Teaching an instrument

shizz · 16-09-2010 09:03PM #1

Hey guys. I've been considering for a while now to get into teaching Guitar but I'm not sure how to go about starting it.
I've been told to start doing it by a good few people but I always think I wouldn't be good.
I had a thought of teaching some people I know for free just to get my head round it and see if I can do it.

Does anyboy here teach an Instrument? I think It's a good idea to have a thread about this sort of thing so some teachers on here can share their experience and help people get up and running.

I also want to point out that this thread isn't intended for advertising teaching just for sharing of knowledge on the subject.

Any body any suggestions?

Rigsby · 17-09-2010 08:54AM

First, it must be asked, are you qualified to teach an instrument ? Can you read music for example ?

Second, have you got teaching skills ? Knowing your stuff is one thing, but the ability to convey it to other people is a seperate skill entirely.

If the answer is yes to these questions, then I dont see why you should not give it a try.

shizz · 18-09-2010 01:56PM

Rigsby wrote: »

First, it must be asked, are you qualified to teach an instrument ? Can you read music for example ?

Well I obviously don't have a qualification to teach guitar but as far as I can see this has not stopped many teachers before. No, unfortunately I can't read music and to be honest I don't think there is much need to read it for guitar, but if someone specifically wanted to read sheet music I would encourage them to go else where.

Rigsby wrote: »

Second, have you got teaching skills ? Knowing your stuff is one thing, but the ability to convey it to other people is a separate skill entirely.

If the answer is yes to these questions, then I don't see why you should not give it a try.

I'm not fully aware if I am any good at teaching that is why I wanted to give some free lessons to people I know first just to see if I am any good.

I'm not one of those people that would do it just to make money regardless of whether they are good at teaching or not. I want to know I'm capable of doing it before I even ask anyone for money.

Rigsby · 18-09-2010 03:07PM

If you are doing it for free, then the pupil has nothing to lose... and everything to learn.

This is also a good way to find out if you have the skills to teach.

On the other hand, with regards to money : Personally, if I was going to pay for lessons on an instrument, I'd expect the teacher to have a high standard of musicianship, and to be a one-stop-shop, i.e. being able to teach all aspects to playing an instrument, including reading music. As far as not needing to read for guitar is concerned, you are right if the pupil just wants to knock out a few ballads in a pub for example. If he/she is more serious and wants to eventually play say, jazz, then it's a different matter. It depends on how far the pupil wants to go with it.

Just my 2c worth.

shizz · 18-09-2010 03:26PM

Rigsby wrote: »

If you are doing it for free, then the pupil has nothing to lose... and everything to learn. This is also a good way to find out if you have the skills to teach.

On the other hand, with regards to money : Personally, if I was going to pay for lessons on an instrument, I'd expect the teacher to have a high standard of musicianship, and to be a one-stop-shop, i.e. being able to teach all aspects to playing an instrument, including reading music.

Just my 2c worth.

Yeah I've always felt the same and that's why I have been a bit worried about doing it. My guitar teacher before encouraged me to start teaching in this music shop that was asking for teachers near him and I was shocked but he just said "you would be much better than the people they have down there". I never did it as I didnt feel I was good enough for it but I'm very interested in getting involved in it now. I would just love to teach people something I love.

Rigsby · 18-09-2010 05:12PM

shizz wrote: »

Yeah I've always felt the same and that's why I have been a bit worried about doing it. My guitar teacher before encouraged me to start teaching in this music shop that was asking for teachers near him and I was shocked but he just said "you would be much better than the people they have down there". I never did it as I didnt feel I was good enough for it but I'm very interested in getting involved in it now. I would just love to teach people something I love.

In that case... go for it. :cool:

You will always regret not giving it a try, even if it does not work out. If you have a love for teaching, then that means a lot.

Best of luck with it.

snooleen · 18-09-2010 05:20PM

I'd say go for it too!

For example, I'd be looking for a teacher who could just help me improve my playing skills and teach me to play songs that I like. That's the great thing about a teacher like you-you can suss out their musical interests etc. and help them learn from that. With a qualified teacher who teaches you to read music and is very expensive, you'd have to play songs you hate, learn scales etc. Most people aren't bothered with that and so lose interest every quickly!

This happened to me with piano lessons-I had to learn stupid beginners' songs like 'frog hop' and all this stuff and do exercises about semi-breves and crotchets and after a few weeks, I just gave up as I just wanted to play songs I liked!

Go for it! But be sure to advertise yourself as the kind of teacher who will teach you to play, not teach you to read/understand all the technical aspects of music.

shizz · 19-09-2010 04:03PM

snooleen wrote: »

I'd say go for it too! For example, I'd be looking for a teacher who could just help me improve my playing skills and teach me to play songs that I like. That's the great thing about a teacher like you-you can suss out their musical interests etc. and help them learn from that. With a qualified teacher who teaches you to read music and is very expensive, you'd have to play songs you hate, learn scales etc. Most people aren't bothered with that and so lose interest every quickly!

This happened to me with piano lessons-I had to learn stupid beginners' songs like 'frog hop' and all this stuff and do exercises about semi-breves and crotchets and after a few weeks, I just gave up as I just wanted to play songs I liked!

Go for it! But be sure to advertise yourself as the kind of teacher who will teach you to play, not teach you to read/understand all the technical aspects of music.

Well I myself want to brush up on my technical side of playing. Havent been practising it much at all unfortunately, but yeah that was my idea really. Incorporate the lessons with songs that use the things I'm teaching. Find out what music they are into and use that to teach them.

snooleen · 19-09-2010 04:14PM

Sounds good

As you say, you can try out teaching your friends and if it goes well then go for it! Best of luck

shizz · 19-09-2010 04:16PM

snooleen wrote: »

Sounds good As you say, you can try out teaching your friends and if it goes well then go for it! Best of luck

I really want to get it going. Hope I get me self in order haha
Are there any teachers here?

Thomas from Presence · 24-09-2010 04:31PM

shizz wrote: »

I really want to get it going. Hope I get me self in order haha
Are there any teachers here?

Yep. Couple of things you might need to consider alright.

Premises

Curricula for different types of students

Garda Vetting (if teaching children this is essential)

Insurance

Then you'll get to other challenges like how to bring the curriculum to life, hand outs and materials, ways to keep them entertained, lesson plans, analogies...

I've been teaching for 15 years this year and I've found that you'll always be finding better ways to convey knowledge. You'll also keep learning yourself which is one of the best benefits of the whole experience.

If you need any help then get in touch.

Teaching an instrument

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