how to teach guitar beginners?

[Fragle]

i've been asked to show my neighbour's daughter+friends (no, nothing of relevance here, the girls are like 12yrs or something so it's more like a neighbourly favor) the guitar basics (classical, nylon stringed guitar), like chords and whatever.

my question is....you know young kids, and you know that their fingers WILL hurt, so there's quite a chance that they might now continue it after a few weeks. so, what should i do, or how should i organize the lessons so they keep it up for more than just a few weeks?
and, generally speaking, what should i teach them aside from basic chord shapes?
my first idea was to teach them the very chord basics and then go on with some simple songs like smoke on the water, but then again, they are total beginners, so what you and me would consider simple would probably seem impossible to them.

so, any ideas and/or hints?

[fett]

First off, a beginner will look at all those strings and places to put their fingers and they might think they don't stand a chance learning to play. So I would tell them that most of those places don't come into play at the beginner's level. Secondly, I would teach them how to play the songs they grew up with. Kids songs; theme songs and the like. Once they realize how those songs are played on a guitar it may take the mystery out of it. Then, I would teach them the 3 "Magic Chords". Of course, that's after you teach the how to hold a pick and finger the frets.

[Thoraby]

I've tried teaching several people. It never works. People just suck too hard. Now I'm not saying I'm a virtuoso or anything, but the great effort of teaching someone how to play(especially if they don't practice and improve on a lesson to lesson basis) is just a waste of time

I once taught a guy who got worse every time he showed up. No kiddin'. Another guy never practiced and when I asked why he said because his guitar was out of tune. It held tuning great during lessons so I'm pretty sure the fucker messed with the tuning just to have an excuse for not practicing. Also there's the people who whine that their fingers hurt and can't practice because of that. It's a fucking mess.

[UFORocks]

Get a beginner basics book, learn it yourself and then teach them from it. That will give you a curriculum of sorts to teach by.

[SEEGERMANY]

It's easy. Give them the phone number and address to the local music store. I'm sure they have a teacher. Problem solved.

[MEX3]

I don't know what to teach but I saw this week how not to teach. This kid is "teaching" a student the blues scale and the student is just butchering it. I mean he just isn't getting it at all and then the "teacher" says that he's going to teach him the "Ultimate Metal scale", Harmonic Minor. And he gets it wrong to boot. Hello!!! Let the students get the basics down before you jump forward to something like that. I thought it was pretty funny.

[Fragle]

yeah, but that would cost them $$$

[SEEGERMANY]

It might cost them money, but it would save your sanity.

[El_Kabong]

It is easy.

Lesson one:

-Ask them why they wishing to learn to play the guitar. Undertanding a student's motivation helps build a solid methodology and syllabus. (Personally, I only take students who say, 'So I can get uber good and shred on Rachmaninoff so I can shit in the bathtub like the kid in the movie, 'Shine').


-First thing is to show them how to anchor their picking hand and begin to make it a force of habit.

-Teach them how to tune the guitar in standard tuning by ear, using only the E, or A string, in tune, from your guitar as a reference. Show them how to do it properly. Ask them to pay attention to the vibration in the wood to guide them along. Encourage them to crank on the machine heads to hear how the pitch rises and falls. Ask them to practice this at home, using the same reference from an on line tuning home page.

Next:
-Play a few, simple, 2 finger, power chord riffs: Louie Louie, Can't Explain, God Save the Queen, Rock you Like a Hurricanne, etc. They will be amazed at how easy it looks.

-Show them how to finger a power chord. Teach only downstroke picking. Play a simple 2 chord riff, only on the E and A string. Then get them to practice with you. After that give them a few minutes to try on their own.

-Next, show them how to play a power chord on the A and D strings. Play a simple 3 chord riff, where the E,A and D strings are used. Ask them to practice with you and then give them a few minutes to practice on their own.

Homework:
-The student should come to the next lesson, being able to tune their own guitar in a reasonable amount of time.

-The student should write their own rock style song, using power chords. Intro, hook, riff, verse, chorus, bridge, outro etc. are not a concern. Don't even bring it up. Students should be developing creativity, learning what sounds good to their ears building strength, growing callus on thier finger tips and most of all having fun with guitar.

Lesson 2:

-Detune their guitar, give them an open E or A and ask them to tune their guitar.

-Take the song that the student has brought in and develop it with them. Show the student options and let them choose.

-The homework is that they take the suggestions and ideas and develop the music on their own. Lessons should be fun, interesting, only a little challenging and offer students choices in order to fulfill their goal, through the utilization of guitars.


***Do not get a beginners guitar lesson book with sheet music. I do not want to learn how to play, 'Turkey in the Straw'. Mel Bay's grandmother sucks cocks in hell.

[69buickman]

When i first started i had a copy of Machine Head by deep purple and i played the hell out of it. After i had a couple power chords down i learned the traditional "G","C","D", type stuff.

[Fragle]

thanks for the long and detailed answer.
i can already answer your first question: they're playing guitar because their parents told them so! there's no real own motivation behind it as far as i can tell...which is bad, i know.
as for the rock song thing....i doubt that would be a good idea. those are 12yr old girls, i think they (and their parents) are more about playing folk songs around a camp fire, as far as i can tell from my neighbour the acoustic guitar thing is not intended to be a steppingstone to electric guitar playing.

[El_Kabong]

Ah, 12 year old girls and you are in Bavaria. Change the power chords to the chords needed for one of their favorite modern pop songs. Maybe you will be adding Tatu to your set lists .

Teach them the cowboy chords needed for the chosen pop song and how to play them in common time, down stroke only at first. Get them to change chords after every bar, then every half bar. Make sure they keep time with a foot.

Once the chords are acceptable, teach them the song and have them play along with the CD.

After they are comfortable with the chords, teach them the melody. Write it out for them in tab if it is not on the net. They can then switch beween the chords and melody between the two of them.

The parenets will be happy and it won't be so tedious for the girls if they began with zero interest.

My sympathies if you must teach them, 'Michael row your boat'.