Should I Give Guitar Lessons?
Posted in guitar lessons on 26. Aug, 2010
A guitar lessons question that should definitely interest you all this week
Question: I’m 17 years old. I’ve been playing for about 3 1/2 years. I can’t ’shred’ on guitar or anything like that, but i know many chords and the notes. I thing i could do beginner lessons. I also know how to read guitar music. I don’t have a car so it would have to be out of my apartment, but i don’t know where to hold the lessons. The living room? Also, i’m kind of shy. but i really need some money.
Answer: You shouldn’t really teach, unless you know the proper way to do things. If you’ve been taught from a pro teacher, then I’d say give it a shot, but you need to know at least your basic theory to get by. You can’t just randomly shout out chords to teach these people. You can’t just teach them one or two scale shapes, unless you are able to fully explain what a scale is, and how it works… etc.
If you can work from a beginner workbook, then you may be able to get by. Just make sure you understand the material before attempting to teach it.
or you could hang around the street corners in your fishnets and denim mini shorts…seriously, you make a lot of money out of that.
I taught lessons when I was in high school, but I’d been playing since I was 7 years old. It worked out fine though as long as you use a good lesson book series like Mel Bay, Hal Leonard, or Alfred. You’re pretty much there to make sure they’re holding the guitar right and following the lessons in the book. With 3 1/2 years experience though you should definitely not teach anyone beyond a beginner level. It’s fine to teach from your living room as long as you keep it clean and give the parents a place to wait while you’re teaching their kids. I wouldn’t look at this as a full time career though (you’ll need another "day" job). You shouldn’t probably be charging more than $15 for a half hour lesson with your level of experience.