If you clicked on this article you must be a guitarist (obviously) and want to improve your guitar chops. Before we begin, there are two schools of thought on guitar instruction- one group of musicians harshly opposes formal training and believes in learning by ear as the best way to cultivate your own sound, rather then emulate anothers. My school of thought is exactly the opposite. I believe that formal training, as in anything in life, is like building a foundation which then allows you to cultivate your own musical personality later. If you subscribe to the first camp of though (Hard Knock Life Approach), this article will do you very little. If not, read on and enjoy.

Why Learn Guitar?

Being a guitar teacher for the last 12 years has been a wonderful experience. I have watched many students excel and I soon realized that my job is not teaching someone how to play, but rather teaching a person how to teach themselves. What can I possibly mean by this? As a guitar teacher I strive to bestow upon my students a clear understanding of why a chord or scale works. I feel that a touch of musical theory in this way goes a long way.So before you look for a guitar teacher, it is important that you ask yourself what you want out of guitar lesions.

Learning Songs vs. Formal (Classical) Instructive technique:

Ive seen many different types of guitar teachers in my life. Some of them incredible and gifted musicians, and others who have no right calling themselves a guitar instructor. Its real important for you to realize that Eddy Van Halen may be an incredible guitarist, and may be the worlds worst teacher. What Im saying is that there is a big difference between being a proficient player and having the patience and skill to teach another.If your goal as a guitarist is to learn a few new songs and want help figuring out how to play them, there are a wealth of guitar teachers who do only this. If you are interested in building a solid foundation of...

1. note reading
2. a wide-base of Chords
3. proper use of scales
4. advanced soloing technique

...you must find a teacher who is willing to focus on these important areas with you. The good news is that most guitar instructors are capable of focusing on either, or both, of these areas at the same time. I always try to mix up my classes with a student by allowing them to take a break from the classical training and bring in a more informal piece of music that they want to learn.

The reason that I oppose a guitar instructor who only teaches a student their favorite songs is that, as I stated at the beginning of this article, it is so important to learn the skills for figuring out these songs on your own time. Basically, when I was learning guitar, my teacher was solely a formal classical instructor who built up my base of knowledge in the traditional way (discussed above). As a player, it was just a matter of time before I cultivated the skills to rip apart any song and figure out how to play it on my own. Another reason for learning this way is based on getting the most bang for your buck.

Lets face it, guitar lessons are not cheap; do you really want to spend those precious dollars learning radio songs when you could be focusing on building the fundamental skills?

Qualities of a Great Guitar Teacher: A great guitar teacher, whatever style or approach to teaching they may have, must have the following characterizes. Look for these when you begin your search for a guitar instructor. First, a great guitar teacher should be a great listener. Essentially, a teacher who does not listen actively is a teacher who cannot custom tailor your training.In listening to you, your teacher will be able to focus in on your weakness with precision, and more quickly achieve your musical goals. Not only should your guitar instructor listen to your playing, but listen to your comments and questions as well. Next, a great guitar teacher must have patience. Each person learns an instrument at their own pace and speed. You should never feel rushed, pressured, or guilty about not playing properly. These feelings can cause a player to give up completely on an instrument if results do not come quickly enough.Moreover, a great guitar teacher must be honest. This goes hand in hand with the above. While it is vital that your guitar teacher stresses certain areas where you clearly need improvement, again, making a player feeling bad about not catching onto a certain concept quickly enough can be disastrous.

As a teacher, I try to balance much of the above. I strive to push a student without being rude, mean, or unprofessional. For example, I can quickly tell when a student has not practiced their material from the week before. I try to stress the value of each lesson and remind the player that I can help them achieve their goals faster if they work with me.

Finally, a great guitar teacher must be flexible. By flexible, a good teacher should follow a students lead and custom tailor their training in that way. In all my years of teaching guitar, I can honestly say that no two students curriculums have been identical. Each student I have had has gone in a slightly different route to achieving their personal music goals.

Conclusions: Word of mouth is probably the best way to learn about a guitar teachers personality. Try searching your local Yellow Pages music section for a list of guitar instructors in your area. I suggest also visiting local music stores in your area and asking who they recommend as a good guitar teacher. Keep in mind that you never sign a contract with any teacher. If you are not happy with a guitar teachers style, move on. Keep in mind, a teachers personality is most simply very relevant. You will be spending a good amount of time with this individual, it is important that you respect them as a person as well.

Good luck and happy training!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2007 at 9:24 am and is filed under Just for Guitarists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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