Process Analysis

                                 Teaching acoustic guitar.

       When a person picks up an acoustic guitar with the desire to learn how to play, it may seem difficult to figure out where to start. The possibilities are seemingly endless. This is when a teacher is needed to guide you through the beginning stages. There are several ways to start learning how to play an acoustic guitar and I believe that none of them are wrong really. I do however have my own method for teaching a person from scratch. I call it "the fun way."
        It is extraordinarily easy to become bored when learning how to tune your guitar or how to play a scale from scratch. This is where I feel that I lose most people when teaching guitar. First impressions are very important. As with teaching almost anything, if the first impression of your course and teacher is one of boredom and monotony, you will find yourself drifting away from their instructions and lectures.
          The first step is to find out what your student knows about guitar. Get a good feeling for how skilled they are. And from that you will be able to set the pace. The first thing you do, is ask what kind of music the person likes. If you dont already know a song by the artist, you can ask them to play a song on their phone or computer or something. Then you listen to the songs, and find a song or part of a one that you believe your student is capable of playing. Ask them if they want to learn that song or that part. If you are picking just a part of the song, make sure you pick the beginning.                                                                                                                                                                    The easiest way to show them how to play is to have two guitars. You will then sit in a chair facing them  creating a mirror image. Be very patient and slow with the person. You will notice that they are having trouble with parts of the chords or notes. Just show them again and explain more thoroughly how to hold the fingers and move about. Once you are certain that they know what strings to press, you tell them you have to go do something. Like find a book or make a phone call. (I consider myself good at reading people, and I know that a person usually feels judged or uncomfortable when I sit in the room listening to mistake after mistake.) When you come back you will know how motivated your pupil is. People usually learn a part of a song and play it faster and faster as they become more confident. If this is what they wish to do, remind them of the actual tempo of the song. Or set a metronome so that they can play faster or more accurately.
            By this point in time, the person who you are teaching most likely has sore finger tips and needs a break. I usually tell them to wash their hands so that they can feel the pain in the tips of their digits. And so they grow calluses faster. Explain that after only a few more practice sessions it will no longer hurt. While their hands are drying, you can begin to teach them how to tune harmonically.  
     When your student is leaving, it is in my opinion very important to produce an assignment or project. Set a time and date for the next class if you have not done so already. It never goes the same way twice when teaching guitar. People are all different. But after teaching enough times you will find your own favored and effective way. Thank you for listening to mine.