Starting to teach

[DougD]

I have some friends that want me to teach their kids bass, but I have never taught before. So where do I start? Whats a good way to get into teaching bass? I don't plan on doing this for money.

[fryBASS]

Start basic man. Show them standard/ proper technique, major scales, where the notes are on the neck, how to pluck the strings, etc.

[punkrocko]

Originally Posted by fryBASS

Start basic man. Show them standard/ proper technique, major scales, where the notes are on the neck, how to pluck the strings, etc.

+1
Technique is the best place to start.
I then go to learning all the notes in first position, how to find octaves, pentatonic scales, and 12 bar blues patterns. That should take them a couple of months.

[DougD]

Great, Thanks

[One Bad Monkey]

Originally Posted by fryBASS

Start basic man. Show them standard/ proper technique, major scales, where the notes are on the neck, how to pluck the strings, etc.

+1

I taught for two years, and showing kids how to play music instead of just songs definitely kept them coming back. While showing them scales, if you can find actual songs to use as examples of where it's useful, that will help too.

[chicagodoubler]

Ed Friedland's books are great! I don't professionally endorse them, but all my students (guitar and bass) work out of that series of Hal Leonard books.

Make sure you have a lesson plan.

Ask them what they want to learn.

Break up your lesson time into a couple different topics so they don't get bored. Ex- 1/2hr on book, 1/2 hr on technique, learning songs by ear, and opening beer bottles with a lighter.

[ding_man]

Originally Posted by chicagodoubler

and opening beer bottles with a lighter.

I know he meant that as a joke. But seriously he's right.. kind of. Don't just be the teacher be the friend. Tell stories, make jokes, give life advice. Make their lessons fun and they will feel more comfortable as well as want to come back.

[DougD]

Originally Posted by chicagodoubler

Ed Friedland's books are great! I don't professionally endorse them, but all my students (guitar and bass) work out of that series of Hal Leonard books.

Make sure you have a lesson plan.

Ask them what they want to learn.

Break up your lesson time into a couple different topics so they don't get bored. Ex- 1/2hr on book, 1/2 hr on technique, learning songs by ear, and opening beer bottles with a lighter.

How do you formulate a lesson plan?

[chicagodoubler]

I just gave you one!!!!!

What does the kid want to work on? Retaining students is tricky, so I always have something ready to keep things fun when they hit a brick wall. I go into it knowing what we worked on the previous week, what the student's long and short term goals are, and where we are in the book. Alot of time I'll start out with an exercise or something from the book, and then show them a tune that actually uses the stuff we're working on, Mr Myagi style.

Oh yeah, and go buy a book on music pedagogy.

[DougD]

Cool, Thanks