Teaching Luthiery

I've taught other skill-based topics, plus I'm not a luthier , are you looking for potential pitfalls?

 

I have had 23 apprentices, taught 2 repair seminars and a bending class. Make it clear, concise, and ZERO platitudes. Example based everything. People interested in this subject can get turned off quite quickly without the proper example based curriculum. People will also get turned off by supposition and guesstimation. Lay out the structure of what you intend to share in small pieces, and don't make broad jumps or criss cross building techniques. You can use any book as an organizational guide to construction.

 

Mikey,
Honestly, I'd take on an apprentice or 2 or 3, before deciding to go all out like that. Besides, it gives you a chance to develop a system that would come out better in the end.

 

"A wise man seeks consul. A fool thinks he knows it all..."
Mickey, just from your attitude toward this subject and your past experience, your seem to be on target for success. Jump in and get it all over ya.... play on.... you'll do good!!!
(Oh yea... and keep us posted!)
P.S. AND read what you once posted below!!!!

Tim

 

Although I've never taught luthiery, I've had apprentices as a carpenter, taught high school (ugh - note to self - just keep breathing...), undergrad college students and many years of self defense and verbal intervention training. I have to say that I LOVE to teach, its very dear to me and I've put a lot into it.

A couple of hard and fast that have applied across the board for me in all areas include: 1. teaching for the love of the work - if you love it, it will come through and that's half the battle and 2. teach to your own goals, not the students'. And what I mean by the last one is that if you set out to have a person learn what you have taught them, you're destined for frustration. People learn what they want when they want through their own preferred channels. Like JC said, set out your curriculum and make sure it is well known what will be taught by you as opposed to 'learned' by the student - there is a difference. That way, you have your own teaching goals that are independent of a student's success or failure. Of course, no one wants a failing student, so we work to their weaknesses by building on their strengths, but one cannot own another's experience if you know what I mean.

Carpentry is pretty straightforward to instruct - there is room for creativity, a lot, but it's pretty much just lego on a bigger scale with more complicated and dangerous tools. Luthiery I would compare more to teaching martial arts. Students want to learn for a very wide variety of reasons and typically all come well-prepared with grandiose illusions of what will be accomplished along with a nice overestimation of their experience and ability, so that needs to be planned for accordingly!

What you teach will involve straight technique, tool work, etcetera, but will also have to include the creativity and personal touches that i'm comparing with martial arts. Who we are and how we conduct ourselves in the world impacts the outcome of our creative endeavors (duh) and some will have no interest in the more stylistic components or will simply be incapable of performing to a level of what you might consider 'basic skill', while others may outshine you on the first day and leave you feeling like you're playing catch up the whole time!

Some of the best relationships I've ever had have been fundamentally a student / teacher relationship and many of them continue to teach me today even though I've had no contact directly for years. Fundamental to those great relationships is unconditional positive regard on behalf of both parties - this is a rewarding attitude to carry.

And of course, pay no mind to George Bernard Shaw's quote "those who can, do, those who cannot, teach" as he was referring to rebels and revolutionaries, not instructors. To teach successfully, you need to be the expert, and those who inspire us most when we learn usually are...

 

A stupid aside I have about those that can outshine us as instructors. I have a standing exercise I do in self defense that exemplifies how we use our bodies to maneuver away from an attack by capitalizing on the attackers telegraphed information from positioning. In short, I hold a $50 bill and dare anyone to take it out of my shirt pocket - typically no one can of course, which helps illustrate the point and gets their attention (how did he do that?). One time, a 50 something grandmother snatched it right out of my pocket within about 5 seconds of the exercise. She jokingly said she'd grown up with several brothers and had to learn to fight, but it was also very obvious that she was a born natural and just had a superior intuitive knowledge of where and how to position her body while moving. You just never know...

 

Interesting... When I opened my new (larger) shop in 2010, Instruction of instrument maintenance/repair & construction was part of the (future) business plan (I believe that teaching is a natural progression for a Luthier).

With the retail business in the crapper, I recently have been approached by a colleague about turning my business into a "school of creative arts"... This would include various instrument instruction classes (including basically a "school of rock" band class) as well as dance & art classes... I will retain a repair room in the building, as well as supplying the business with all of their retail needs (I already have a woodshop offsite, as well as another shop at home... This building houses my repair business, a retail store & a storage/shipping area). Basically, I will be the landlord of this operation & this will allow me to purchase another building less than a block away to operate Moonshine Custom Guitars out of).

The parties that I am working with want me to retain the guitar building theme in the old building as well as offering classes in instrument maintenance/repair & construction.

This will be a new direction for me, but there is an apparent need for this in my area. I am currently researching various schools to find the best way to go about this.

Mikey; I have no doubt that you will be an excellent instructor (Dude, I would love to take a class!). I am subbing to this & look forward to any advice that anyone here has to offer.

Moonshine

 

Do you have any idea who you'll be teaching this class to? I think that I'd be hard pressed to complete a build from scratch in three weekends, while sharing tools and trying to learn something, and I've assembled a few and built one from sticks! I'm afraid that might be too much to ask of the casual learner. Failing is discouraging!!!

I'd hate to have you watch them assemble a kit, not much to learn from that. But what if you have them build a simple but wonderfully playable 2 string bass or 3 string guitar? Weekend one could be the theory, drawing, wood prep, and gluing up. Weekend two cutting it out, shaping, making a simple bridge, and finishing. Week 3 could be fingerboard prep, fretting (narrow fingerboard and precut frets), winding a simple pickup, and assembly.

The "half" guitar idea serves at least two purposes. One, it cuts cost and complexity back to a managable level (truss rod might consume a full day between the route, the glue up, and adjusting). Two, students I've worked with in these "adult education" settings tend to stress about the final result, especially in the case of a guitar that can be compared to what's hanging on the shop's walls. To reduce the "threat", build something you can't readily buy!

If they leave with something unique and playable, I'd imagine that they'd surely be back for more concentrated courses if you offer them.

I'm only two hours north, I'd love to come check out what you come up with. Not that I can be much help, but let me know if you need any.

 

Mikey, you should video this for further expansion of the humor that could become prevalent...LOL this could be fun to watch.

 

Now that's something I would be glad to attend to..... commuting OH-KL... not THAT difficult...

 

I did expect that you'd considered the experience level of the students. I still think that is a lot to get through in three weekends, but it should be a good challenge.

One thing I always forget to remember when I'm teaching is how hard I had to work to learn what I'm teaching. I catch myself glossing over what I now think is basic, innate understanding everyone should have. The students nod, nobody has questions, then the trouble begins.

By the way, lest anyone think I'm teaching instrument building (I'm not), I teach performance driving, typically to automotive engineers, and basic motorcycle riding.