4 Reasons You Should Teach Guitar

If you're reading this, chances are you've thought about teaching guitar or you'd like to teach the guitar. Even if you've never taught anyone before, I'm going to share with you today 4 reasons you should teach the guitar! Firstly, let me say that teaching isn't necessarily for everyone as a career but there are more benefits than purely on a monetary scale. Teaching is a great way to pass on and improve upon the knowledge you've gained yourself to others around you!

Let's get started with 4 Reasons You Should Teach Guitar


1) Teaching Is The Best Way To Learn

I started teaching several years ago when a couple of mates were asking me to show them how to play something. Truth be told, I didn't fully know how to explain it to them but as I started teaching them, I had to develop and be confident about how I understood it! As I taught them, I started to truly understand it for myself.

It's only when you stop and communicate something to someone else that you realise you really do know it. Similarly, if you've got friends who you're asking questions to about playing the guitar then don't feel bad. It's as good for them as it is for you! This isn't to advocate teaching stuff you don't know but to say that you don't have to know everything before you can teach at all! We're all on a journey of playing the guitar; everyone has something to learn!!

2) Teaching Is Fun

I've had many laughs teaching the guitar to my pupils. In November 2007 I decided to launch my own tuition company called Dynamic Tuition. This was a brave move as I had only taught mates for fun and thought I would give it a go. The thing is, you have to enjoy what you're doing. If you're not a big fan of people or you're not very patient then perhaps it isn't for you but teaching is a great way to have fun while playing the guitar! It's hilarious to see other peoples perspective of the guitar and it broadens your own playing. I'm constantly creatively inspired by my guitar students, even if their technical ability isn't as good as mine is. You can learn a lot from the way they practice and the way they approach the guitar. Teaching is most definitely fun!

3) Teaching Releases Others

Playing the guitar shouldn't be just about you? Someone took the time to show you the ropes or to give you a few tips or to inspire you; why don't you do the same? It'd be just as rewarding if not more rewarding to see someone else succeed in music because of your input than to see your own personal success. Why not let your life be about other people? Surely the whole point of playing music is to create something beautiful that inspires others anyways? It's very satisfying to see other people's guitar ability improve and get better; to see someone who couldn't even play E minor suddenly improvising a solo! Don't make it about you; teach guitar instead!

4) Teaching Makes Money

An obvious benefit of teaching is that you can make money for it but I've deliberately put it lower down in the list. It's the elephant in the room, you can earn some cash from teaching the guitar. Let me encourage you, when I first started, lots of people thought I was underqualified and it was bad that I was actually charging people (you don't need that sort of input). The truth was that I had a lot to share and to pass on to every single person I tutored. Of course, it goes without saying, don't overcharge when you're first starting out (or ever) as a music teacher; I started with ridiculously low rates and over time I've increased my prices to match my teaching ability and experience

That's it! Remember, teaching the guitar is a great way to improve your own skills, pass on something to the world and make a little cash on the side too!

9 Reasons Your Guitar Playing Sucks

1) You Don't Practice

First and foremost, practice makes perfect. If you want to be able to play well, you have to play regularly. I find I only need 15 minutes every 2 or 3 days to see improvement in my students which is a lot better than playing for an hour every 2 weeks. If you're struggling with practicing then check out The Secret to Effective Guitar Practice

2) You Don't Listen to New Music

Inspiration is everything. You can tell when someone isn't inspired to play. There's no emotion, no passion and no life in their music. You've got to keep yourself creatively inspired by listening to new music, checking out new artists/bands, even being inspired from things that are nothing to do with music changes the way you play! Uninspired playing becomes routine, religious and plain boring. To inject life and passion into your playing, why not buy a random album from Itunes. I've recently bought The Naked and Famous' latest album and Hillsong United's Aftermath.

3) You Play With The Wrong (or no) People

When I first started playing the guitar I used to jam with a mate who really wasn't very good at the guitar. He used to play the same old chords and I would get pretty frustrated easily as I wanted to express myself more creatively. A few months later I tried playing with a drummer friend of mine who had some real musical talent; the atmosphere was completely different. I was a lot more creative and my playing went to a completely different level simply by surrounding myself with similar minded people who were further on the journey of musicianship.

