General Music Chat

i've been doing guitar, bass, and mandolin lessons for some time now. lessons are at my house and i charge the same $25 per hour lesson that i did when i started giving lessons many moons ago. IMO...you can't get anything done in 30 min.

i don't teach kids. (that was my last straight day gig) i have had a few H.S. students that were a joy to work with. most..not so much so. two of them went on to get full music scholarships and i received very nice notes from both of their moms thanking me for my part in making that happen.

in general i don't do beginner's lessons, though i will make an occasional exception for adults if i feel they're serious enough and have the right stuff. i never used to do that....my attitude had always been "get back to me after you've been playing a bit and have figured out some stuff". but over the last few yrs i've been approached by some folks in their 50's and 60's who've never played but always wanted to.....and now they're ready to go for it. well, something about them having the chutzpah to go for it at this point in their lives really appeals to me....mostly it's been pretty good w them.

over the yrs i've had people come up to me at gigs to ask about lessons. that's a great compliment and one i always appreciate.

i had one 70 yr old guy approach me on a solo gtr gig a cpl of yrs ago and ask if i could teach him dobro! he never played before but always wanted to. i helped him find an instrument (cheap Fender resonator P.O.S) and he worked hard for about 6 mos at it before he packed it in...he was limited by pretty severe nerve damage in his left arm and hand. i give him credit for staying w it and working as hard as he did for that long.


i have two ads up for bass lessons and mandolin lessons that explain my approach to lessons.

bass: http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/muc/5282998946.html

mando:http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/muc/5313845090.html

i know what "reps" are in the gym....not sure how you mean that here.

...like here's a scale exercise or pattern....let's run this 10 times?

theory is always a big part of the lessons as i'm a big believer in "teach someone to fish...." i also believe that the best students teach themselves and good teachers provide them the tools to do so.

i try to incorporate theory (scales, arps, chords, rhythm, etc) into real life musical examples so that number one.....they're playing music and not just boring and stiff "exercises" and number two, that they start glimpsing the big picture.....how the theory actually applies to it all.

fiddle tunes are great places to start because they always have lots of arpeggios and scalar lines.

the biggest thing to remember is that everyone learns, processes, and absorbs things differently. so, like most things in life.....ya need to be flexible and have a few different ways around the tree.

i know what "reps" are in the gym....not sure how you mean that here.

...like here's a scale exercise or pattern....let's run this 10 times?

Yes, that's what I'm referring to. This would eat up more time, so I would try to give this as a homework assignment.

well, some things need to be run thru several times to get the old muscle memory thing happening. it's a case by case decision. some students are very hungry and have the ability to absorb a lot of ideas/concepts in one lesson....others not so much so. in the latter's case....spending a little more time running an ex. can be a good thing.

the biggest thing to remember is that everyone learns, processes, and absorbs things differently. so, like most things in life.....ya need to be flexible and have a few different ways around the tree.

I understand this one. Like the guy who wants to know how to play a specific song to impress his girlfriend, or whatever.


This seems like a big balancing act because if you harp on theory too much w/o showing the student some basics where he/she doesn't see or hear any progress, they will get bored and drop you like a hot rock.

that's precisely why i try to present theory/scales/arps/etc as it applies to actual tunes. it's easy to tell when you're overloading someone w more than they can handle (or more than they think they want). i'm very vocal w asking students for their feedback on how they think the lessons are going....."too much info?", "not enough?" etc.

at the beginning of most lessons i ask "what shall we work on today?", and then we craft a lesson around that. that not only keeps things fresh, spontaneous, and interesting for me... but it also forces them to think about things, identify areas they need work on, and take responsibility for their lessons and their progress.