So you’re thinking about becoming a guitar teacher. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s been one the best things I’ve done and has given me the opportunity to do something I love without having a boss. Starting out can be difficult, especially if you don’t have any teaching training. But learning how to teach guitar is just like any skill, with preparation and practice you’ll get better.
This guide will answer all your questions about getting started and show you how to be a great guitar teacher.
ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH TO TEACH GUITAR?
If you have doubts over your ability to be a guitar teacher, don’t worry. Everyone ask themselves this same question before they start teaching. When learning how to teach guitar there are two main aspects that you need to consider, your playing ability and your teaching skills. I am going to go through both in this guide.
GUITAR PLAYING ABILITY
I would say that if you are even considering teaching guitar then you are probably a good enough guitarist to do it. In my experience 99% of people starting guitar lessons are complete beginners and just want to learn the basics. You will spend the vast majority of your teaching time going through simple techniques and songs.
Now, if you want to specialise and be a Jazz or Metal guitar teacher your students are more likely to be intermediate players wanting to perfect their technique. If you are considering be a specialist teacher you really need to be an expert in your area of specialism.
FUNDAMENTALS FOR GUITAR TEACHING
For the rest of us though, your main focus should on learning the fundamentals. You don’t have to be an expert in all of these but should have a good understanding of them.
- Correct way to hold guitar and plectrum
- How to read Guitar Tablature
- Chords – Open Chords, Barre Chords, Powerchords
- Scales – Major Scale, Minor Scales, Pentatonic Scales
- Rhythm – Basic rhythm notes and time signatures
- Music Theory – Note Theory and Position, Notes and Chords in Keys
- Basic Improv – Relationship between chords and scales
If there’s anything on this list that you’re not sure of I would start by learning that before trying to teach.
Once you have a good understanding of these it’s time to find some songs to teach.
BEGINNER GUITAR SONGS
It’s always good to have a selection of beginner songs ready to teach. I generally split my beginner’s songs into riffs and chord songs. I’ve put my choices below. But, you could easily create your own list of suitable songs.
BEGINNER GUITAR RIFFS
- Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple
- You’ve Really Got Me – The Kinks
- New York City Cops – The Strokes
- Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones
- Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
- Iron Man – Black Sabbath
BEGINNER GUITAR CHORD SONGS
- Wild Thing – The Troggs
- Back In Black – AC/DC
- Hound Dog – Elvis Presley
- Get Lucky – Daft Punk
- Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix
- Live Forever – Oasis
Once you have your own list of beginner songs try and find the easiest way to play each song. Even if you have to change the key.
For example, Smoke On The Water originally is played over two strings on the D and the G. But when I teach it, I play it using just one string and on the high or low E. This is the simplest way to play it and once my student can do this they can progress onto the more difficult version.
ADAPTING SONGS FOR GUITAR LESSONS
As guitarists we adapt songs all the time by changing keys or strumming patterns etc. This is something you can do to help your students. For beginners you should find the easiest way possible to play a song. You want to make it as easy as possible for your students to play a recognisable song.
I adapt my songs is two main ways. Firstly changing the key of the song to make it easier to play. As I mentioned you can move riffs to different strings or positions on the guitar. You can also change the key of chord progressions so beginners can learn them. Try and transpose a chord progression so that it can be played using only open chords.
Secondly, I simplify the rhythm. This only works on chord progressions but is very effective. As long each chord last for right amount of beats you can play whatever rhythm you like and it will sound like the song. You can stagger the complexity of the strumming pattern, starting from just playing on the first beat of the bar up to the actual rhythm.
CREATING GUITAR LESSON RESOURCES
Now that you have an idea of what you are going to be teaching you need to create some materials to use in your lessons. I know guitar teachers that will scribble out songs on bits of paper during the lesson and this looks very unprofessional. It’s definitely worth having some blank tab sheets to make extra notes if something comes up in the lesson. But, you really should be creating your materials electronically beforehand.
I use Guitar Pro and Neck Diagrams to create my materials but there are other services you can use.
When I create a worksheet I try to make sure everything fits on one sheet. If I want to create a song sheet I write out the different sections individually. For example, I put the verse on one line then the chorus on the next etc.
Setting your songs out like this is much easier to understand than having a song written out over lots of pages.
