We talk to a guitar teacher to hear about his teaching mistakes!
I had a crush on a girl some years back and her brother wanted guitar lessons, so I obligied in giving him free teaching. She is now married to another guy in town and I still teach her brother for nothing!
In about 1980, teaching Who songs to a 14 year old who used to have two or three lessons a week when I knew he really should have been at school; he would turn up for his lesson in a cab, and on about four or five occasions during each lesson would go into convulsions as he tried to suppress laughter which had no apparent cause – he obviously had some personality defect as, when the lessons stopped, there followed a period of months when I received upwards of a 100 anonymous calls a day; they only stopped when BT spoke to his mother. Of course, the calls resumed…fifteen years later. How do I know it was him again?….. I just know.
Not putting the price up annually – I’ve got students who still pay the same as six years ago. No wonder the bank keeps offering me loans!
Selling plectrums. A sure winner – I thought I was gonna make a ‘packet’ with this!
Over the years my approach to teaching has changed, but I can remember one girl, she must have been about nine at the time, whose lessons now horrify me. Every week she’d turn up with her mother; we’d open the Russ Shipton book and work turgidly through it. What did the girl learn? That playing the guitar is very, very boring; that she wasn’t a good girl because she didn’t do her practice and that she was a failure at music. How would things be different if she was a student now? First I’d fling the book, and then either get rid of the mother or get her to join in. Then I’d get her playing tunes and exploring the guitar from the word go.
Bothering to work out a complicated Stevie Ray Vaughan piece for someone; I’d warned him that he probably wouldn’t find it very satisfying – it was a twelve string solo – “you won’t get the same impact on your six string”. Of course, he returned next week and told me that my workings out were “nothing like it”
A middle-aged Irish woman turned up for lessons saying she was interested in country music; I showed her my favourite half dozen Albert Lee licks. She only stayed for two lessons – perhaps we should have just used the chords she already knew and had a good ol’ sing song.
Being too honest when answering enquiries for lessons. Last month someone rang saying he’d like his teenage son to learn the electric guitar, and did I teach reading music; I said I did but it was unlikely I’d make it the highest priority. From hereon I got the distinct impression the caller thought I wasn’t giving ‘proper lessons’.
Telling a helpful parent to “b*gg*r off” when they chose to elucidate my instructions to their cherished one – OK, so I made this one up … bet you know the feeling though!
Not following my gut-feeling. Taking on and keeping a school-age student who says he’s keen, but shows no sign of any enthusiasm. When I asked him after six months of lessons if he buys magazines all I get is “Yeah, football ones”. “But haven’t you seen all the wonderful guitar magazines in the shops?” I prompt, “Yeah, but I don’t fancy buying one!” “OK, but surely you watched that great programme on guitar playing last night?” “Nah, I watched The Simpsons”. “Do you play your guitar much?”, “Well I’ve kinda been busy lately”. I think this is the time to suggest to the parents a short break to see if their child misses the lessons.
I made a bit of a gaff last week; a parent seemed to be getting nervous about her son’s progress towards an exam and we had a chat about this. I soon got side-tracked onto the topic of the role of education in society and how my idea is to try to interest kids and not just stuff knowledge into them. No doubt I impressed her – she sent her son for lessons with someone who knew ‘how to teach’. As my old Headmaster used to say, “Learn to shut your cakehole”.