Teaching guitar

Guitarse

Hope this is in the right category...

I'm seriously considering teaching people how to play acoustic and electric guitar, full time. I have no qualifications though, and that bugs me a bit, as I think it's better to be qualified at your job than be a chancer (maybe I'm being a bit tough on myself there?).

Are there any credible, preferably online courses available?

And, what are the pitfalls, of course?

stratman3142

I'm considering doing the RSL Rockschool guitar grade 8 when I retire next year for a similar reason. You can go in and take the exam at any level if I understand correctly.

I got all the Rockschool guitar grade books a while ago when I was helping my youngest daughter with her guitar playing for her college course.

The grade 8 book is more challenging than I expected, but doable.

Guitarse

Thanks stratman.

I'm self taught, largely and I'm OK with tablature, but I get anxious about the thought of teaching. Silly really, because I've been playing different styles for 35 years! I'd need to work to a strategy, and start to think about what I'm doing and put it across to students. 35 years of playing without thinking. 

'It's not a competition' great advice, so appropriate. Probably the first thing to tell any student!

Sporky

Also bear in mind that teaching is a skill in itself.

Guitarse

...And it's that, that makes me hesitant.

Sporky

That suggests that you're taking it seriously, which is a good sign.

octatonic

I taught guitar without any qualifications for 20 years.

What level is your guitar playing at?
Can you read music?
Do you know the circle of 5ths/major scale harmony.
Can you play changes etc?
Jazz harmony?

Not being able to do any of this isn't necessarily a deal breaker but the more you know and can communicate at the student's level, the better you will be.

Also, work out what you want to be- guys like Martin Goulding get students because they are rock/metal music specialists- people come to him to get their shredding together more than anything.
Someone like Justin Sandercoe is successful because he hones in on the beginner to intermediate market (and his website is awesome).

Teaching kids, imho, is a fairly unsatisfying pursuit- I don't do it anymore.

Guitarse

My playing is at advanced level, but I don't read. I'd be looking at getting beginners up and running, and if they want to learn to read, pass them on to other contacts.

If I did teach, I'd want to be good at it. I have the patience, and I'm a 'people person,' as a support worker, I have to be. 
I don't know if that's enough.

octatonic

Guitarse said:

My playing is at advanced level, but I don't read. I'd be looking at getting beginners up and running, and if they want to learn to read, pass them on to other contacts.

If I did teach, I'd want to be good at it. I have the patience, and I'm a 'people person,' as a support worker, I have to be. 
I don't know if that's enough.

Sounds ideal, have at it.
FWIW, most students don't want to read and resist my attempts to encourage them to.

BigMonka

I taught kids for a few years and Oct is right that it can be a bit unsatisfying as they'll can go for weeks on end without practicing so you just have to go over the same stuff with them - I sometimes felt bad taking their parents' money!

Someone I know has recently set himself up as a teacher and went down the route of getting qualified/approved with the Registry of Guitar Tutors. It's obviously more expensive than just going for it alone but some people may (perhaps wrongly) see it as a sign of quality, and they'll advertise your services too.

DulcetJones

I taught at a music school for about ten years, 40 students a week most of the time.  When I got hired I had no qualifications except a reputation for playing live dates in the area.  Tab was the mainstay for most students but I was already a fluent sight reader and that got me more students.  A couple of years in I took the grade 5 Royal Conservatory exam for classical guitar, that brought in more students.   It was good work, I had kids that wanted to play like Green Day, 20 somethings that were into folk, university profs that were into classical, lots of diversity.  I kept a journal with a page for each student, making a quick note at the end of each lesson stating what we were working on, this saved my life. 

Guitarse

Thanks for your responses. I guess there's only one way to find out.

paul_c2

Teaching/training/coaching/tutoring has many shared skills and I'm sure there's bound to be some books on the topic. I was a sports coach for a number of years and was moderately successful at it. I know my limitations - I couldn't teach music simply because I don't know enough about any one particular instrument to pass on all but basic knowledge to someone else in a coherent way.

But, aspects such as setting realistic goals, making small achievable progressions, measuring progress, how to explain the same thing in different ways, etc are all the same across any kind of teaching.

Also one aspect - while I'm sure you're highly competent at playing guitar well - can you demonstrate how to play it poorly, ie replicate common beginner faults? That would be a skill in itself, and might be handy to be able to demo if needs be. Also have you got a "structure" of how and what to teach, in the right order?

Guitarse

'Also have you got a "structure" of how and what to teach, in the right order?'

Not yet, but that's essentially what I mean by 'planning' - It wouldn't be possible to wing it.

paul_c2

I definitely think there's a right and wrong order to teach things in. Basically you need to build the foundation securely, then add and add to it. But.....I don't know precisely the order, other than my fairly limited personal experience. I am sure you can think back to your own progression and remember things you wish you knew earlier, when you found out later that it created a problem.

I'd not worry too much about planning each individual lesson; rather, have a good idea in your mind of the overall structure so that each lesson draws on common themes. Yes you'll be repeating yourself to each individual pupil over and over....but that's not an issue in itself.

Guitarse

Well, each lesson should have a specific goal, and the student should have something to practice until the next lesson. That's a sensible start.

Guitarse

'I am sure you can think back to your own progression and remember things you wish you knew earlier, when you found out later that it created a problem.'

Good point, Paul.

BigMonka

In my experience you need to find ways of getting them playing something recognisable (preferably that they like) as quickly as possible - it builds both confidence and enthusiasm.
So having a bunch of tips/tricks to help you dumb-down songs is an important skill.

Guitarse

It's a good idea to work them towards being able to play one of their favourite songs. Once they can do that, they'll get a real sense of progress, and, as you say will keep the enthusiasm going.

Sporky

paul_c2 said:

Also one aspect - while I'm sure you're highly competent at playing guitar well - can you demonstrate how to play it poorly, ie replicate common beginner faults?

I'm from a training rather than teaching background, but I was always told never to show the wrong way to do things. You need to be aware of common errors and how to deal with them, but actually reproducing them is counter-productive.

knuckleberryfinn

I've been teaching full-time for the past six years or something like that.  As you will almost certainly be teaching one-to-one, you can tailor your teaching to each student.  So, planning a lesson is often counter-productive - you need to react to issues that arise.  Every student is different, so let the lesson unfold as it needs to.  

Of course, having an overall objective is a good idea, like learning a new song every week.  Getting the student to pick the material keeps them interested and motivated.  I often agree with students to alternate choices of material: one week they choose, the next week I do.  This exposes them to music/techniques/theory/etc which they might never encounter, and ensures they develop in every area.  

Teaching is a great thing to do, and one of the surprising things is how much better it makes the teacher.  

Overall, no, you don't need qualifications, and you don't even need to be technically brilliant.  Being a good teacher is the most important bit.