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Post by jonnymosco on May 30, 2013 8:46:11 GMT
Just finishing off my RGT application and it's got me thinking, what actually is it that makes a good guitar teacher?
I thought it would be interesting to hear your experiences of good and bad teachers/teaching.
Jonny
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on May 30, 2013 9:31:41 GMT
Good question! Have never had any lessons, but have given a fair few, some more successful than others, The less successful ones have usually been because either I was not the right kind of teacher (musically and/or temperamentally) for what the pupil wished to learn, or that the pupil just had a vague notion that they "want to play guitar" rather than being interested in a particular kind of music to play on it.
As such, I reckon that the first and most important thing is for pupil and teacher to be clear, before beginning, about what specifically they are trying to achieve in the short, medium and long term.
That'll do for now - there's loads more, but over to anyone else....
Keith
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Post by jonnymosco on May 30, 2013 10:02:24 GMT
Here are a few thoughts:
Does the teacher help me enjoy playing the guitar?
Is he easy to get along with?
Do the lessons have clear objectives?
Does the structure of the lesson make learning fun?
Does he give me the skills/instruction necessary to develop?
Does he demonstrate a willingness to adapt and change to meet my needs?
Is the teacher knowledgeable and does he demonstrate a high level of technical/musical proficiency?
I've had quite a few teachers... including one who, even though a great musician, was rarely sober - quite awkward.
Jonny
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Post by grayn on May 30, 2013 12:16:32 GMT
When I was about 14, I booked a guitar lesson with a guy. When I turned up, the next week, he had died. A couple of years down the line, I had a first lesson with a guy, which went well. The next week I got hit by a car and was out of action for some time, then never went back. Mmmmmmmm.
Anyways, in simplistic terms a good teacher makes you want to practice and improve. The bad, will make you feel guilty, for not.
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on May 30, 2013 12:16:41 GMT
1. Can s/he play guitar 2. Does s/he have a guitar I can borrow? 3. Is s/he cheap and local? 4. ermmm ... no, that's it
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Post by jonnymosco on May 30, 2013 13:22:19 GMT
5. Does he give me a glass of wine after the lesson? (Not related to my old teacher, that would have been during the lesson.)
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Martin
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Post by Martin on May 30, 2013 13:22:57 GMT
Someone who listens to what I want to achieve and then helps to implement that. If I don't know exactly what I want to achieve, then supplying ideas and lessons in a reasonably structured format would be good. Someone who I can enjoy a chat with and who inspires me to play. The only guitar teacher I've had was a guy I went to see in my early twenties when I wanted to learn how to 'widdle' properly on my electric (no pee related jokes please ). He was actually an outstanding acoustic fingerstyle player, and chatting to him and listening to him play completely converted me, and after that one electric lesson, I moved straight onto learning acoustic. I had to go out and buy my first proper acoustic guitar to do this (a Yamaha FG-411), which didn't really compare to his Sobell . I haven't looked back since then although the lessons stopped a long time ago.
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Post by Mike Floorstand on May 30, 2013 19:26:51 GMT
I've had various types of lesson - face-to-face with the local guitar teacher, online courses run by Martin Taylor and (currently) Gary Burton, workshops with Martin Simpson and Clive Carroll. All good in their own way, I've got something out of all them, whether concrete tips, knowledge and techniques, or simply inspiration to go and practise and teach myself.
I guess this question is about the first type of lesson. I'd say the important thing here (apart from the obvious, like being able to play things I can't, and be able to teach them - which is not the same thing!) is that the teacher takes time to understand my objectives and appears to have a clear plan to achieve them. This must be quite hard for a teacher, as everyone has different objectives e.g. - just have a couple of lessons to give me some material to work on myself; or - be able to do X in a year's time (reach grade N, play at an open mic, be able to compose my own arrangements, whatever), so need lesson plans, milestones, etc.; or - happy to come along each week go where the mood takes us.
Good luck!
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Post by philw on Jun 1, 2013 19:15:54 GMT
Someone who inspires me to want to learn the guitar, but also someone who I can talk to and feel they are easy enough to approach to ask questions, not matter how basic they are.
I think from my own experience a biggy for me is that they need to be patient, and don't get flustered, irate, annoyed etc etc when I make repeated mistakes or careless mistakes BUT this is an individual thing to each person. The last thing I need myself when I cock it up is my teacher getting angry, cross with me as I feel under pressure which makes me perform worse, and more mistakes. having said this some people may prefer a kick up the backside and a stronger hand from the tutor - this will only come when teacher and pupil have built up a rapport so they know each others personality, at least from the teachers point of view, he/she can gauge what type of pupil is sat in front of them so they can make the judgement as to what approach to adopt - get it wrong and they prob lose the custom, and couple possibly put off a person from wanting to learn the instrument.
I think Segovia was a very old fashioned teacher of his time and John Williams did mention in an interview I heard a while back that he (Segovia taught john Williams for a while as I am sure you guys know) used to beast his students down somewhat, not physically but more verbally/mentally so that they got better.....this would have put me right off, maybe its a sign of the times, even when you think back to swimming teachers of years gone by, kids literally got chucked in the deep end and learn the hard way......look at Barbara woodhouse with dog training, Christ she would have been outlawed today.
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