Why Most Guitar Teachers Struggle To Help Their Students Solve Their Musical Problems

Solving your guitar students’ musical problems helps them make progress and feel motivated to get better. When you are unable to do this, they quickly become frustrated and eventually quit taking lessons with you. This makes learning how to effectively solve their problems absolutely crucial.

Most guitar teachers struggle to fix their students’ problems for one (or more) of three reasons. Read these reasons below and learn how to help your students:

Reason 1: They Focus On The Symptoms Rather Than The Root Causes

Guitar teachers often try to deal with symptoms of problems (the things that their students talk about) rather than identifying the root causes as they should. For example: when a student struggles to improvise well, the teacher shows them a bunch of new guitar licks or scales rather than developing their foundational skills such as ear training, music theory or fretboard knowledge.

Reason 2: They Don’t Tailor The Lesson To Their Student’s Mindset

Strong-minded students can handle more (positive) pressure and can deal with root causes of their problems even if fixing them is boring. Weak-minded students need constant victories and reassurance. Guitar teachers who are unable to identify which type of student there are working with run the risk of pushing them too hard, de-motivating them and driving them away. You must identify what student is in front of you and teach them accordingly.

Reason 3: They Don’t Train Their Students Enough

Your guitar students make the most progress in their playing in between lessons (NOT during them). Most teachers simply tell their students what to do and send them home. They don’t make sure the students do things correctly right in the lesson. This causes students to practice things incorrectly at home (or to not practice at all).

Make sure you not only show your students how to play something during a lesson, but that you observe them playing it too. Have the student show you exactly how they will practice at home so you can fix any mistakes right there. This ensures that they do not make those mistakes at home and get the most benefit from their practice.

Learn more about helping your students solve their musical problems by reading this guitar teaching article.