If you have short riffs or exercises you want to teach you can group these together by level. For example I have Level 1 Riffs, Level 2 Riffs etc grouped together on individual worksheets. This gives my student a selection of songs at a suitable level. They can also see their progression as they start to move through different levels.
To help you get started I have The Guitar Teacher Resources pack that you can download with lots of lesson plans, chord diagram, scale diagrams and music theory worksheets. It also comes with a marketing pack which has 100 social media posts and ads templates that you can personalise and use in your business.
TEACHING SKILLS FOR GUITAR TEACHERS
We’ve covered your guitar playing ability and some of the practical steps that you should follow to prepare for your lessons. But one aspect that often gets overlooked is your general teaching ability. Most guitar teachers are trained guitarists not trained teachers and you can often see this in their teaching.
REMEMBER…
An average guitarist can be a great teacher and a great guitarist can be an average teacher.
Try and think of the good and bad teachers you’ve had in life. The bad ones are poor communicators that can’t relate to their students. Good teachers make you feel at ease and you don’t even notice you are learning.
You might find some of the things below difficult but the more you work on them the better you’ll get.
HAVE EMPATHY
You need to be able to put yourself in your student’s shoes when you are teaching them. This is especially true when teaching children. To them you are a complete stranger and you need to put them at ease .
The strategies below also work well when you are teaching adults.
Smile – This makes you look friendly and welcoming.
Use their name – This will help build a connection, but don’t over do it or it can become a bit creepy.
Ask about things other than guitar – I have been teaching some students for years and it helps to build that relationship if you can talk about something other than guitar.
These are just good general interpersonal skills but you’d be surprised how many teachers overlook them when teaching.
ADAPT YOUR GUITAR TEACHING
Another reason you need empathy is that you need to be able to see when your student understands what you are teaching and when they don’t. If someone doesn’t understand what you are trying to teach them they won’t always tell you. Usually because they don’t want to look stupid.
You can pick up on this though through body language and facial expression. If you are still not sure give them a task to check they understand. For example, if you are teaching note position ask them to find a note on the guitar and you’ll quickly see if they understand you.
If someone doesn’t understand what you are teaching, you can try repeating it. More often than not you will have to find a different way to explain it to them. Imagine you’re trying to explain the difference between sharps and flats and they aren’t getting it, then you could try using a diagram of a piano. Everyone has seen a piano before and you can use the black and white notes to see a visual representation of sharps and flats.
People learn in different ways and as you start to build a working relationship with your students you will see what works for them.
STRUCTURE YOUR TASKS
Let’s say your student wants to learn a song and you know the proper version is too difficult. If you teach this version your student will fail and become frustrated.
What you should do is find a way to simplify the song as much as possible. Then progressively make the tasks more difficult until they reach the final version. This way they feel like they have achieved something straightaway and they can see a path to playing the song exactly like the record.
For example with the song Wonderwall, the chords are quite simple to play but the rhythm is very difficult. So, when I teach it I start by playing each chord just once, then one strum per beat and the rhythm keeps getting more complex until they reach the final version. My student gets to play a recognisable version of the song they love as soon as possible and they get to try lots of different rhythm patterns along the way.
I even write each version on one worksheet so they can clearly see the path they are on to completing the song.
SPLIT SONGS INTO CHUNKS
In a similar way, trying to teach your students a song from beginning to end straightaway will overwhelm and confuse them. Split the song into its individual sections and then teach one section at a time. Once they can play each section you can start to work on the structure.
This is especially important with your new students. They have so much to think about when they are starting you want to make learning a song as simple as possible.
The first riff I teach is always Smoke On The Water. Even though this a relatively short riff I break it down into three chunks. I would start by getting them to play each of the sections below and then put them together
0 3 5
0 3 65
0 3 5 3 0
CONCLUSIONS ON HOW TO TEACH GUITAR
That’s my ultimate guide to teaching guitar. But if there are two things you should take away from it, it is this. Make sure you know the fundamentals of guitar and that you are confident explaining them. You will spend the vast majority of your time as a guitar teacher teaching them. And work on your interpersonal skills and empathy. You might be teaching the students for years and years, which is the goal in a guitar teaching business. This is much like to happen if they feel comfortable with you and like being around you.
To help you with your guitar teaching I have a Guitar Teacher’s Resource and Marketing Pack available.
There are also ultimate guides on how to teach guitar to children and how to teach guitar online available.