In my last article, I mentioned that my first guitar teacher was, shall we say…
“Less than helpful”
… when it came to teaching me guitar.
And after a whole year of lessons, I still couldn’t play through a whole song without stopping.
Looking back, I’m not surprised.
There are 3 common mistakes people make when choosing a guitar teacher… And I made ALL THREE mistakes when I started my guitar playing journey.
The problem is that I picked my guitar teacher based on the wrong criteria.
To save yourself a lot of time, frustration, and money, make sure you don’t make the same mistakes I did years ago…
Mistake #1:
Choosing a guitar teacher based on their location!
My first guitar teacher taught out of the local music shop in my hometown.
When my parents and I chose him as a teacher, our decision process looked like this:
- He worked at the local music shop
- He taught guitar
- He had other students
… And we signed up.
If you remember from my last article, I mentioned that good guitar teachers are hard to find!
Unfortunately, just because a teacher lives close to you does NOT mean that they’re a good teacher.
(Actually, odds are that they aren’t that great).
Mistake #2:
Choosing a teacher based on price per lesson!
My first teacher was very budget-friendly… Around $20 per half-hour lesson, or $40 per hour (in the early 2000s).
When I started lessons with a teacher who really helped me make noticeable improvements in my playing, his lesson rate was $50 per half-hour session… Or 1 hour for $85.
By this point, I had found a part-time job and started paying for lessons myself. So this was no small investment on my part.
But after a few months, I estimated I was improving about 3x faster than with my previous teachers.
So I did some basic math and was SHOCKED by the results.
Even though his lessons were more than double the average lesson rate, they actually saved A LOT of money!
Here is what it looked like:
Teacher 1: $40 per lesson x 9 lessons to achieve my short term goal = $360
Teacher 2: $85 per lesson x 3 lessons to achieve my short term goal = $255
The point is, I was paying over $100 more to my first teacher to teach me something that my new teacher could teach me in only 3 lessons!
The price per lesson was higher… But the price per result was significantly less.
More expensive teachers are usually worth MORE than the higher price they charge for lessons!
These teachers often are not cheap.
In general, don't look for the teacher with the lowest rates.
You get what you pay for… or LESS!
If you simply can’t afford to pay the higher rates for a really good teacher, ask the teacher if you can take lessons on a less frequent basis.
The best guitar teachers always offer some flexibility in how frequently you can take lessons.
TIP
Many of the best teachers will refuse to accept you as a student if one of your first questions is “How much do your lessons cost?”
Why would they refuse someone who asks about the price in the beginning of the conversation? Because experienced teachers know that people who are primarily motivated by price do not make very good students.
(This is not always true of course, but statistically speaking, it is.)
The reason for this assumption is that when students are choosing a teacher based mainly on price or location, this means they are not likely to be focused on finding the right teacher who can help them reach their musical goals.
Good teachers do not want to feel like they are “selling lessons” like it is a mere commodity for sale, they truly care about people and helping students to transform their lives through music and guitar playing.
Mistake #3:
Assuming that the best guitar player is the best guitar teacher!
Many guitar students are immediately attracted to great players and want to learn from them.
I am often approached by people who want to take lessons with me only because I can play guitar (really) well, I’ve toured as a professional musician, etc…
But the truth is, those things do not make me a great teacher.
Yes they do enhance my ability to teach, but they do not determine if I am any good at teaching or not!
Exceptional guitar teachers have exceptional teaching skills, training, and experience.
This is what you should look for in your search for your next guitar teacher.
Not how fast they can play, which bands they’ve toured with, or how big of an audience they’ve played in front of.
Just because somebody can play guitar well, does not mean that they will be able to help YOU with your specific guitar playing challenges!
While it may seem counter-intuitive, good guitar players are often some of the worst guitar teachers, because they are not able to simplify things enough to teach their students effectively.
Great teachers, on the other hand, have specialized training and skills that make learning to play the guitar as easy as possible for their students.
TIP
When you talk to a teacher and he/she goes on and on and on about his/her playing ability, this is a sign that they are not a great teacher.
Great teachers mainly want to talk about YOU.
They will ask you about YOUR skills as a player. They want to know specifically what you want to achieve. They will ask you what is important to you, what you struggle with, they will probe deeper and deeper about YOU.
That is what the best teachers want to talk about most of the time!
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Article By: Jordon Brosseau
Head Instructor, Forest City Guitar Lessons