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I have never taken a guitar lesson in my life, at least I have not paid money for lessons, but always tried to cop licks and stuff off of the great Richard Sweet of Ft. Walton Bch. and Steve Spayde who used to work at Mancini's Music in Ft. Walton..but have you ever run across a no doubt embarrassing situation when the student has more technique, taste, and skills in general than the teacher? I saw this happen once and the only thing the teacher had over the student was his sight-reading skills..I am not a fan of professional guitar teachers since there are so many facets to being a well rounded guitarist that I just don't think a teacher can cover all of them.. can Van Halen do the finger styles of Merle Travis? or Doc Watson? let alone Chet Atkins? NO!.. can Richie Blackmore even keep up with a Al DiMeola? the answer is obvious

My teachers were and always have been the guys who knew how to play my favorite songs...

I remember back when, if a guy could not perform "Mood For A Day" flawlessly, then he was not squat ..

My teachers have been the world wide community of youtube

A guy asked me today to teach him. I probably will.

Have a couple others guys who ignore my musical blatherings as well.

My fee is work. I share a lot o tips and point them to good resources and if they learn anything, I'll show them more. But most of the people who asked me to teach them never get past my demand that they learn the notes of on the frets.

If they will work, I will share. Learned that from a jazz player named Jack Lindsey who shared with me. Hope you're still out there wailing Jack.

Talbot

Dane Ellis Allen wrote:I have never taken a guitar lesson in my life, at least I have not paid money for lessons, but always tried to cop licks and stuff off of the great Richard Sweet of Ft. Walton Bch. and Steve Spayde who used to work at Mancini's Music in Ft. Walton..but have you ever run across a no doubt embarrassing situation when the student has more technique, taste, and skills in general than the teacher? I saw this happen once and the only thing the teacher had over the student was his sight-reading skills..I am not a fan of professional guitar teachers since there are so many facets to being a well rounded guitarist that I just don't think a teacher can cover all of them.. can Van Halen do the finger styles of Merle Travis? or Doc Watson? let alone Chet Atkins? NO!.. can Richie Blackmore even keep up with a Al DiMeola? the answer is obvious

Well....
Satch might disagree with your characterization of guitar teachers. I think the best guitar teacher is not always the best player or the most diverse. The best guitar teacher, like the best athletic coach, ski instructor, etc. is able to evaluate the player's abilities and show them what comes next. Clearly an advanced player would be best served by an advanced teacher and a beginning student really needs a good beginning guitar teacher.

Every player is at a different level with different interests and needs so teaching a beginning student legato arpeggios or advanced music theory is as lame as attempting to teach an advanced student who is over the teachers ability. A sharp teacher identifies a mismatch quickly and refers the player to someone better suited to the players needs.

My teacher was Robert Fripp . . . he's still a lot better than I am

The duty of a teacher is to give direction. Also, to expose to the student to the strength and weaknesses the student has. The good teacher gives the student the understanding, approach and tools to allow the student to master the craft. Isn't it a natural progression for the student to be as good or better than teacher?

A bad teacher will try to limit you to knowing only what they know. And if you don't do it exactly like them, they tell you it's wrong.
A bad teacher will encourage you to play a song only one way.
A bad teacher closes more doors than he opens . . .

My teacher wouldn't let me take music in school because she said I was tone deaf.

I LIKE this kid. That was a pretty smart reply. You have some recordings up that are showing some direction. You keep up the good work.

Gotta change your name though,, I can't type that much. Should we just call you "OB" ?

?????????????

LOL

obeythepenguin wrote:

Dane Ellis Allen wrote:can Van Halen do the finger styles of Merle Travis? or Doc Watson? let alone Chet Atkins? NO!.. can Richie Blackmore even keep up with a Al DiMeola? the answer is obvious

But looking at it the other way around, could Merle Travis play shred tapping licks? Could Al Di Meola write a riff anything near as catchy as "Smoke on the Water"? Could any of them sound like Peter Buck from R.E.M.? And why should any of them need to in the first place?

You can potentially learn something from anyone, regardless of their musical knowledge or technical ability. And while "outplaying" someone is pretty subjective, hey, if the student comes out knowing more than their teacher I'd say they've learned pretty damn well.

if you would just sit these players you have made comparisons of, such as a Van Halen vs. Doc Watson, I would say if it was just 1 player, 1 on 1, Doc Watson would have the advantage of manipulating his guitar into sounding like 2 and possibly 3 instruments with his technique, and could entertain a crowd quite readily, but a Van Halen tapping technique would sound like a "trick" and not stand on it's own merit for any length of time before it would sound obnoxious and in need of some accompaniment to give it a wholeness..in other words, I know for a fact Doc would be able to pull it off solo, Van Halen not so much..

yes, I agree, I should not be criticizing great artists, if it comes across as that, I do enjoy all types of music and guitar players.. comparing Van Halen to Doc Watson is like comparing apples to oranges..