What to look for in a teacher?

[Bass_Bear]

The title is pretty self explanatory, but regardless, what I'm basically looking to find out, are tricks and tips to becoming the perfect student.

More importantly, I am looking for any information you guys have on what I should be looking for in a teacher as a beginner in both music and the bass.

Lastly, out of sheer interest and perhaps for anyone else out there, what do you teachers look for in your students? Elaborate, give us examples....the works!!

Thanks,
J

[soong]

For a teacher

- A musician, NOT a bassist
- A bassist, NOT a guitarist who teaches bass.
- Good fundamental theoretical knowledge BEFORE impressive chops.
- A humble teacher who doesnt seem tot alk down students
- A person who you pay to learn songs from is not a teacher.

As for me in my students i look for
- Enthusiasm
- Dedication
- A good musical ear
- One who listens to a wide range of music.


...umm, yeah.

[Bass_Bear]

Sounds decent. I know these aren't easy questions to answer, so thanks for the feedback.

J

[phektus]

Ask him the trick question: "So what will you be teaching me?"

If he answers right away with a fixed curriculum of sorts, then he may not be really after your improvement, just your cash. It's a trick question. A teacher won't be able to know what to teach until he has tested your current skills. The right answer would of course be: "OK play me something"

[onlyclave]

Have you interviewed a couple of teachers and asked them what they teach and how they teach it? A good instructor should be able to list his methodologies and teaching goals for all of his students in general and be able to list things that he focuses on for specific students that he identifies.

Someone that gives you vague answers like "I teach all techniques and styles and cover theory" probably might teach you some bass playing tricks but I doubt he would really give you the tools to walk into a playing situation and be able to nail it.

[Drifta]

+1 to what everyones said. My first lessons were horrible, dude was milking them. just a suggestion, Don't goto the stores and whatnot, most of them are not great teachers.

took me awhile, but I found a great teacher who teaches out of his house, and is 1000x better than the teachers i found at music store. he didnt imediately start me off on useless scales. he taught me based on my goals, and musical influences.


theres nothing worse than getting a teacher who whips out a acoustic guitar to show you the C major chord in your first bass lesson.

[JTE]

First, they gotta be a teacher. Too many players don't have a good idea of how to transmit information. A good teacher is able to give you the stuff you need to know in different ways, because people learn all different ways. So a good teacher won't be bound by one method or approach.

Second, a good teacher will be able to encourage you, but be disciplined enough to not let you dictate what you're doing. A good teacher has a plan, and will help you stick to that plan. Sure, you wanna learn how to play "Donna Lee" or "Roundabout", or "Limelight". But the teacher will work on getting your physcial skills where they need to be to physically play it, your aural skills where they need to be so you can HEAR it, and your theory chops where they need to be so you can understand it.

A good teacher knows that playing the bass isn't an athletic event, so while they may use some tabs and diagrams, they're gonna kick you to learn the language of music too. Plus they won't just have you playing fast scale under the disguise of it being teaching.

jte

[rappa29]

Originally Posted by I Suck At Bass

- A bassist, NOT a guitarist who teaches bass.

+1000! When I was looking for lessons when I first started bass 2 years ago, all the teachers I looked up locally had guitar as their primary instrument then somewhere down the list on their Bio listed...also teaches bass.

Granted there are people that can play both proficiently, but I want to learn the proper mechanics\techniques of how to play bass from a bass player!

[Lesfunk]

I would say a good teacher is someone who can Teach You what you want to learn while giving you some of what you Need to learn at the same time .
A good teacher is someone who can communicate information to you effectively.
One person may communicate with you poorly but have a great rapport with someone else so that's a variable.
What ever you do, work hard on what your teacher gives you. That's the only way to know if his lessons are working.
After all, A teacher cannot make you better. He/she can only show you the tools you need to get better.

[Melvin7822]

Originally Posted by I Suck At Bass

For a teacher

- A musician, NOT a bassist
- A bassist, NOT a guitarist who teaches bass.
- Good fundamental theoretical knowledge BEFORE impressive chops.
- A humble teacher who doesnt seem tot alk down students
- A person who you pay to learn songs from is not a teacher.

As for me in my students i look for
- Enthusiasm
- Dedication
- A good musical ear
- One who listens to a wide range of music.


...umm, yeah.

I agree with this. Unfortunately, I don't always get students that have enthusiasm and even worse, don't have any idea of what they want to accomplish.

I work at a store and it pains me that there are a lot of teachers that are just teaching songs. There is one other bass instructor, but he also teaches guitar. Every lesson I've ever heard him teach was learning how to play a particular song.

Some things I want to add to what everyone else said. Look for someone who keeps his/herself busy in the music scene. I would tend to question someone who teaches but rarely ever plays out.

[Lesfunk]

Originally Posted by I Suck At Bass

For a teacher


- A bassist, NOT a guitarist who teaches bass.





...umm, yeah.

not really...
My first bass teacher was a classical guitarist. He taught me using his guitar while I played my bass.
He was a very effective instructor. He kept me interested with rock songs while adding a little theory and fretboard knowledge each lesson.
I went on to become a working bassist and remain so today.

Point being, it's the teacher, not the piece of wood he plays.

