We've seen a lot of topics about the student/teacher relationship and what a student has the right to expect from a teacher. In efforts of fairness, are you being a good student? A teacher is often only as good as his students. For argument's sake, the teacher is a dude. Saves me from doing the him/her thing.
#1: Do you communicate your desires to him?
#2: Do you tell him you don't understand something, or do you just smile and nod?
#3: Do you practice your material all week before your next session?
#4: Do you ask the right questions, or any questions at all?
#5: Do you tighten up and play poorly in his company?
#6: Do you expect this to be easy just because you have a teacher? (or otherwise expecting too much?)
#7: Do you show up on time?
#8: Do you show up every time?
#9: Do you ask why you're doing something when you don't like what you're doing? (ie. a scale or something)
I'm sure there's a lot more out there that I didn't touch on. I had a small series of lessons way back at the beginning. I was guilty of #'s 2, 3, 5 and 8. I actually don't remember if I liked the guy or not. I think I did.
Anyhow, this is not aimed at any one person. Sometimes you hear people say something like "I told him I wanted to shred some kick-donkey solos, and all's he has me doing is learning some stupid scale". That's when I think there's a disconnect somewhere. The teacher might have said that this is the start of rock shredding, but maybe the student didn't understand why and politely nodded? It, like most anything else, is a two way street. Make sure you're doing your part or the next one is going to "fail" too.
JMTC
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Excellent list... I think #1 and #2 are extremely important.
You are the one paying, you tell the instructor what you want to learn. Unless it is "foundation"/general knowledge stuff that really should be learned as a building block, don't let him/her teach you something you don't want to learn. If you are not interested in, say, power chords, then don't. You can live without them.
And, I know you all want your money's worth and don't want to sit there learning one concept for the whole lesson, but, if you do not understand it, you must stick with that until you do. Nodding, smiling and saying you understand and moving on to the next thing will only make things worse. Slow down, you have a lifetime to learn.
The other thing I like with my instructor, and it is a sometimes a no-no in our society (why???)... she will reach over, grab my wrist and fingers and show me how position my hand. Or, she will grab my right arm and guide the strumming motion. I like that... saves trying to explain it... "move that finger... no THAT finger... no the other one, okay, and the other finger, wait... bend your wrist more now...".
Lastly, are you excited to go to your lesson? If not, start to figure out why. Is it the instructor? Is it the material/things you are learning. Is it you? Did you practice enough?
My Fingerstyle Guitar Blog:
http://fsguitar.wordpress.com
My Guitars
Ibanez Artwood AWS1000ECE-NT
Schecter S-1 30th Anniversary Edition
Ovation CS257
LaPatrie Etude
Washburn Rover RO10
Why do you hate me Roy? MAN.
Just kidding =)
I like your list for sure. I ultimately left my teacher because it didnt feel good, which is an amorphous thing and hard to quantify.
I also think the teacher should have a similar list. In my case my teacher didnt seem interested in what I wanted learn, so bad on him. I wasnt super vocal about it either, so bad on me. I guess part of me felt like it would be rude. It was obvious to me that he had one set curriculum so I felt like it would be rude to be like "I really want to work on this"
"I just curse the sun so I can howl at the moon" ~QOTSA
Well I'm not the right person to answer this even though I do take lessons but I have my own personal agenda going with him which I would not recommend to anybody seriuosly studying the guitar, we have left off so much and just concentrated on learning new songs so my growth is moving much faster horizontally than vertically..in other words I'm learning tons of songs but I'm not necessarily a better player..but that isn't totally true since learning these songs forces me to learn new techniques all the time so I know I am improving also just not as fast.
1.) Yes
2.) I tell him but it's not usually about not understanding it's usually more along the lines of how should this be played
3.) Yes and no. I may still be finishing one song to get it tight and then we have already started another so sometimes I have not practiced new material much. But then again I don't play these songs all the time for him
4.) My questions are either about how to play a piece as I mentioned or questioning what he's wrtitten in the tab. He is got a fantastic ear and I love his tabs but every once in awhile I'll catch a mistake and he had told me once before I'm like one of only one or two people that ever guestion his tabs. So I guess a lot of people don't communicate well. I don't know how I couldn't say something to him when I'm practicing a tab an playing along with the recording and something is missing or doesn't sound right I have to know if it's me or him.
5.)Absolutely
6.)He can't make you practice or play for you so no it's really no difference form that sense I think it's more of having someone organize your routine that's a big help and getting you on the right track. Now obviously the teacher works for you so as in my case when I tell him I just want to tab out songs he does it. There has only been one instance so far where he told me a piece was probably to difficult for me and we skipped it. It was a finger picked part and since I never even played finger style he didn't think I could play it. Anyway I agreed.
7.) Yea usually a few minutes too early..I hate to wait
8.) Yea I haven't missed in awhile
9.) doesn't really pertain since everything we do I initiate
Like said I'm not using him to the fullest but it serves an immediate need and that is to get as many songs down as I can in the fastest amount of time.
A song that we recently did was Seek and Destroy which he had me change the way I was playing the intro because I was playing in the wrong position. That required me to do the hammerons with my pinkie. Not something I do alot of in any songs so this has taken me a bit to get used of but I finally got it down.
