Getting your first lesson right is really important. A lot of times this will be a free trial lesson and it’s your one chance to impress you new student and turn them into a paying customer.
When you are planning your first lesson the two most important things you need to think about are…
- Make sure they feel they’ve achieved something by the end of the lesson.
- Don’t overwhelm them and make them feel stupid.
This sounds obvious but a lot of the time guitar teachers get this wrong.
It’s very common for guitar teachers to teach chords in the first lesson.
But someone who has never played guitar before is going to struggle playing the most basics of the open chords.
And they’ll definitely not be able to turn these into a song in the first lesson.
They won’t achieve anything and they’ll feel stupid because they can’t do it.
A much better strategy is to teach them a really simple riff played on one string. And make that one string the top or bottom so it’s easy for them to play.
The best riff to start with is a cliché but it works…
Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple
Most people even children have heard it because it gets used in films and TV.
But here’s some others that you could include.
Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones
New York City Cops – The Strokes
Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
You’ve Really Got Me – The Kinks
Or any other riff you can simplify by playing it on one string.
I’ve taught hundreds of these first lessons and every time anyone, adult or child, play their first song and they recognise it, you’ll see a big grin on their face . After that they’ll almost definitely return for the next lesson.
Another common mistake guitar teachers make is forgetting not everyone knows what they do.
Or even worse, thinking they are impressing people by talking about over complicated music theory.
Your students are beginners, you need to give them the basics.
If you starting talking about theory or techniques they don’t understand they’ll get lost or confused.
Give them just the information they need for that lesson.
Making a student learn the perfect way to hold a plectrum or how to read musical notation is boring and they won’t want to come back.
Show them just enough so that can start playing and don’t overwhelm them.
Hopefully you’ll have years of teaching this person so you build everything else into their future lessons.
You may disagree and think getting technique right at the start is the most important fundamental.
You might be right, but if your bore your student senseless in the first lesson they won’t come back and their technique won’t matter.
So the two most important things to include in your first lesson are…
- Make sure they feel they’ve achieved something by playing a recognisable song.
- Don’t overwhelm them and make them feel stupid.
If you want to see exactly what I teach in my first lesson, along with the resources and a lesson plan download my first lesson pack for free.