Is there a guitar teacher handbook?

rsm said:
yep. I started learning guitar around 8 years old, lessons for about a year or so, with that Mel Bay volume 1 book. For the first few months my parents rented an acoustic which was bad, then since I was practicing, bought me a starter electric guitar and amp (Norma). That guitar was worse, high action and old strings, and my "pro" teacher never noticed or cared.

I started back up again at around 12, got a better guitar, took lessons with a better teacher, and learned songs by ear.

Fast forward to 14, I had a new 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom, and played my first paying gig and eventually my last at 32, with many in between. When I was 14 -18, the drinking age was 18, so the smaller clubs didn't care about our ages in the band, only the cost and if we brought in a drinking crowd,...so it was mostly school dances the first few years IIRC, until around 16 when we had friends that were old enough to drink...much of this is lost in the mists of time and other mists.
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Those Canadian Mists are rough, even rougher the day after.
 
Hiwatts-n-Gibsons said:
Those Canadian Mists are rough, even rougher the day after.
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YARN | BLAME CANADA ! | South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut ...
 
How to cause a kid to give up.........
In the late 70's folks finally get me a cheap strat copy. I go to local music store with Mel Bay book and learn twinkle twinkle little star type melodies.
Hate it. This is back when instructors could smoke in small room collect day cash while he plays lounge gigs at night.

I bring the epic 1st Boston record in and tell him 'I wanna play this' he says mmm? Well son they have about 1k in gear each (1977) ish.
He picks out a little part the bass did and show me that. Rubbish! o_O

I give up until the 7th grade when a buddy calls and says dude get over here. He has a distortion box and knows some Ac Dc and scorps riffs and it sounds like them!!
Game on! Jamming with several friends who knew riffs all through HS was the best and worst way to learn. Then I start playing with a drummer who corrects my timing then I grew being able to play actual songs!
 
cragginshred said:
How to cause a kid to give up.........
In the late 70's folks finally get me a cheap strat copy. I go to local music store with Mel Bay book and learn twinkle twinkle little star type melodies.
Hate it. This is back when instructors could smoke in small room collect day cash while he plays lounge gigs at night.

I bring the epic 1st Boston record in and tell him 'I wanna play this' he says mmm? Well son they have about 1k in gear each (1977) ish.
He picks out a little part the bass did and show me that. Rubbish! o_O

I give up until the 7th grade when a buddy calls and says dude get over here. He has a distortion box and knows some Ac Dc and scorps riffs and it sounds like them!!
Game on! Jamming with several friends who knew riffs all through HS was the best and worst way to learn. Then I start playing with a drummer who corrects my timing then I grew being able to play actual songs!
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very similar with my early guitar lessons; guitar teacher was not very helpful or inspiring.

My getting serious on guitar was luck: I played sax in the school concert band, sitting in front of the trombones and heard one of the trombone players say he played bass, I told him I played guitar, we talked about the music we liked, and got together to jam; then he said he knows a drummer but he was a few years younger, so we decide on several songs to work on, and the drummer is there next time, all goes well. Drummer into Boston, UFO, Journey, REO,... Then the drummer says he knows a singer but he's a few years older; drummer tells us the singer is into Queen, so we decided to learn Tie Your Mother Down; next practice singer is there and damn he could sing!

Several weeks later we have our first gig at an 8th grade dance, which led to a few more, and freshman dances...and a weekend gig at a local pizza place that had a large backroom for private parties, with a stage, called Alfredo's House of Rock, with live music Thursday - Sunday...I actually saw Twisted Sister there doing covers, and they had a song they called "the Chinese hustle" that never made it...before they took off on MTV which was still a few years in the future. This was probably 1977 or 1978. We became one of the house bands at Alfredo's, playing every other week, sometimes twice a week, and that got us into bigger venues around town and beyond.


Edit: found it:

 
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I could help if you want . I’ve taught for 25 years . Each person should be treated different . You have to find how to mske them connect and practice . I do have an order depending on the person
 
MetalHeart said:
I grew up on that shit (y) Im listening to Rocka Rolla right now as I type this :cool: the new remix is killer
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I can remember picking out The Sentinel and thinking it was the hardest thing I'd ever do. I actually got turned on to Rocka Rolla after I was already into Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith. I couldn't believe it was the same band.

I listened to Rocka Rolla yesterday after talking about it here. One For the Road is just fucking killer.
 