4) You've Lost Your Motivation

When you lose your mojo (or motivation), playing the guitar is the last thing you want to do; and so it sounds like its the last thing you want to do. Remind yourself why you first wanted to pick up the guitar. Why did you want to get good at playing? What are your favourite bands and artists that challenge you to improve and to get better? If you've made playing the guitar a chore then you need to change something. Make an effort to be spontaneous and play for fun!

5) You've Learnt It All

Life is only fun as long as your learning. The best musicians in the world never stop learning. There's never a moment that you stop and think, "I can play everything now." If you feel like you've reached the limit on your playing then you've missed the point. There is loads more to learn and to play. Your playing can only ever sound rigid if your learning has plateaued.

6) Your Guitar is Rubbish

Plain and simple, you get what you pay for. If you're strumming on a 80 pound starter guitar then you'll struggle to get the killer tones you've been trying for. It's great to start on a cheap guitar but you'll get to a point when you need to upgrade. If you need to save up then get started because it will really make a difference.

7) You Need New Strings

I've seen so many people play with dreadfully old strings. I change mine every 2-3 months. It's completely dependant on how often you play but there's no way your strings should be on for more than a several months. Old strings give you a dull, tired sound instead of a fresh bright one. Spend a couple of quid at String Busters and get yourself some new strings.

8) You Need a New Teacher

It's one thing to be brilliant at the guitar and its something completely different to be a great teacher. If you're not progressing at all and you are practicing a lot then it's time to look at your teacher or lack of one!

9) You're Playing Too Fast

Slow it down. Most people try and play at 110% of where they're at and as a result sound very messy and out of time when they play. None of the notes come out properly and there's no feel or phrasing to their playing. I generally play at 90% of my playing ability; I try to push myself as hard as possible as often as possible but I never play beyond what I can actually play. Try slowing down your playing and you'll see immediate improvement to your playing.

There you have it! Just focus on fixing one thing at a time and you'll be away in no time!

The Secret to Effective Guitar Practice

Over the last 16 years of playing different musical instruments I've realised that improving doesn't happen overnight. I used to spend hours  and hours with mates watching ridiculously brilliant guitar solos by Paul Gilbert and let me think, more Paul Gilbert. I spent a lot of time practicing, and not very much time enjoying my playing! Let me share with you the secret to effective guitar practice that enables you to practice a little, and play a lot!

The Law of One

Right now, wherever you are, you're only one step away from being better at playing the guitar. What are your aims? What are your goals? Instead of trying to be 'better at the guitar', why don't you be more specific? Aim to be 50% at the riff you can only play really slowly at the moment. It took me a while to get this; I kept trying to play 100 steps ahead of where I was at but now I just focus on improving one thing at the time.

Recently I went through a big phase of improving my acoustic guitar playing; fingerpicking, percussive playing and tapping but right now I'm concentrating on fast licks and shredding to build up stamina and strength. You see, the best way to learn quickly is to do one thing at a time. You'll actually find the benefits of practicing that one thing will spill out into all aspects of your playing anyways!

The problem with multitasking

The problem with multitasking is that it's physically impossible. Yes, you might think that you're multitasking when you're strumming and changing chords but actually you're flicking between both of them very quickly. The simple truth is that you lose concentration a lot quicker than you think which makes your guitar practice weak and ineffective. Let's face it, we want to practice as little as possible so we can play as much as possible. I used to practice and never really achieve anything in my practice time because I was trying to practice 10 different things. You need to stop multitasking and focus on the one thing you want to improve.

It's different for all of us; for some it might be just managing a chord change and for others it might be to learn a new riff. Your goals are going to be different to mine; that's absolutely fine! Have a think right now of the one thing you want to build up and improve!

Here's a few examples of what your one thing might be:

• Strumming in time (use a metronome)
• Alternate picking
• Chord changes
• Improvisation
• Ear training

Don't just read it; give it a try and test out what I'm saying! Happy Playing!

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