Teaching Advice - First Student

[Sharky1450]

Hey Everyone,

I've been playing for almost 8 years. I'm teaching my first student in 3 days, and I'm after some pointers on what to teach him. He's been getting lessons on and off for about 3 years (I think). My brother gave him my details because I've had professional lessons, whereas he just switched from guitar to bass. He taught him the bass line to "Money" by Pink Floyd when he saw him. I was thinking of going over theory, like scales etc etc to see where he is technically- but I'd rather not have him thinking I was super boring straight off the bat, and have his mum fob me off.

Any ideas of pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Liam

[john grey]

-=This is JUST my opinion: but I was a teacher in secondary school. It's not "right or wrong, just experience and observations=-

The person is paying you. You are delivering a service via teaching.
I would start by communicating! ASK him what he wants to learn! DOES he want to learn Theory or want to learn rifs and play around? You can have a student for several months or years IF he feels you are delivering what HE wants, not necessarily what you think is appropriate to learning music. That can be tough because you know what's appropriate down the line. but it's a job first and you need to deliver an ethical service of what he wants for his money.
YOU MAY HAVE A TOTALLY APPROPRIATE LESSON PLAN but that's not what he may want right at this moment.....
Find out what he wants and deliver it. Meanwhile you are free to deliver the logic of following an in-depth lesson plan of music theory and professionalism. but he is the customer and if you want referrals and want to be in business; let him tell you what he wants - so he gets what he pays for.

Make your interaction friendly and relaxed. Let him enjoy his time with you. Praise him for his efforts & let him feel he is making progress; even small steps every time he sees you. Plan (with him) for his next session during the last portion of his lesson, with you. If th student is slow to learn; REMEMBER, you may help him in may areas of life by your patients.

Do your best not to become exasperated with his ideas or level of expertise. Let him feel that you really care about his progress along the lines he wants at first. He will eventually ask YOU what is the most productive thing he could do. ask probing questions so you understand his level of commitment, his maturity, & his tolerance for dedication.


After several decades of playing, several (many) months of lessons, I wanted to start lessons again locally. I wanted to learn more theory. I called a local teacher in the city (Tucson) he didn't return my call. I sent him Email....again no return. I would have most likely been a long term student. But I would NEVER contact this fellow again due to his professionalism. If he had sent me a one line Email even......"I am having family problems: I will contact you ASAP when things are squared away" - I would have waited. but not funtioning as a business and as a professional: no matter the reason I would not contact him again.


Make sure your commitments are kept and if you can't, explain yourself like any other professional working situation. You will make money! People LOVE a teacher that they enjoy being with, appears to care about their progress, and is relaxed and is not hyper critical. People learn at different rates and a teacher should expect that someone who is taking lessons WANTS to learn and have a good time while doing so. That doesn't mean that the whole session is entertaining the client & it doesn't mean that the teacher does a great deal of playing. It means that the teacher really DOES care about a student's learning (& at first, simply what he wants, becasue that will change as he musically matures.
Often a teacher learns something while the student learns also. This may be about teaching technique, etc. - OR it may be about something unrelated.

I taught Secondary School for some years. I learned that a teacher needs to honestly care that their students learn. - To REALLY CARE that they learn.
But not all students are serious. Not all personalities match. That's perfectly normal. & it's also a learning process. Allow the student have fun and allow yourself to have fun.
Just as a student needs to stick with it; so do you. You 1st student may not mesh with you. That's OK. Stick with it.

If you HONESTLY care that the student gets what he wants from the lesson - (he's the client; he pays for your time) - he will feel it. If he is comfortable, he will come back. If you can make "professional friends", do so within boundaries of propriety. <This must be understood from both parties.>
Good luck. You can't control the student, but you can control your attitude toward teaching. Even if it's teaching something musically you don't care for, teach what he needs to be successful as he will know he's getting his monies worth & you're being ethical.