Floyd Eye said:
I can remember picking out The Sentinel and thinking it was the hardest thing I'd ever do. I actually got turned on to Rocka Rolla after I was already into Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith. I couldn't believe it was the same band.

I listened to Rocka Rolla yesterday after talking about it here. One For the Road is just fucking killer.
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50 year anniversary I think Its all good (y)

But over all BRITISH STEEL is my favorite.
 
Matt300ZXT said:
I've given lessons a time or two here and there, but really to just friends who wanted to learn to play. Is there some sort of book, like a teacher's edition that tells you what to teach first, what should be in a class, how long it should be, when to progress, etc?

I know all kinds of stuff, but I haven't the slightest clue in what order to teach it in, how to construct a class, what to expect, etc...
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You might take a look at this.
https://www.musiciansinstitutebookstore.com/product/guitar-technique-1/

FWIW, I’ve taught college and University and been teaching at two branches of a local school the last 3 years and what I found in one and one it really needs to be tailored to the student.

Assuming it’s not guys that start from zero a huge part I insist on is teaching time.
Most folks think they know what they need.
Want sure, need hell no.

Like the guys that want to burn but find a million reasons they can’t. Usually not the right genes, no talent, yada, yada, yada.

The reality usually is they are not willing to spend the required ass in seat practice time.
And aren’t practicing what is really needed.
So long before worrying about right hand technique comes learning to hear fast…in time.
For this it takes rhythm reading and singing/mumbling.

And it needs to be taken in small doses with grown ups since they usually find it embarrassing.
 
degenaro said:
For this it takes rhythm reading and singing/mumbling.

And it needs to be taken in small doses with grown ups since they usually find it embarrassing.
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My instructor tried to make me do all these clicking mouth sounds but my old man is a negro so he was wasting my time. He also hated the fact that I only cared about blues licks not his melodic minor and diminished scales. I'll bet that guy is still making clicking mouth sounds.
 
VonBonfire said:
My instructor tried to make me do all these clicking mouth sounds but my old man is a negro so he was wasting my time. He also hated the fact that I only cared about blues licks not his melodic minor and diminished scales. I'll bet that guy is still making clicking mouth sounds.
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Never made anyone make any clicks mouth sounds.
And much prefer Bluesy lines over anything melodic minor, but I do dig angular stuff like diminished lines
 
degenaro said:
You might take a look at this.
https://www.musiciansinstitutebookstore.com/product/guitar-technique-1/

FWIW, I’ve taught college and University and been teaching at two branches of a local school the last 3 years and what I found in one and one it really needs to be tailored to the student.

Assuming it’s not guys that start from zero a huge part I insist on is teaching time.
Most folks think they know what they need.
Want sure, need hell no.

Like the guys that want to burn but find a million reasons they can’t. Usually not the right genes, no talent, yada, yada, yada.

The reality usually is they are not willing to spend the required ass in seat practice time.
And aren’t practicing what is really needed.
So long before worrying about right hand technique comes learning to hear fast…in time.
For this it takes rhythm reading and singing/mumbling.

And it needs to be taken in small doses with grown ups since they usually find it embarrassing.
Click to expand...


In my experience, it's easier to just teach people drum rudiments and notation - if they spend enough time on it they start to "hear fast" as you put it.
 
I gave lessons as a side gig for years, and ended up in an adjunct position for the local university. I would typically find an existing method that matched the style of music the students were interested in, and their level. Something reputable, like the Berklee method. I had classical, jazz, rock, blues students, so different materials as needed. Everyone learned to read, they learned theory, and beyond that it was about what styles they wanted to play, what they enjoyed, what inspired them.

To me, the bigger challenge was maintaining lesson notes and lesson materials for each student, managing schedules, and all of that. Some of that was because of the requirements of grading students, some of whom needed this for their major. A lot of it though is just the usual planning and prep you need to do for each student.
 
MusicIsLife said:
I gave lessons as a side gig for years, and ended up in an adjunct position for the local university. I would typically find an existing method that matched the style of music the students were interested in, and their level. Something reputable, like the Berklee method. I had classical, jazz, rock, blues students, so different materials as needed. Everyone learned to read, they learned theory, and beyond that it was about what styles they wanted to play, what they enjoyed, what inspired them.

To me, the bigger challenge was maintaining lesson notes and lesson materials for each student, managing schedules, and all of that. Some of that was because of the requirements of grading students, some of whom needed this for their major. A lot of it though is just the usual planning and prep you need to do for each student.
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But did your band cover Radar Love on the weekends?
 
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