Far and away the most common reason why someone stops going to see a guitar teacher is typically voiced like this:

“They sat there showing me all kinds of amazing stuff that they could do on their guitar, but I came away having learned nothing myself”

Yet when I talk to people who are considering starting out as guitar teachers, they are inevitably concerned about their own perceived lack of musical ability or comprehension of music theory; never their lack of teaching skills or experience.

One of the main reasons it is so easy to set up as a guitar teacher and become really successful at it, is that there are so many people out there doing it really badly. They’re not doing it badly because they are bad people – they are doing it badly because they make the assumption that it is all about being a great musician and seem to completely miss the point that it’s actually about being a good teacher.

When someone is paying you by the hour it is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you must be seen to be doing something to earn your fee throughout the hour that is being paid for.

Skilled teachers however, know that the doing must come mostly from the student. When I run 3-day courses on guitar teaching, the first exercise I get trainee guitar-teachers to complete involves sitting in front of a guitar student and doing nothing at all. It is, at first, an extraordinarily difficult exercise for people to do properly!

The point is that students need time and space to take in what you have asked them to do, to repeat it enough times to get it into ‘muscle-memory’ and to satisfy themselves that they have really got on top of it. While all this is going on, the very kindest thing the teacher can do is sit back in their chair and project the sense that they are happy to wait patiently for as long as it takes. And the best way to project that, is to do and say nothing other than to quietly observe the student’s progress.

New teachers though, have a nasty habit of sitting forward on the edge of their seat, making all kinds of remarks intended to encourage the student, gesticulating with their hands and even – the worst of all crimes – attempting to solo over what the student is playing for no reason other than because they cannot feel comfortable just to sit and observe.

I have seen quite a few posts on various forums about guitar teaching that recommend a particular way to teach a first lesson on guitar. Many of these ideas appear to ignore the harsh truth that there is a vast difference between the learning ability of different individuals who take up guitar.

I have had students never having played before, successfully improvise a blues guitar solo by the end of their first ever lesson. But I have also had guys who were still trying to get a single clean fretted note out of the instrument at the end of that first hour. And I have taught people of every shade of learning ability in between those two extremes.

So the first thing I train guitar teachers to put into their lesson planning, is adaptability. Never make assumptions about the rate of progress that will be made by a new student.

After a few lessons you will get a feel for how fast or how slow to take an individual student over the jumps and through the hoops.

As a newbie guitar teacher, you are probably a hundred times more likely to attempt to teach too much, too fast, than you are likely to err in the opposite direction.

Sensible teachers consult their students. “Are you happy with your progress on that tune/exercise/riff/lick/ sequence, or would you like to run through it another couple of times?”

Almost always, I have found that students need, and want, to go over things more often than might appear necessary to the inexperienced teacher.

This one is mostly applicable to teaching people who have already been playing for a while.

Someone comes to me for lessons and, regardless of whether they describe themselves as a beginner, intermediate or advanced guitarist, I will always spend the first 10-30 minutes assessing what they can and can’t do; what they do and don’t know and most vitally, what they aspire to.

There is little more irritating for a student than to work with a teacher who makes assumptions about these things.

Teachers who assume you must have learned to read tab or standard notation, when maybe all you have ever done is learn by ear. Teachers who assume that you know the names of all the chord shapes you play when you have just picked them all up by watching videos of your favorite guitar players. Teachers who assume that you want to play in a band, when actually your main purpose is to use the guitar to record your own music on your home computer.

How to learn to teach guitar

There is no shortage of help available online when it comes to improving your musical knowledge and guitar playing skills. However, it is less obvious where to go to improve your guitar teaching skills.

Before the inevitable plug for my website that I know you can feel coming, let me say that there is no better way of learning to teach than by … well … er … teaching.

My first advice to anyone considering taking up guitar teaching for a living is to start teaching as soon as possible and to teach as much as possible. If you don’t feel ready to charge for this service then that is fine. Give lessons to family members, friends, kids at the orphanage – for free. You will rapidly improve how you teach if you take this advice and then after a few lessons, come back and read this article again and see if you are managing to avoid the 5 mistakes.

Loads more free articles, materials, helpful advice plus the largest guitar teachers’ forum on the net, all available at www.teachguitar.com

Happy Guitar Teaching and Playing!

Nick Minnion

The answer is not an easy one, The Guitar Classroom does give their visitors the opportunity to join both these guitar learning sites, and with a reason. I feel that JamPlay as well as Guitar Tricks are excellent resources for anyone who is serious about their guitar learning. Both sites have lots of lessons available for the beginner as well as for the more advanced guitarist, and they both offer guitar lessons in many different styles. If you want to play electric guitar, you want to rock, or play heavy metal that is possible with both JamPlay and Guitar Tricks. Maybe you want to play country guitar, or classical guitar, no problem, both sites have the guitar teachers to teach you just that.

