In this video, we'll discuss the #1 thing that keeps guitar teachers up at night - your progress! Learn how to improve and make the most of your guitar lessons. Please click "Like & Subscribe!
I had "that pit" for the first 20 years. After that I knew I was giving my all, my other students were a testament to that, so eventually I stopped taking failing students personally. I was jaded and they'd come in and start an excuse why they didn't practice and I'd just say, "Yeah, save it, I care that you improve, but I don't care for excuses since I've heard them all a million times." Yeah, two decades to realize it, but man what peace I felt when it finally hit. What really made this clear was when a "failing student" came back to me decades later and admitted that he just blamed me because he was too lazy to practice and didn't want to take the heat so he put it on me, the person who cared about his progress more than anyone. He literally said, "I'm not getting any better and my parents are paying you SO much money, so I think I'm going to quit lessons." I took it so personally I went to bed sick. His admission brought eventual closure but damn....what a hard-earned lesson. ;)
Thanks so much for watching & commenting. Love your channel and kind approach you have. Very appreciated! I'm so glad to hear that most of you all aren't blaming yourselves. It all comes down to practicing and playing over and over again. Still, after 35yrs teaching guitar, I get a nagging feeling that, to be fair, passes quickly though in my head I have a tendency to obsess a bit more than others! I want to create a series where we get a chance to kvetch with one another over silly things that annoy us but we generally don't say it out loud. We guitars teachers are each others best support group. I love teaching and my students but I really love watching how other guitarist approach teaching. If I don't know a particular method, I want to know it. I hope more teachers comment, I want to hear their stories and experiences like your's. Thx!
Ok, I just got back from teaching one of my younger students (11yrs old). At the end of the lesson he said "are you going to stay up tonight if I don't practice?" Yeah, he saw this video and trolled me hard!! What an awesome kid w/ a great sense of humor.
Maybe it's because I teach kids, but in the 20 years I've been teaching guitar 99 times out of 100 the reason students aren't making progress is that they simply aren't practicing regularly. I've seen it time and again. If they practice regularly, they improve, if they don't, they don't, What keeps me up at night has always been the knowledge that most of my students stick around a lot longer than they really need to. There's a point where the student is good enough to teach themselves, and I don't advertise that moment to them. At least I don't when I've been worried about having enough students.
Thanks for commenting. Great points. True, I wish many students would just practice a little more and see/feel the results. I spend a lot of time discussing timed exercises. 5 or 10 min stretches on one thing. This is having some good results. Thanks so much for watching!
It's so hard to keep on track nowadays. You could easily lose so much progress by trying to learn your favorite song before you are ready, becoming disheartened.
I'm giving up and going back to my old job which pays six times as much! Ultimately the rewarding students that take guidance, practice consistently and are genuinely enthusiastic are about one in five I find. I learned not to take the failures personally (I always put in 100% effort) but around a third of the students at any one time are just not reciprocating that effort. They just want to be better players by continuing with the same approach and level of commitment that already failed to give them results! Many of them just cannot accept that the material they are playing is far too difficult for them and that they need to take a step back. The other two thirds are my long term students who consistently put in effort, take guidance and progress regardless of their current ability. Keeping my good students on as they are rewarding to teach - I'd honestly teach them for free!
Thanks so much for commenting, I really appeciate it- I love hearing from other teachers. Should do a series with teachers where we can freely discuss the being a guitar teacher. Like a guitar "teachers lounge". I am beyond thankful that so many students are ok with a little tough love so to speak. Especially advanced students. Yeah, that is so rewarding and probably like you, I give a lot of extra time to them because they learn so fast. Thanks again!!
That is true in many instances. Good point. I’m going to ask students if I’m ever doing that myself-just in case any of them feel that way. Appreciate the comment! Thanks so much for taking the time.
