Giving Home guitar lessons (what does it take?)

I play alot of gigs in my area and I get alot of people asking me if I give lessons... So i dont really give lessons, i have taught a few people just for the fun of it... I know alot of techniques and creative tips and such... so why not make some extra cash and start teaching people? any of you guys that teach have some advice? would be appreciated thx!

That's great man. I've got a few pointers for you:

Treat each lesson as a learning experience for yourself as well.

Create some sort of a lesson plan. Nothing worse than an unprepared teacher.

Know what you are talking about. Don't try and teach something you know nothing about. This goes back to the lesson plan thing. Research the topics you plan on teaching and make sure you understand enough to teach so you don't accidently "teach" the wrong things.

Not that you aren't humble enough already, but be aware that your student may just be more talented than you, and be prepared to accept that when the time comes.

That's all I can really think of off the top of my head. Good luck man!

Rock on!

Teaching is an odd duck, No doubt. But some crucial things to remeber
are make sure you try to find out what style of music your student
wants to learn,so you can teach techniques accordingly.

Always be positive and encouraging,offer words of encouragement
whenever you can, not in a patronizing way of course.

And Always have a metronme handy. Scale and chord books too.

thanks alot for the pointers guitarslinger and gshredder! i found this website and this guy give some great advice on general teaching and music! http://www.tomhess.net/Articles.aspx check it out!

tom hess is a bit of a scam artist, on his website he did at one point basically say if you love guitar and want to get good at it is a worthy sacrifice, he writes in such a way it can make it seem that to decide not to go with him is portraying an apathetic attitude towards guitar.

He teaches CST which is another (theoretically incorrect) method of looking at how to solo and i can't agree with someone who teaches incorrect information and encourages a lack of understanding

Also so much of his stuff comes across as philosophical power of the mind rubbish that makes him seem like some sort of Buddha which is a bit pretentious for someone with such a normal uninspired style.

And all his students sound like clones of him, and if you're on other guitar sites you will find that on popular tom hess related topics some of his students will join the forum that day just to start arguments with people who doubt his efficiency.

I've heard rumours as well that he gives perks to students who do that on the net and rave about him on forums as a reward but I don't know of the validity of that source.

However some of his practise exercises, things concentrating on technique and not musicality are fine

I teach them what they want to know usually and I stay usually in the good teacher area but occasionally I'll see a student who wants to learn what I have to offer, but they will become overwhelmed just by the end of the first lesson. I taught a guy last week the first position pentatonic(for an intro to lead playing) and a good execise to help him picking wise as well as a few pointers on things to do to get the most out of his practice time. He has yet to call me back.
So beware of the flaky students, but as long as you somewhat cater to the people you are teaching, you should be okay. If you've been playing gigs regularly and touring, you are definitely capable of being able to play, but teaching is a different animal, and it takes a few students to learn what your teaching style will be, and how you can morph it to fit the needs of the different students you will have. The first couple might be a a bit rough, but that is because it would be your first couple of lessons(gotta start sometime right?) but it will also be your first lessons with those particular students, which always are more of a testing the water situation. You've got to gauge their abilities in those first couple of lessons to properly adjust their practice load each time they come to you, and for the homework they will be asked to do.
So don't worry about it if the first couple lessons are just more talking and explaining than showing since usually there's going to be a barrage of questions each time you teach, the difference being it's your first time trying to answer these questions and you are going to sometimes need to re-think how you will say something, since, sometimes theory talk goes right over peoples heads(imagine that haha).

Good luck man, I hope this wasn't just a random rambling paragraph and isn't helpful to you haha

And definitely keep a metronome, and a couple of scale/chord books handy. They will become a major part of your teaching. Just what Gshred pointed out ;)

much appreciated guys, thanks for the inputs!

I totally agree with DanielM concerning Tom Hess.
Yes, he IS A BIG FRAUD!

I tried one of his lessons (after paying $58) and the material I got was big joke. Some useless pdf's with normal scales and some even more useless mp3's and videos when this a-hole sits and talk some philosophical bull**** about reaching your internal goals and so on.
I really wanna WARN every fellow guitar players for this big scam-artist.
BEWARE OF TOM HESS!!!!

/Peer

I've been teaching for 15 years or so. I started when i gave up touring - etc.

First need = The ability to teach, not just to play, but to teach; there is a huge difference in the two.

Experience, and "depth of knowledge"
(this is just me)
IE: I have been playing professionally for over 35 years, played in many bands, toured, grew up in recording studios (i now own one), and had a long-lasting relationship with a teacher or two of your own. For example I was a Student of Terry Hill's for 25 years , of Hector Qirko's for 12 of those 25 years. (i would still take lessons but Terry died and Hector moved...old old saying "remain teachable"

A great reputation and word of mouth, newspaper articles, CD (yours) reviews, etc (press in general helps quite a bit, and NOT self-generated press but ACTUAL press)

Flexibility and Patience and Chops.
The flexibility to teach proficiently in Rock, Bluegrass, Jazz..etc (whatever the student wants)
and the Chops to do it on a professional level. (Mental chops as well)

LOVE OF MUSIC

....a nice website helps

The ability to look beyond a students expectations and the experience to guide them further than those expectations.

and of course practice.
when i have students all day i still make time to practice, myself, for at least 2-hours. When I am not busy teaching or in the studio Mastering, I practice about 4 to 5 hours a day on average. That average should not seem long if so you may want to reconsider teaching. Practicing (regularly for many hours a day) is a constant and necessary part of teaching. I expect my students to practice at least 1 to 2 hours a day, as a healthy work ethic is needed, and you teach this by example. I have , (not at age 9 lol, a tad later in my playing-life) always practiced, as above, those 4-5 hours a day. If on the road or not. i cannot stress the importance of this enough.

The ability to play/teach ANYthing a student wants to learn.

It helps to read music , but it inst an absolutely necessary component.

man ... i know i forgot to type many buuuut... i need to get to a student, then practice.

OH! throw away useless time-wasters, "smart"-phones, Face-Space, Twit-er, Video games ... etc.

In other words if you plan on making a living , as i do, in the field(s) of music. be prepared to GIVE at least 110% of yourself to the art...this will "eat" almost all of your "free-time" (but if you wish this life you will gladly give that time.)

Honesty, Courage, Perseverance, Love, Passion........


(hope that was some help)

RAWK!
Cs

I can't speak for teachers since I'm obviously not one but I can relate to being an "online student" and a "in person student".
Being able to relate to a teacher in real time and visually is worth much.
I've come to the point where I don't trust any of the tabs out there in cyberville and so if I really need a tab I'll ask Carl (trying not to be too much of a pain). Guys selling DVD lessons don't interest me. For more than a year I've been getting online vid chat lessons from Carl and since then I've stopped looking for gurus online. He can see what I'm doing right (or wrong) and correct me if needed on the spot. Then he shows me what he wants me to practice for the next week and I say "huh"? and he explains again. this goes on for 3 or 4 minutes and I have my lesson for the week. It's the next best thing to live lessons I have found. If I lived in Knoxville I'd be seeing him every Saturday! He's demanding. I don't mind that. It forces me to improve. He watches me play and he knows what direction he needs to guide me in or what areas I really need help with. You can't get that from DVD's and (no disrespect) WE ARE STUDENTS, we actually haven't got a clue what we need to learn and in what order. That's why we need teachers, flesh and blood qualified teachers, not students teaching students. So I may as well thank Carl publicly for all of his help as long as it's the holiday season and I'm in the mood. LMAO. Thanks Kahuna!
My advise......put up some bread and get a teacher.
Phip