Guitar Teachers from JamPlay

Meet a few guitar teachers from JamPlay:

Guitar Teachers from Guitar Tricks

Meet a few guitar teachers from Guitar Tricks:

These are just a few of the guitar teachers that teach at either JamPlay or Guitar Tricks. On the moment JamPlay has 25 guitar teachers, and Guitar Tricks has 45. So which ever site you decide to join, you can be sure there will always be guitar teachers available who are just right for you.

There is not much difference between the two sites by way of cost. A full access subscription from Guitar Tricks cost just $14.95 a month, the same with JamPlay will set you back $19.95 a month, which is a bit more expensive. However, if you know you going to stay with JamPlay for a while, they do have a generous discount if you pay in advance. A yearly subscription cost just $139.95, which works out at about $11.65 a month.

This brings us back to the question what I would do if I wanted to join a guitar learning site. Well, to be honest I do not know, both sites seem to be very good at what they do, teaching you how to play guitar. I think I would join both sites, for one month, and after this month I would decide which site I would keep.

Get your guitar lessons from Bobby Howe

Bobby Howe lives in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois area and is mainly a self-taught guitar player. Bobby has been playing guitar since he was 12, both professional and semi professional.

For several years Bobby Howe has played the Nashville circuit performing with artist like Tex Ritter, Tex Williams, Tommy Duncan (Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys), Pee Wee King (wrote the song Tennessee Waltz), Stringbean (Hee Haw TV show), Ernie Ashworth, Freddie Weller and Kathie Lee Gifford.

For quiet some time now, Bobby has retired from the Nashville scene, and he does not only play country guitar. He is an accomplished guitar player in blues, rock, jazz, bluegrass, and pop.

Bobby has been influenced by lots of artist, to name a few: The Beatles, Cream, The Who, several other British Invasion Groups, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Asleep at the Wheel, Diana Krall, Allison Krauss (who is from Champaign), Johnny Winter, Ellis Marsalis, Bucky Pizzarelli, Chet Atkins, Lenny Breau, Jerry Reed, Joe Pass, Eric Clapton, Doc Watson, Brent Mason, etc.

Bobby Howe Plays Bluegrass Guitar

Bobby Howe teaches guitar privately to about 30 students weekly, and he records back up tracks, demo’s and instruction lessons in his private studio.

On the Internet Bobby Howe works as a guitar teacher with Guitar Tricks.

If you would like to get guitar lessons from Bobby Howe and lots of other guitar teachers, visit The Guitar Classroom and sign up with Guitar Tricks

Jazz guitar teacher Nick Kellie

Nick Kellie is a jazz guitar teacher, who teaches at Jam Play, the online guitar school.

Nick Kellie was awarded the BBC Big Band Jazz awards “John Dankworth trophy for outstanding young soloist” and recorded a special show for BBC radio 2. He was invited to become a member of the Wigan Jazz Orchestra, and has played as part of the Wigan International Jazz Festival. He has played extensive gigs which include accompaniment, reading, soloing as well as styles ranging from Soul, R&B, Blues, Rock and Jazz in locations such as London, Norway, Germany and Greece.

Nick Kellie, with his professional approach towards music, brings enthusiasm and musicality to every project he is involved with. As well as being a guitarist Nick is also a fine vocalist and can sing lead vocals as well as backing vocals.

Nick Kellie Band – 500 Miles High

In London Nick has been involved with many projects such as Fresh Claim, which features Nick on guitar, and Jon Plotel on Bass (Billy Ocean, The Real Thing) and Vanessa Haynes band featuring members of Jeff Beck group, Eric Clapton’s Band and Allan Holdsworth’s Band. For a time Nick resided in Nashville TN where he played with many local musicians. In addition he also played in a Jazz Fusion band named “Shammah”, with whom he has recorded an album.

Most recently Nick was signed to Digital Nations www.digital-nations.com – part of Steve Vai’s record label and has recorded an album entitled “For A Brother” with his band “Nick Kellie Band”. Upon hearing the album, Steve contacted Nick with regard to a release on his own label. It has been released in the USA, Europe and Asia. As well as this, Nick is also an endorsee of Elixir guitar strings, which are world-renowned.

Nick Kellie also contributed to around 21 issues of Europe’s biggest selling guitar magazine – “Total Guitar” in his series of articles, “Techniques of the rich and famous” and “Steal their style”.

Having taught at Europe’s top two guitar schools, Nick was also appointed as head of the guitar department at Guitar Getaways.

If you want to get jazz guitar lessons from Nick Kellie, you can do so by getting a membership with Jam Play

Get Your Rock Guitar Lessons From Teacher Nick Greathouse

Rock guitar teacher Nick Greathouse was born in 1980 in Canton, Ohio. From a young age on Nick was exposed to music, his mother played piano, lots of songs from songwriters like Cat Stevens, Jackson Browne and Elton John, while his father listened to a lot of country music and rockers like Tom Petty and Bob Seger. Nick himself,with his brother and cousin, watched a lot of MTV and especially remembers clips from groups like Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Guns n’ Roses.

