 

Any advice?

 

 

I've kind of had two teaching careers - first one when I was in my late teens. I taught for about 5 years. Then an intermission while I toured the world with a band full time for almost a dozen years, then I started teaching again a few years ago.

 

Looking back, I think I was probably a horrible teacher the first go around. To be brief, I didn't have much patience and I tried to guide all my students down the path of goals I had for myself.

 

So, some lessons I've learned, that might help you are:

 

1. Inspiration is the most important job. If you're students are inspired and having fun with music, almost everything else takes care of itself.

 

2. Patience. Students progress at their rate, not yours. No use getting any grey hairs because a student doesn't ever practice.

 

3. Exposure. While I try to focus on the music that a student likes, I also try to subtly broaden their listening palette just a bit.

 

4. Communication. Make sure you know why each student is coming to you for lessons. Even if they don't.

 

5. Have fun with it.

 

 

If you feel you get a student who's skills are over your head, or whose musical style is one you're not familiar enough with, don't feel bad about recommending them to another teacher who might suit them better. You'll gain a lot of respect from both the student and other teacher by doing that, and probably reap some kind of benefit down the road for it.

 

Also remember that teaching skill and playing skill are two different abilities. Work on both of them if you want to be the best teacher you can be.

 

Good luck.

[lollygag]

If you feel qualified to teach kids and intermediate players, then do it! I teach and perform latin and classical music, and I have had parents ask me to teach their kids about folk music, jazz, blues. I just tell them the truth, I say, my expertise is in another field, but the basics are all the same. If that other professional blues/jazz/whatever player is charging for expensive lessons, I can cut my rate a bit for the first lessons until you feel more prepared to invest in another teacher more qualified in the style you really want.

 

Parents love this especially because they like honesty, and often times the thought of investing in expensive lessons for something their kids may lose interest in rapidly can be a serious concern. If that's the case, I take that into consideration and don't try to be greedy, if the student has made progress after a month or two, and they want to continue, I tell them and maybe recommend another teacher, sometimes they switch (often giving you excellent feedback to their friends for their kids) and sometimes they don't.

[lectrician]

Also, the best way to learn is to teach. http://GuitarMore.com

 

Right on man. The first couple of guitar lessons I gave were epic examples of failure. Luckily I gave them to a WAV file on my PC rather than a student.

Listened to it. Deleted it. Wrote a 20 page paper detailing what I learned about Guitar during the mid year winter christmas break this year. Re recorded the lesson and it wasnt too bad. I generated so much content writing that paper that I could easily do 2 or three more lessons out of it and I already did 3 from it. I have three lessons prepared to start someone from absolute zero skill to start accurate strumming, chord application and theory, wide range scale rules, and fretboard memorization, But that's because that's what i worked on so much right before i did the lessons. I couldn't tell you a thing about sweep picking.

[crimp]

give it a try, you will find out soon enough if you are ready.

[benzem]

Now

[benzem]

out!