Question for the teachers

Hmm Im no teacher, but Ive done that to my teacher alot of times.

My opinion is that you are not acting like you are cocky or anything its just a particular skill or song you want to learn, because you want to, and you go to him so he will teach you.

One day I decided I wanted to learn how to tap, so I called my teacher and said Hey, could you teach me how to tap; and he said, okay sure ( it was like 2 am LOL and my teacher was awake ) and then he taught me, and then the next class was just normal class, and alot of the classes have been at my request, like tapping and stuff, and alot of other classes he just takes off and teaches me something weird like Bossa Nova that I end up loving.

In the end its a relationship that you develop, I think my teacher is the best cause he really wants to help me even though he is a bit trippy sometimes ( like he starts rambling about politics while I am doing some excersises ) lol, but I can call him at 2 AM, coolest 60 year old ever! ( lol sorry all you 60 year olds out there :P )

I encourage my students to bring in songs, etc., they want to learn. I make it clear that I may not be the one to help them, but I'll try if I can.

Yeah, my teacher has a twisted sense of humor like I do. He's very mellow and laid back. I admit that when I signed up I specifically said I wanted someone to coach me. I didn't yet want theory or scales. I'm primarily interested in rhythm playing. And he's respected that. So I guess I'm feeling a little overly empathetic.

Well unfortunately, you're only getting replies from non-teachers so far; but, I just wanted to throw this out there. :lol:

I think that this would be one of my requirements in a teacher if I had one. After all you are paying for these lessons right? I assume this isn't the teacher of a HS/College/group class where the teacher is following a particular curriculum and can't veer too far off course. You should be able to learn things that you specifically have questions on from time to time and I'd think if you were getting too far off course the teacher would say something.

Plus if you're not in a class type setting where there is a specific end date to your instruction why shouldn't the teacher want to do things that you're interested in? Or from another view point, why wouldn't the teacher want to keep you interested so you keep progressing and most likely you'd keep coming back as well? Makes business sense if nothing else, and I'd like to think most teacher feel proud/get satisfaction from seeing their students progress.

Additionally I think if you were that annoying he or she definitely would have said something either during or after the 2am call. :lol:

Well unfortunately, you're only getting replies from non-teachers so far; but, I just wanted to throw this out there. :lol:

Oh that's fine too. I should have said that anyone's answer is valid. I was only thinking of teachers' experiences. But I welcome all perspectives. Thanks.
Additionally I think if you were that annoying he or she definitely would have said something either during or after the 2am call. :lol:

Ha, once in college a bunch of us woke up one of our instructors for assistance. Hey, he told us to call him! :lol:

Well unfortunately, you're only getting replies from non-teachers so far; :

(You must've missed Jim's post above.)
I'm also happy to see my students strike out on their own and make their own discoveries independently of me. It's a rewarding experience for most teachers, I would imagine. I'm happy to help them where possible or appropriate. But I'll also use my experience to discourage them from going down blind alleys, such as trying to learn a piece that's far beyond their current ability, or becoming obsessed with modes because some misguided friend has told them they can't be a real guitarist without them.

Well unfortunately, you're only getting replies from non-teachers so far; :

(You must've missed Jim's post above.)
I'm also happy to see my students strike out on their own and make their own discoveries independently of me. It's a rewarding experience for most teachers, I would imagine. I'm happy to help them where possible or appropriate. But I'll also use my experience to discourage them from going down blind alleys, such as trying to learn a piece that's far beyond their current ability, or becoming obsessed with modes because some misguided friend has told them they can't be a real guitarist without them.