I'm so used of him now and our routine that I go just to go. I know I could probably get all this stuff either in books or off the internet (if I wanted incorrect transcriptions) but this is fun and I have nothing better to do anyway.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Why do you hate me Roy? MAN.
:lol: :lol: :lol: Man, I hate no-one. It was directed at anyone. I was the first one to point out the errors of my ways. I probably did more than that and didn't realize it. :oops:
Bad timing. Sorry. I saw your thread this morning, but it didn't kick me off on this tangent. I need precious little to kick me off on a running-my-mouth spree. I've kind of been thinking about this for a couple of days as I reflected on where I was, where I am and where I'm going next.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
We've seen a lot of topics about the student/teacher relationship and what a student has the right to expect from a teacher. In efforts of fairness, are you being a good student? A teacher is often only as good as his students. For argument's sake, the teacher is a dude. Saves me from doing the him/her thing.
This is excellent, and so relevant for me right now...
#1: Do you communicate your desires to him?
No, I didn't. So I blame myself partially for the failure of the relationship.
#2: Do you tell him you don't understand something, or do you just smile and nod?
Always said I didn't get it, if I didn't.
#3: Do you practice your material all week before your next session?
Absolutely.
#4: Do you ask the right questions, or any questions at all?
I think I did, yes.
#5: Do you tighten up and play poorly in his company?
I did; could hardly play a lick. Sometimes it was as if the guitar could have well been a sitar.
#6: Do you expect this to be easy just because you have a teacher? (or otherwise expecting too much?)
I think it will be easier than going it alone, having done that for the past 8 months.
#7: Do you show up on time?
Yes, always did.
#8: Do you show up every time?
Yes, always did.
#9: Do you ask why you're doing something when you don't like what you're doing? (ie. a scale or something)
Mehhh... not always, and there in was part of the problem.
One last thing that I have to admit and cannot hide from any longer... he was a great guy, great guitarist, but our personalities did not mesh. I am pretty intense (you may not have picked up on that :roll: ), and he was very laid back. I need someone to banter back and forth with, and who will give me a run for my money, and vice versa.
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.
#1: Do you communicate your desires to him?
Nah, I usually let him decide what to teach me, except last time where I really wanted to learn some secrets to playing and singing and composing :D.
#2: Do you tell him you don't understand something, or do you just smile and nod?
Haha he always tells when I don't understand something by my face.
#3: Do you practice your material all week before your next session?
Yep.
#4: Do you ask the right questions, or any questions at all?
Lol I sometimes ask too many questions but thats good.
#5: Do you tighten up and play poorly in his company?
At first I did, but now it's cool we can play together for a while, I pay him half an hour but he usually stays for like an hour, half an hour teaching and an hour playing with me.
#6: Do you expect this to be easy just because you have a teacher? (or otherwise expecting too much?)
Its easier than going solo.
#7: Do you show up on time?
He comes to my house, he's never on time lol
#8: Do you show up every time?
Well, sometimes we have to move classes but I always take em weekly.
#9: Do you ask why you're doing something when you don't like what you're doing? (ie. a scale or something)
Nope, I try to find the coolness in it because this is prolly important for me xD.
Man my guitar teacher is 59 years old, and he, more than a teacher, is a friend, seriously, I called him once at 2 am to ask him about something and he answered relaxed o.o. Sometimes he pisses me off teaching me stuff that I don't want to lean, like how to play Salsa which was really annoying cause I hate Salsa, but I learned some stuff from that that I can incorporate into what I like to play o.o. And some weird chords xD.
I wanna be that guy that you wish you were ! ( i wish I were that guy)
You gotta set your sights high to get high!
Everyone is a teacher when you are looking to learn.
( wise stuff man! )
Its Kirby....
My first teacher was great but he quit teaching to focus on finishing uni.
Second not so great
Third was OK but he would alway ask what do you want to learn today. I could do that myself with books and internet. I kind of wanted someone that would ask "what do you want to achieve?" and show me how to get there.
Current teacher is awesome. The main teacher teaches advanced stuff but he has two guys who teach the beginer/intermediate students. They have a sylabus that covers chords, picking, theory, ear training etc and tailor it to you using songs that are in the style of music you like. It's been two months and I'm really enjoying it and am progressing quicker than ever before.
Another thing that impresses me about them is that they actually focus on tecnique, the others didn't seem to care how I played, it was fine if I could get the notes out.
#1: Do you communicate your desires to him?
Yes
#2: Do you tell him you don't understand something, or do you just smile and nod?
Yes, Sometimes I didn't with previous teachers but I feel really comfortable discussing anything with this guy.
#3: Do you practice your material all week before your next session?
Yes, vast majority of the time, sometimes life gets in the way but I do the best that I can.
#4: Do you ask the right questions, or any questions at all?
Always asking questions, not sure if they are the right ones though :lol:
#5: Do you tighten up and play poorly in his company?
Did at first but it's getting much easier as time goes by
#6: Do you expect this to be easy just because you have a teacher? (or otherwise expecting too much?)
Yes, because I expect him to pick up mistakes in tecnique that I don't realise I'm doing
#7: Do you show up on time?
Yep
#8: Do you show up every time?
Yep
#9: Do you ask why you're doing something when you don't like what you're doing? (ie. a scale or something)
Yes and get an answer every time.
