How Experienced is YOUR
Guitar Teacher?
There Are a Lot of Things to Consider, and Lots of
Ways for a Guitar Teacher to Gain Experience
Experience for a guitar teacher can be measured in lots of ways. You can gauge the background education that a teacher has received, and you'll get a good idea of a part of that person's musical background; you can also find out how long the person has played their instrument (and experience on other instruments can also come into play here), and to what extent (live shows, recording experience, etc.).
So you'd want a teacher who has learned a lot, but you'd also want to be sure that the person has had experience making practical use of what they've learned—you'd want them to have played a lot, and so the more shows/live gigs/performances and recording sessions under their belt, the better (not to mention all of the personal practice time and band rehearsals that would go into all of that).
And you would want them to be experienced in their teaching craft as well...not just having learned how to do it, theoretically, but having done it. And having done it lots of times. The more students they've taught, the more situations they’ve encountered, and you should be able to expect a broader range of capabilities as a result.
And if you can choose between someone who exclusively teaches for a living, and someone for whom teaching is just a way to supplement their other job or jobs—even if that other work involves being paid to play, but not teach, music—then your best bet for a superior education experience is the person who has devoted their career to the education experience. This would be true in pretty much any industry, and it certainly is with guitar lessons.
So ideally you would want a guitar teacher who has studied their craft, preferably from a lot of perspectives (to be as well-rounded as possible), and who has sharpened their skills through hours and hours and hours first in their bedroom and then in garages and then in practice rooms and rehearsal spaces—and then in show after show after show, on all sorts of stages and in front of lots of different types and sizes of crowds—and who has since polished their teaching skills by instructing hundreds of students in private lessons.
I've played for decades—since the late '80s—and I learned from some of the best players and teachers around. I studied music education in college, I've spent countless hours playing guitar (in practices, rehearsals, jam sessions, live gigs, recording sessions, and other musical environments), and I've given thousands of lessons to hundreds of students, online and in person, since I started giving lessons professionally way back in 2010. I've studied countless method books and instructional materials—more than many players—and I'm even in the process of writing my own method book; all of the exercises and instructional material I use are basically excerpts from the method book I'm working on (and the music for the songs that we go over in lessons is often tabbed by me, but if I didn't create the original I always customize it for my individual students).Ready to get started? Give me a call (or send me a text) at VIP-PLAY-GTR (847-752-9487), or contact me through the website to set up your FREE intro lesson today!
Click or tap here to return to the blog list Click or tap here to return to the main lessons page