That's great... thanks. I've come into the room with a "hey, watch this [whatever I learned on my own]", and he'll say that's great, that I got it, or "um, try this [insert technique or chord here], I think it's better". And I usually have to agree and thank him. That's what I'm paying for. But sometimes I go home and rethink it and say "nah, I really do like mine better" and let it go, and just keep practicing it. That's where the "I-don't-want-to-be-contrary" thing comes in. Sometimes I think something is better, but I don't want to come off stubborn or cocky. Hey, maybe that's diplomacy! :lol:

I have no problem with students learning from other sources - as long as they're open to hearing when something they picked up elsewhere isn't the best approach for something. :)

There's a lot of good material available - and some real junk. A teacher is there to observe and correct; if you've picked up a bad habit, I try to explain why it's bad, and show you why some other approach is better.

As far as bringing in songs goes, most of my students do that. At our school we're set up to play CDs, or to plug iPods into amps... this week I've had students bring in Pantera, Modest Mouse, etc. If they want to learn something, I'm there to help.

I have no problem with students learning from other sources - as long as they're open to hearing when something they picked up elsewhere isn't the best approach for something. :)

There's a lot of good material available - and some real junk. A teacher is there to observe and correct; if you've picked up a bad habit, I try to explain why it's bad, and show you why some other approach is better.

As far as bringing in songs goes, most of my students do that. At our school we're set up to play CDs, or to plug iPods into amps... this week I've had students bring in Pantera, Modest Mouse, etc. If they want to learn something, I'm there to help.

Thanks Tom. That's all good to know, and what I was looking for, and thinking. I'm sure my teacher feels the same way. I really shouldn't read into things. :roll: I make cds from my iTunes and bring them along with a sheet. Then we work through them. Just last night he looked at something and said "oh no, that's a crappy voicing of that chord" (the written vis-a-vis the recording) and gave me another one.

Can you imagine an English teacher complaining that a student is reading other books in addition to those assigned?

Can you imagine an English teacher complaining that a student is reading other books in addition to those assigned?

I guess that wouldn't be a very good teacher, huh? Thanks for the perspective. :)

But I'll also use my experience to discourage them from going down blind alleys, such as trying to learn a piece that's far beyond their current ability, or becoming obsessed with modes because some misguided friend has told them they can't be a real guitarist without them.

I have no problem with students learning from other sources - as long as they're open to hearing when something they picked up elsewhere isn't the best approach for something. :)

For my money, those quotes nail it.

It's a balancing act between a student having some independent motivation and curiosity (which are very good to have) and wandering so far off track that they derail from the logical and well thought out path that the teacher is leading them along.

My biggest failing as a student was impatience - not sticking to the suggested order and tasks. I'd often turn up for the next lesson having done something completely different to what had been discussed the previous week. Fortunately I got on well with the teachers, because I'm exactly the sort of student that I'd be tempted to kill if I were a teacher... :shock:

I also only took a fairly small number of lessons before branching out on my own. This has been a lot of fun, and seems to work, but it would not be ideal for many. However, it does spare the local teachers the horror of having me as a student...
:)

My teacher never had a problem with, in fact he liked it, because I brought him a lot of good stuff that he eventually decided to use with his other students. He would take the stuff I gave him and put his own spin on it, call crap when it was crap, and praise it when it was good. Shouldn't be a problem unless your teacher is insecure or adamant about a certain approach!

I would expect a teacher to do exactly what Noteboat said help you learn new material and correct anything they see that is wrong that you may have picked up elsewhere.

That's exactly how it works with my instructor I pretty much call the shots on what I want to learn and I'm sure there's some some good (for me) but maybe not necessarily the way a teacher would prefer to teach the material.

What I mean is and I could be wrong I would imagine that a teacher would like to lay out a teaching cirriculum that follows a certain logical path to ensure the student learnd the essentials and doesn't form any bad habits. And I think for younger students it may be easier but when you have an adult taking lessons like myself I think they need to go with what the student wants since they might be more apt to move along if they aren't getting what they want.

Now you hope that your instructor what not blindly let you go down paths that you weren't ready for etc just to make a buck but I'm sure it happens. The problem potentially with students calling the shots is they aren't really qualified to make a true assessment of what skills they should be developing.

At the end of the day you need to be making progress if you are not which ever method you use then there is something wrong.