It’s been a while (like, 18 years) since I have given guitar lessons. I put an ad in the paper on Monday. The ad runs tomorrow. And actually, I’m a little nervous about it.
In the past few months I have been communicating with some guitar players on-line and that, I guess, is what set me off in this direction. One thing I’ve noticed is that there is a definite web wide interest in guitar instruction. Hopefully, there will be some local interest as well. I’m not aware of anybody else that is teaching around here and there are no music stores close by; we’ll see how it goes.
My friends Pat and Esther have volunteered the use of their office (which is actually a little house here on Joe Bald Road) in the evening so, I’ll have a nice space to work in.
Like I said, I’m a tad nervous about it but, not in a bad way. The nervousness comes from knowing that I used to have a routine, a system that I would use with a new student. All these years down the line, the “system” is a lot different than how I think in the now. So, I’ll be starting fresh. I’m really looking forward to it because, one thing I know is, when I was teaching before, I was improving right along with the students.
To teach is to learn twice.-Joseph Joubert
I’ll let you know how it goes.
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Tags: Esther, Guitar, guitar instruction, Guitar Lesson, Joe Bald, Joseph Joubert, Music, Pat
Gary Grainger wrote,
I stopped giving guitar lessons a while ago when kids wanted me to teach them stuff I couldn’t play myself! (widdly widdly sweep picking mania - you get the idea!) I always tried to start with the basics of chords - 2 chords and you can show them a song (OK, it might be a dumb song, but it might not). I have never mastered the playing of scales myself (I know, it is never too late to start!) but would include some right hand techniques like strumming, alternating bass line strumming and moving towards fingerpicking. I’d be interested to hear what’s in your system, Jack. (Then maybe I’ll get over for some lessons!)
Gary Grainger’s last blog post..Charlee guitars
Link | March 20th, 2008 at 4:29 am
J wrote,
Best wishes to you!
May your students always practice, never lose their picks, and always have 2 extra sets of strings in their case!
Link | March 20th, 2008 at 7:55 am
J wrote,
(I forgot to add this) If there’s a music dealer in your area, you should make sure you’re getting referrals (plus you can ask for an additional consideration if you’re sending your students there to buy instruments). You could grow your own guitar shop out of this venture! Get yourself a line of mid-priced guitars and some strings from Seagull/Godin and Harris-Teller…then hire some young guns to take over the teaching… Ah…the music business!
J’s last blog post..Quote of the day-
Link | March 20th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com wrote,
Ha, ha! I can feel Dr J shivering!(Good old days, right?) As for the picks/string tips, I know from my personal experience that I had 10 beautiful picks 2 months ago and I just don’t remember where I put about 8-9 of them :-)
Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com’s last blog post..My 2nd report on my 6 months goal of 5000 visitors per day
Link | March 20th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com wrote,
By the way, good luck to you, Jack!
Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com’s last blog post..My 2nd report on my 6 months goal of 5000 visitors per day
Link | March 20th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Pribek wrote,
Thanks guys-all of you, it’s nice to hear words of encouragement from musical souls such as yourselves.
Ovidiu-I never buy more than a dozen picks at a time because, I will immediately lose all but 2 or 3. Those 2 or 3 though, sometimes I will have them for years unless another player needs to “borrow” one on a gig.
J-Thanks for once again activating my brain. I’ve got a buddy that runs a couple of big-time retails up in Springfield. I’m going to give him a call.
Gary-The “system” I was referring to there had more to do with the way I evaluated student’s abilities, where they wanted to go with their playing and how I would go about trying to help them down the path, rather than a routine “method”.
That being said, I did have some things that I would recommend to most of my students (some basic finger exercises that develop finger independence, facility, strength and accuracy). But, I would try to zero in on what the student wished to accomplish (not always a simple task btw).
I feel that, since is has been so long since I have taught, my approach to things like technique, theory and general outlook have developed so, that’s what I mean by a “fresh start”.
There is a post I wrote last year that you guys might find interesting in these regards.
“New Angles”
Link | March 20th, 2008 at 10:03 am