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What Makes a Good Guitar Teacher?

I have been teaching guitar for ten years full time and 18 years in total, off and on. I have a ton of experience teaching guitar and decided to share my thoughts regarding what I believe to be the characteristics of a good guitar teacher. I base my article on not juts my experience but also on the experiences of the many teachers I have worked with throughout the years. Taking guitar lessons should be fun but you should beware of taking lessons from the wrong kind of teacher.

First and foremost your teacher should encourage and inspire you. If he (brevity, he or she) doesn't than you need a new teacher. some teachers are a bit jaded and unhappy with the fact that they never made it big time. These kinds of teachers are generally robotic in both the way they speak and the way they teach. Your teacher needs to have enthusiasm, passion and the ability to inspire you!

Secondly your teacher needs to be qualified of course. Most guitar teachers are in fact qualified to teach guitar. It's pretty tough to get a job at a music store teaching guitar if you can't play! So most guitar teachers are in fact qualified but they may not be qualified in your specific area of interest. For example you may be into jazz and want to learn Jazz. If you take lessons from a terrifyingly terrific guitar player but he excels in heavy metal guitar then you might have the wrong guy in front of you.

No matter what style of music you choose to study, any competent guitar teacher can get you through the first couple of years. But as you advance you will probably need to switch teachers so you can find one that specializes in your specific area of interest ie jazz, blues or classical. Find the teacher that shares your passion in the first place and you'll be much better off in the long run.

Look for references. Do you know someone that plays killer blues guitar? Did that person take lessons from someone? If so find out who. This isn't always so black and white of course, some people pick up the guitar really quickly no matter who their teacher is. some people just have talent.

Make sure your teacher is patient! Many guitar teachers lack patience and that will kill your lessons, trust me on that one. I had to learn to be a patient teacher myself and I'm glad I was able to improve that part of my personality. Your personalities must mesh nicely. You can't really get the most out of your guitar lessons if you don't mesh right with your teacher.

Last but not least make sure you know your teachers teaching style. some guitar teachers are spontaneous and don't have a structured lesson plan. That's ok for some people, especially if you hate structured learning environments. Some people just like to go to their lesson and learn by jamming with the teacher.

That's fine. But other people prefer a structured approach to guitar lessons where they can move page by page through a series of method books and track their progress. Just know what is right for you and make sure you choose a teacher that can teach according to that method.

Article Source: EZEDIR.COM