Anyone ever taught music before? Just thought of starting this thread to pick up pointers on how best to initiate a newcomer to music.

Well to start off, I remembered my first experience was with a student who had no concept of music whatsoever. Try as I might to get him to get into note reading, understanding the concept of keeping to a constant beat before moving onto handling the instrument (in this case, a classical guitar), my efforts just didn't work.

When handling newcomers, what is your usual approach? How do you explain key concepts etc and any exercises to recommend which can hold their interest while at the same time add to their learning experience?

if its someone who wants to learn a soppy love song to impress a girl, you whack him over the head with a healthy dose of reality.

and classical guitar...
note reading...
can start by showing them what the open strings E A D G B E looks like on notation.
and get them to pluck in 4/4 at a decent tempo while following the simple open string notation.
maybe two bars per string etc.
doesnt matter if its not on time yet, as long as its clean and consistent.

then of cos go into a simple C major scale, with some simple melody.
then they can see the relation of the open string notes and fill it in with the major scale etc.

getting the student to "be cool" with you by talking cock works the best for me


first lesson should be learning chords first imo..then strumming..
once he gets the basic ...seeing things working out (Chords , strumming , popular song he loves ) eventually he will develop his interest for deeper stuffs like notes , C major scale etc

and hey...its less effort for the music teacher too

i used to teach drums and also guitar... but of cuz only teaching 1st timers.. erm.. some already understand about theory is kinda easy to teach them as they understand some of the terms u used such as 3 counts or 4 counts... or 16 beat... some kinda thgs like that... only that they need to learn how to cooperate with their feet and hands.. these students r much easier to teach...

other students that have basic theory or just 1st time playing the instrument will be much slower.. most importantly i think as a teacher is to be patient and take thgs easy...mistakes r for sure, but make sure they dont repeat it all the time. then, it will become a problem to change their bad habit when they play their instrument.. for example... i had a student before. he always like to hit the cymbals with the end of the stick which dont really give the "crash" onto it.. but i think most important is patient..

Try the traditional 'free sticker if you did your homework correct or if you play nicely'. My teacher did that to me when 6 years old. =p But, that was 10 years ago and it might be pretty outdated now.

proper and basic fingering position, picking, strumming...some simple scales (pentatonics for me)...the rest find on the net and explore...(that's what happened to me)

a common mistake we make is we explain too much, and sometimes in great(and unneccessary) detail. for each lesson, only teach one small thing at a time. even at max, try not to teach more than 2 new things in a lesson. when explaining, remember u're teaching someone who doesnt know how to play, so dont assume that they know certain things.

yea.. agree... sometimes too fast they tend to mix up everythg...

btw, to be a good musician... Pratice is very very important... but i always lazy to practise...

I've to agree with what echo said as well...From my experience, i havent really thought people much but i've quite a number of students before, and most of them just want to learn the guitar solely to impress someone else. Looking back, the reason i wanted to play the guitar in the first place was to play the songs i like really. But then again, im not complaining when teaching these fellas cos they're paying for what they want, so in business terms im just giving them what they want. However, the rare students that shows passion in the guitar is someone whom i always enjoy teaching. I've a student that i've taught a year ago, and now he's a heck of a better than me anytime! Shows his passion for music. And also how much i've been slacking lately .

my students are my teachers although i've only had a few. I learn weird techniques from them that i would never have come across by myself. I try to make them figure things out themselves first and then compare techniques. There are times...many in fact, when they come up with pretty cool ideas.

How much is enough, i.e. how much to teach in each lesson and where to start off? I usually start off by going into theory i.e. timing, time signature & note reading. Not easy to maintain their interest though cos' it's so damn boring and they expect me to teach them timeless classics on the get-go!

There were times I've been so tempted to rap their knuckles with a ruler, just like my music teacher in primary school did.

Of course, that'll only make them hate you and music...