At the age of ten Nick sometimes “played”  on his brothers electric guitar, and after being exposed to the Beatles album “Revolver” Nick decided he wanted a guitar of his own.

During his high school years Nick jammed a lot with friends, and his guitar playing skills improved a lot, but it was after Nick did hear Steve Vai’s album “Passion and Warfare” that guitar playing became his one passion in live.

After high school, Nick started to give guitar lessons at a local music store, and he started a classical guitar study at Kent State University. During this time Nick also did perform quit a lot, solo guitar recitals and with a guitar ensemble.

Nick Greathouse Playing Some Guitar Clips

In 2004 Nick moved to Hollywood, to study at Musician’s Institute (GIT), where he had classes with Daniel Gilbert, Joy Basu, Tom Kolb, Carl Verheyen, and his private lesson instructor Jean-Marc Belkadi.

Later on Nick returned to Ohio to finish his college education, he also joined his brothers band called “Last Second Decision” and started to take guitar lessons with Neil Zaza, a Cleveland based guitar virtuoso.

Nick and Neil have played a lot together, among them TV performances,  Nick also appears on the 2007 CD “Neil Zaza’s One Silent Night: A Night at The Palace” .

Nick Greathouse is a graduate of Kent State University (BA Music) and continues to teach privately at a music store in Kent, Ohio and also at his home. You to could get lessons from Nick, since he is a teacher with Jam Play, an Internet Guitar school.

To get your rock guitar lessons from Nick, sign up for Jam Play guitar lessons

Get your classical guitar lessons from Jam Play's Pamela Goldsmith

Pamela Goldsmith is one of the guitar teachers from the online guitar school “Jam Play”, where she gives classical guitar lessons.

Pamela Goldsmith teaches classical guitar, and she has 23 years experience with guitar playing. She was introduced to the classical guitar by Joe Zuccala in Massachusetts. After studying with Zuccala, Pamela has worked with Keith Crook at the University of Maine, Jeff Ashton and Bryan Johanson at Portland State University and Scott Kritzer in Portland Oregon. Pamela has done master classes and performs regularly in the Northwest.

Pamela Goldsmith got her classical guitar master degree from Portland State University and  from the University of Maine in Orono she got her Bachelor’s Degree in classical guitar studies.

Pamela Goldsmith has worked as a graduate assistant teacher at Portland State University, Oregon, and on the moment she is an adjunct faculty member at Linfield College  as well as a private guitar instructor.

Pamela Goldsmith has a website where you can hear her perform on the  classical guitar : Pamela Goldsmith

If you would like to get classical guitar lessons from Pamela Goldsmith I suggest you come to The Guitar Classroom and sign up for guitar lessons from Jam Play

Get Your Jam Play Guitar Lessons From Steve Eulberg

Steve Eulberg is one of the many guitar teachers who teach at the online guitar learning site “Jam Play”

Steve Eulberg was born in Pemberville, Ohio, and was from a young age exposed to music. He started with piano lessons, soon followed by trumpet which he played in the school band he joined, and later on he taught himself to play ukulele, guitar and harmonica. Later he attended Capital University where he majored in History. He also studied ear training, voice and took arranging lessons from the Conservatory of Music.

While he was at college he came to know hammered and mountain dulcimers, and he did build a mountain dulcimer just before his final year. He moved to Denver for seminar training and there he build his first hammered dulcimer. These instruments are used a lot in the Scottish, English and Irish folk music that Steve likes to play.

Steve Eulberg and Bing Futch playing the dulcimer
“Road to Lisdoonvarna”

In 1985 Steve married Connie Winter, and the pair moved to Kansas City where Steve worked in a church of African-Americans, Latinos and European Americans. Music played a big part in his work here. In 1997 Steve and his family moved to  Fort Coillins, Colorado, close to the Rocky Mountains.

Steve Eulberg is the founder of Owl Mountain Music, and he mainly teaches in Colorado and Wyoming, sometimes touring the US and England. He loves to play the dulcimer, which instrument he has used with his own recordings as well as with sessions with other musicians.

In 2000 Steve created a choral composition featuring dulcimers for the Rainbow Chorus in Fort Collins. It was recorded in the same year. On the moment Steve is at work on a commissioned symphony that will feature hammered dulcimer and Australian didjeridu.

Steve Eulberg is a member of Local 1000 (AFM), The Folk Alliance, BMI and BWAAG (Better World Artists and Activist’s Guild).

If you want to follow the lessons guitar teacher Steve has created for Jam Play, just visit The Guitar Classroom and Sign up with Jam Play