In my early years of teaching guitar I did not really push the issue of practice. I believed that students were either motivated or they were not. To be honest, as a guitarist making a living from teaching, I was afraid if I pushed students to practice too hard many would just quit. Unfortunately, being…
Category: Guitar teachers
Posts for guitar teachers
The Fastest Way To Learn Guitar
When I was 8 years old I received a guitar from my parents. Probably as a present but I don’t actually remember. In fact I can hardly remember much about the experience at all. What I do know is the novelty of guitar at that age wore off pretty quickly. I vaguely remember having…
Practice Guitar Out On The Edge
In the book ‘Bounce’ the author (Matthew Syed) talks about how high level success comes from thousands of hours of practice. Top chess players for example would have studied the game for 10,000 hours or more. By study I don’t mean just play but actually study possible moves and consequences. Are you willing to fall?…
Daily Practice With Young Beginners On Guitar
I received the following question from a guitar teacher and parent regarding teaching their young child guitar. Question regarding VERY young beginners… I’ve been doing some stuff with my oldest son since a little before he was 3 on a ukulele. He loves it – in very small bits. We’ve done naming the strings tinker…
The Ultimate Guitar Teacher Training
The G4 Ultimate GUITAR Teacher Training Pack is ideally for those guitar teachers who are serious about their teaching and want to be the best guitar teachers possible. Guitar teachers traditionally work alone preparing their own lesson plans, doing their own marketing and generally running their own business without any outside help. This is okay but many teachers…
Guitar teacher, The Internet or both?
When I was a child learning guitar I was limited to either finding a local teacher or learning from a book. Today the Internet, the iPad, iPhone and all their apps are now providing a range of alternatives. While this new technology may appear to be an alternative to the traditional guitar teacher I believe…
Mistaking guitar teacher confidence for competence
When I was a young child I thought my parents and teachers knew everything. Overtime my adult delusion turned to reality. Of course this is just part of growing up and realizing the Tooth fairy was Mum and Santa Claus was Dad in a red suit and cartoons were drawings done by actual people. In…
The many benefits of a guitar teacher
Learning guitar from a book, DVD, Youtube or the internet are all worthy contenders and usually offer in their own right some valuable information. A keen student will source their information from wherever they can get it and not depend wholly and solely on one source but as research shows again and again in almost…
Advice for guitar teachers (and parents) of young children
Parents of young children (under 6 years) often ask two important questions. 1. Do you have experience teaching young children? 2. What do you actually teach? Teaching young children guitar is an extensive subject that would require a book or two to really cover in detail but a good way to answer these questions is…
So you want to be a guitar teacher
Occasionally I am asked the question by a student “What do I need to do to become a guitar teacher?” The short answer: If you believe you know enough about guitar and are confident you can communicate what you know you are at least ready to give it a go. Teaching is somewhat like performing…
A Lesson in Persistence
As children we are all born into particular circumstances. Our family, neighbours, local community and even country will have an impact on how we turn out as adults. In the USA for example there are certain neighbourhoods where your odds of ending up in prison are high. Children who grow up in these areas are…
Why expectations matter
When we first begin a new project (E.g. guitar) it is likely that we will have unrealistic expectations. Have you been to a movie highly recommended by a friend only to be disappointed? Compare that to a movie by one of your favourite directors with familiar actors a somewhat predictable plot based on a well…
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