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It’s been a long time since the electric guitar moved on from being something you could effectively teach yourself. Whether you want to be the next John Petrucci in terms of technical skill or you’re more interested in being about to write and construct songs that make grown men go weak at the knees you’ll need a good teacher!

But what is a good teacher? Good teaching can mean different things to different people, some like to be pushed, some encouraged and everyone likes a sense of humor. At least everyone except jazz musicians! I’ve personally had teach I’ve liked, respected and looked up to, but equally I’ve had a few teachers I was glad to see the back of! Here I would like to outline a few questions you can ask when finding a new teacher, to try and insure yourself against bad experiences. These are my golden three!

1. What style(s) do you prefer to teach? This is important. More or less every teaching advert you see will try and advertise ‘all genres’. And far be it from me to tell you that these guys are not versatile, most of them are. But all guitar players, including teachers, have a favorite style. Something they are more comfortable with. If you want to learn to be a cracking jazz guitar player you are not going to want to learn an old bluesman. You’re going to want to get not only good teaching, but relevant tips and hints.

2. Could you tell me a bit about your experience? Not only is experience a great thing for any teacher to have, it is also going to give you a bit of an idea about what areas of the music business outside of teaching that the person sat across from you knowledge of. At some point during your playing, if you take it even a little bit seriously you’re going to want to either record something or perhaps do some live playing. Or both! It would be great to know in advance if your teacher can help you out with either of these or even further continuing with your own career in music!

3. Could you explain to me your teaching method? This is an interesting one, mostly to see if the teacher can actually give you an answer. I’ve known some excellent teachers over the years that would still have been stumped to answer that question on the spot. You know that you’ll have a good experience however if the guy can tell you how he goes about teaching. Someone who thinks their lessons through is going to be able to get better results than someone who wings it, never mind how good they are. You don’t teach a 8 year old girl and a 22 year old man the same with, even if they both want to get to the same place – as the next Slash!

Remember to ask these (and I’m sure you’ve got your own) and you won’t go far wrong. Pick carefully and correctly and you’ll end up with a fantastic teacher, a great mentor and hopefully a good friend.

Good luck!

Harry

About the Author: Harry Clapham teaches guitar in Glasgow, he’s been teaching for ten years now. Harry also runs Guitarglasgow.com a small resource for those who enjoy the guitar and an extension of his teaching practice.