[varunkapahi]

Originally Posted by Lesfunk

not really...
My first bass teacher was a classical guitarist. He taught me using his guitar while I played my bass.
He was a very effective instructor. He kept me interested with rock songs while adding a little theory and fretboard knowledge each lesson.
I went on to become a working bassist and remain so today.

Point being, it's the teacher, not the piece of wood he plays.

my first bass teacher was a classical guitarist too but he played almost every instrument i could think of

[Arx]

Originally Posted by phektus

Ask him the trick question: "So what will you be teaching me?"

If he answers right away with a fixed curriculum of sorts, then he may not be really after your improvement, just your cash. It's a trick question. A teacher won't be able to know what to teach until he has tested your current skills. The right answer would of course be: "OK play me something"

OTOH, A lesson or two in, the teacher should not be asking you "okay, what do you want to learn next."

The teacher should spend the first lesson or two finding out what skills you currently have, and what you want to play. After that, they should be teaching you what you need to learn to get there.

I took some guitar lessons at a local guitar shop. They were terrible. Look for these warning signs.

1. Teacher repeatedly asked me "what do you want to work on today?" - If I knew what I needed to work on, I wouldn't be taking lessons.
2. Teacher constantly told me "you should bring your accoustic next class" - I was quite clear that I wanted to play rock, punk, and ska, and that I would be using my electric.
3. Teacher would constantly introduce a new practice drill, and then follow with a full minute of uninspired wanking. (Usually the same unrelated boxed in pseudo-solo,) - He's goofing off on my time, and if it's related at all, it's only by coincidence. "Someday you'll be able to play like this. wank wank wank"
4. Teacher had no interest in the styles of music I wanted to learn, but took my money anyways. - I'm not into flamenco. 4 lessons with this guy, and nothing even resembling rock.
5. Teacher constantly trying to sell you stuff. - If I wanted to learn from a book, I would have bought a book. I'm not saying that books can't be valuable reference as well, but you shouldn't be expected to buy a book in order to have something to work on in your lessons.

IMO In your first lesson any decent teacher should be asking you "What kinds of music do you want to play?", "Who are a couple artists groups that you like, and see as an influence?". That should probably be followed up by "Play me some bass parts that you have learned recently."(unless you're an absolute beginner)

I think most people will likely have to bounce around a bit before they get a teacher who really clicks.

Don't feel like you have to stick with the first teacher you hire.

I'd recommend against buying into any lesson "packages" until you've had at least a few individual lessons.

The teacher I have now, I got a single lesson. It went well, so I paid for 6 more. This way I'm there long enough to see if I like the direction I'm heading. If so, I'll buy some more. If it turns into a waste of time, I'm only out a few wasted lessons, and I can find someone else.

-Nick

[Arx]

Originally Posted by Drifta

+1 to what everyones said. My first lessons were horrible, dude was milking them. just a suggestion, Don't goto the stores and whatnot, most of them are not great teachers.

took me awhile, but I found a great teacher who teaches out of his house, and is 1000x better than the teachers i found at music store. he didnt imediately start me off on useless scales. he taught me based on my goals, and musical influences.


theres nothing worse than getting a teacher who whips out a acoustic guitar to show you the C major chord in your first bass lesson.

It should be a compromise. Scales certainly aren't useless. The key is to do some scales, and some music that uses or relates to the scales in some way.

Straight theory won't stick. I took a theory/composition course a long time ago. Not a lot of it stuck, because most of it wasn't immediately applicable.

Only learning to play songs and stuff is pretty limiting too. The first time someone wants to play a song you don't know, you'll be stuck to playing root 8th notes, or finding a tab and practicing for a couple hours first.

Originally Posted by Lesfunk

not really...
My first bass teacher was a classical guitarist. He taught me using his guitar while I played my bass.
He was a very effective instructor. He kept me interested with rock songs while adding a little theory and fretboard knowledge each lesson.
I went on to become a working bassist and remain so today.

Point being, it's the teacher, not the piece of wood he plays.

Agreed, though I think the point is that the teacher needs to have a good understanding of the roles a bass plays, and realize that it's not just a guitar with (usually) less strings.

A lot of guitar players who teach bass are more likely to teach you songs, rather than skills you can use (and I don't mean techniques.. that's different).

-Nick

[Bass_Bear]

Great stuff guys. Thanks alot.

To answer Onlyclave, I haven't interviewed anyone yet. I'm just now getting over the whole (and don't hate because I'm about to say this) musicians as elitists who look down upon the world. I don't mean to analyse myself here but I've often felt espescially when I walk into a music store that I was a cut below because I couldn't do what the regulars of that store could.

I've found out that this is not the case, and people are mostly genuinly out there to help. That be said, I appreciate your "trick questions" and definately plan on using them. all your thoughts and experiences are appreciated.

[dulouz]

Not all teachers in music stores are bad. I know some in a local store that are actually very fine teachers.

[uethanian]

i'm actually trying to find a part time job as a bass teacher, and this is all good advice

[Arx]

Originally Posted by uethanian

i'm actually trying to find a part time job as a bass teacher, and this is all good advice

For sure. I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that you're trying to get the player to where they want to be. You need to find out where they want to be, and then make a plan to get them there.

You're not just a practice buddy, you're supposed to lead.

-Nick