EVERY MUSIC EDUCATOR CAN BE A GREAT GUITAR TEACHER!
I spend a good deal of time talking with music educators. When it comes to teaching guitar, many music educators feel they don't have adequate training or don't have the time and energy to start a whole new curriculum. Both those feelings are not only understandable; they are true!
So how do you become a great guitar teacher? It fairly simple:
1) Believe in yourself; you are a trained music educator; the guitar is just another instrument.
2) Find a curriculum that makes it easy for you and your students. (The Best Guitar Method is just that!)
3) Keep your high musical expectations. While teaching guitar is very different than teaching large ensembles, musicality is still at the center of excellent music education and excellent guitar performance.
4) Remember that the guitar is the most popular instrument in America, you don't have to recruit students, just don't alienate them! Embrace the guitar, and all of its specific notation, styles, traditions, and uses.
5) Gain credibility by embracing the cultural expectation of guitar playing. In your student's mind (And likely their parent's mind's too) guitar is primarily a rhythm instrument used for accompaniment in popular music. It's essential not to fight that. Remember, this should be your easy class!. Encourage your students to play, and yes, sing!
6) Your students will very likely engage in playing the guitar outside of class time. One of the greatest things about teaching guitar is that a student will very probably go home and learn music on their own! Encourage independent ownership of learning the guitar by offering extra credit for sharing what they are working on independently. The more you can nurture student ownership in learning and practice, the more successful you will have as a teacher.
7) Divide your class time, 10% warm-up/tuning/technique practice, 10% new content introduction, 70% practicing new content, 10% reviewing new content and outside of class practice. Any ensemble playing should be weighted toward traditional chord accompaniment and single note sight reading of the melody. Guitar ensemble arrangements are something you can offer that private teachers can't, but don't let guitar ensemble arrangements dominate your curriculum. You will have a much higher level of student engagement and instructor credibility if the instruction students recieve in class is applicable outside of class.
8) Understand that the guitar is very physically demanding, especially at the beginning stages. It is imperative to focus on developing physical techniques. Muscle development takes time, and it can't be rushed. In the early stages, repetition and focus on improving technique will take your student farther, faster. The biggest mistake I see teachers make is to be way more focused on preparing for a concert or competition, instead of preparing for a lifetime of musical engagement.
9) Try to learn to play guitar yourself; it will help you to understand what your students are experiencing. You don't need to be a better guitar player than your students; you need to understand the techniques and focus on providing your student's opportunity to practice those techniques.
10) Subscribe to our blog, come to our workshops if we are presenting at your state professional development conference. Engage with other guitar teachers and organizations, and be open to learning from whoever you can.
Oh yeah, and practice!
So how do you become a great guitar teacher? It fairly simple:
1) Believe in yourself; you are a trained music educator; the guitar is just another instrument.
2) Find a curriculum that makes it easy for you and your students. (The Best Guitar Method is just that!)
3) Keep your high musical expectations. While teaching guitar is very different than teaching large ensembles, musicality is still at the center of excellent music education and excellent guitar performance.
4) Remember that the guitar is the most popular instrument in America, you don't have to recruit students, just don't alienate them! Embrace the guitar, and all of its specific notation, styles, traditions, and uses.
5) Gain credibility by embracing the cultural expectation of guitar playing. In your student's mind (And likely their parent's mind's too) guitar is primarily a rhythm instrument used for accompaniment in popular music. It's essential not to fight that. Remember, this should be your easy class!. Encourage your students to play, and yes, sing!
6) Your students will very likely engage in playing the guitar outside of class time. One of the greatest things about teaching guitar is that a student will very probably go home and learn music on their own! Encourage independent ownership of learning the guitar by offering extra credit for sharing what they are working on independently. The more you can nurture student ownership in learning and practice, the more successful you will have as a teacher.
7) Divide your class time, 10% warm-up/tuning/technique practice, 10% new content introduction, 70% practicing new content, 10% reviewing new content and outside of class practice. Any ensemble playing should be weighted toward traditional chord accompaniment and single note sight reading of the melody. Guitar ensemble arrangements are something you can offer that private teachers can't, but don't let guitar ensemble arrangements dominate your curriculum. You will have a much higher level of student engagement and instructor credibility if the instruction students recieve in class is applicable outside of class.
8) Understand that the guitar is very physically demanding, especially at the beginning stages. It is imperative to focus on developing physical techniques. Muscle development takes time, and it can't be rushed. In the early stages, repetition and focus on improving technique will take your student farther, faster. The biggest mistake I see teachers make is to be way more focused on preparing for a concert or competition, instead of preparing for a lifetime of musical engagement.
9) Try to learn to play guitar yourself; it will help you to understand what your students are experiencing. You don't need to be a better guitar player than your students; you need to understand the techniques and focus on providing your student's opportunity to practice those techniques.
10) Subscribe to our blog, come to our workshops if we are presenting at your state professional development conference. Engage with other guitar teachers and organizations, and be open to learning from whoever you can.
Oh yeah, and practice!