This post has been edited by changhao: Dec 2 2006, 11:00 PM

btw, i got some questions also... becuz i will be teaching guitar and drums after my STPM which is tommorow. i was not professionally taught to play guitar and drums... i dun have those proper basic on how to play or techniques... but i will be conducting few classes in a music shop. is it ok to teach new learners with informal kinda teaching? i only play music in church so most of the time i play in chords and not in notes like the guitar books. do i have to go for a short briefing or learn some stuff before i can go teaching? i can play quite well, so the owner of the shop trust me and let the conduct few classes...

this is just my advice. might or might not work for u/anyone. im not a really experienced teacher (and have i never taught in any school before). just teaching people on my own.

teaching timing, time signature & note reading in one class is ALOT!!!!! just teach one(or a small portion of that part) in each lesson(assuming u teach for an hour). break everything by parts, and make sure they understand each subtopic before moving on. have it in a conversation, coz sometimes they think they already understand (or sometimes are just shy to admit they dont fully get it). get them to talk about it back to u, thats when u can see whether they understand.

when teaching, dont just explain the theoretical parts. show examples from songs/artists they like. then show them how to apply it by coming up with ur own stuff (smth short, like a short phrase thats 2 bars long). that way, u get to show them the real purpose of theory, which is to apply it to music.

i do agree theory teaching can be boring. so teach small portions in each lesson. lets say if ur lessons are 1 hour long, teach theory for half and hour, and the other half an hour teach songs/techniques.

another important thing is being SUPER DUPER PATIENT!
just because u're the teacher doesnt mean u teach/talk/lecture all the time. make sure u give quite a number of time for ur student to practice and experiment in front of you. thats when u can spot mistakes or even give suggestions to improve.

woops, i think i talk too much...

I fully agree, and as crazy a teacher as I was, I didn't do all that in a single class! Would probably kill myself in the process together with the student! Sad part was, my classes were limited to 30-45mins for each session and only once per week (as per arrangements made by the music school)! By the time the lesson was over and another week passes, most of them just plain forgot all that I taught. Needless to say, the lil' buggers never bothered to practice what I taught back home or read the notes I gave.

As much as I should be happy with the knowledge that I can continue collecting my paycheck at the end of every month regardless of how badly they're soaking it up, I can't help but feel a tad bit incompetent that my students aren't soaking up all that I've dished up. Then of course, there's the fear that their parents will smash my head in with their kid's guitar if they don't see any progress...

Thankfully, most parents these days will only buy a kapok guitar for their kids as a starting instrument! Softer on the head...

This post has been edited by changhao: Dec 5 2006, 02:08 AM

the teachers job is not to make sure the students advance. That's the student's job. The teacher is just there to help them and guide them.

I had a student once (one of the few that i ever had ) who didn't want to hear anything about timing and groove etc. You know....the basic stuff. All he wanted to learn was the flashy just-for-showing-off techniques. Which are to me, not so musical and are really difficult to apply in a song. But anyway, back to the point. Did he improve musically? In my opinion no. But he's happy. And if he has learned what he wanted to, that means i have completed my job. So i'm happy too . And maybe someday he will see that these things that he learned can only be executed perfectly when he perfects his basics and rudiments. Or maybe he won't. But that's not my concern anymore. Sure it's sad, but it's not my decision.

I'm a bad teacher.....

by the way, know any place that would take in ppl like me (without paper qualification) to teach guitar?

give private lessons. Teaching in licensed schools/music shops sux. They cukai shamelessly up to 50% sometimes.

ermm...teaching at one of the outlets of Yamaha near paramount....teaching is boring when the student loses interest...to attract different age group need different approach....for example...for teenage group....1st lesson when he come in shown him a madness fingerstyle piece or some great solo piece to attract their attention...then slowly find out what kind of songs the they like then play more to their likes...to keep their interested...

short saying...one muz learn alot of new song and different genres and be very versatile...so actually by doin this u can communicate better wif ur student thru "music"

well i'm still an amateur in teaching...anywayz this is a very good tpic to share all experiences..

i do give private lessons, but very very few students.

Well teaching music to a beginner with 0 knowledge will require some system in the way you deliver knowledge. Get a basic book e.g. Learning the Guitar or whatever...go through the lessons. As the teacher you can always add a "teaser" at the end... a fancy skill or riff that is essentially a product of the techniques or lessons learnt previously. E.g. Showing the student a double thump as an extension of the slap..to get him fired up to practise like a demon so he can "earn" his new flashy lesson. Well that was what i used to do when i was teaching oh so long ago.