[germ_77]

Originally Posted by john grey

-=This is JUST my opinion: but I was a teacher in secondary school. It's not "right or wrong, just experience and observations=-

The person is paying you. You are delivering a service via teaching.
I would start by communicating! ASK him what he wants to learn! DOES he want to learn Theory or want to learn rifs and play around? You can have a student for several months or years IF he feels you are delivering what HE wants, not necessarily what you think is appropriate to learning music. That can be tough because you know what's appropriate down the line. but it's a job first and you need to deliver an ethical service of what he wants for his money.
YOU MAY HAVE A TOTALLY APPROPRIATE LESSON PLAN but that's not what he may want right at this moment.....
Find out what he wants and deliver it. Meanwhile you are free to deliver the logic of following an in-depth lesson plan of music theory and professionalism. but he is the customer and if you want referrals and want to be in business; let him tell you what he wants - so he gets what he pays for.

Make your interaction friendly and relaxed. Let him enjoy his time with you. Praise him for his efforts & let him feel he is making progress; even small steps every time he sees you. Plan (with him) for his next session during the last portion of his lesson, with you. If th student is slow to learn; REMEMBER, you may help him in may areas of life by your patients.

Do your best not to become exasperated with his ideas or level of expertise. Let him feel that you really care about his progress along the lines he wants at first. He will eventually ask YOU what is the most productive thing he could do. ask probing questions so you understand his level of commitment, his maturity, & his tolerance for dedication.


After several decades of playing, several (many) months of lessons, I wanted to start lessons again locally. I wanted to learn more theory. I called a local teacher in the city (Tucson) he didn't return my call. I sent him Email....again no return. I would have most likely been a long term student. But I would NEVER contact this fellow again due to his professionalism. If he had sent me a one line Email even......"I am having family problems: I will contact you ASAP when things are squared away" - I would have waited. but not funtioning as a business and as a professional: no matter the reason I would not contact him again.


Make sure your commitments are kept and if you can't, explain yourself like any other professional working situation. You will make money! People LOVE a teacher that they enjoy being with, appears to care about their progress, and is relaxed and is not hyper critical. People learn at different rates and a teacher should expect that someone who is taking lessons WANTS to learn and have a good time while doing so. That doesn't mean that the whole session is entertaining the client & it doesn't mean that the teacher does a great deal of playing. It means that the teacher really DOES care about a student's learning (& at first, simply what he wants, becasue that will change as he musically matures.
Often a teacher learns something while the student learns also. This may be about teaching technique, etc. - OR it may be about something unrelated.

I taught Secondary School for some years. I learned that a teacher needs to honestly care that their students learn. - To REALLY CARE that they learn.
But not all students are serious. Not all personalities match. That's perfectly normal. & it's also a learning process. Allow the student have fun and allow yourself to have fun.
Just as a student needs to stick with it; so do you. You 1st student may not mesh with you. That's OK. Stick with it.

If you HONESTLY care that the student gets what he wants from the lesson - (he's the client; he pays for your time) - he will feel it. If he is comfortable, he will come back. If you can make "professional friends", do so within boundaries of propriety. <This must be understood from both parties.>
Good luck. You can't control the student, but you can control your attitude toward teaching. Even if it's teaching something musically you don't care for, teach what he needs to be successful as he will know he's getting his monies worth & you're being ethical.

Wow I wish there were more teachers with that attitude, If I found one like that I would have definitly stuck with lessons. I think I fell exactly into what you described, I got a ton of theory and blues, jazz, etc thrown at me which I had no intention of learning back then. Now thats the kind of stuff I am really interested in learning but whenever I went to lessons I just wanted some basics to mess around with and have some fun.

[Stumbo]

Here are a few links you may want to check out:

~Teaching Bass
1 Teaching ideas
2
Becoming a teacher
Carol Kay's bass learning/playing advice

[gnjpowell]

Understand your customer's wants and needs and fulfill them. Set high expectations and exceed them.

[electracoyote]

Get ahold of a few good method books. Don't reinvent the wheel. Even with a book, students still need lots of guidance and real-world application tips. That's where a good teacher comes in.