My sister invited me over for Easter dinner Sunday.

And my nephew Marcus wants me to show him some stuff on guitar. He got a pretty cool Epiphone and amp for Christmas.

My problem is I don't think I'm a very good teacher. Maybe I am, but I get frustrated on the inside when it takes people so LONG to understand what I'm saying. Maybe thats why I don't think I'd make a good guitar teacher.

I suppose I ought to start with showing him how to tune the axe up. Thats always fun, I can already see the look on his face when I explain guitar tuning to him - like a dog thats just been shown a card trick ya know?

After that I was thinking about showing him the "Hillbilly" chords at the nut - like E, A, D, C, G - then maybe throw a bar chord F at him as see that look of oblivion in his eyes.

I suppose I should write it all down for him to eh?

You guys think this is a good approach or not?

pick a simple song that he likes. a 3 chord trick - he will feel he is making progress straight away. make them open chords and explain the importance of clean playing. If he likes the tune he will stick at it. Introduce the finer mechanics of guitar playing along the way.

If you pick songs to help him develop (again songs that he knows and likes) he will be more receptive to the learning process.

They key approach to teaching ppl in anything is lots of patience m8:)
I helped out a younger player abit back , he just started out playing the guitar(about a year or so) , i gave him afew pointers(his a big Blackmore fan lol) , i also sent him a link with lots of chord diagrams and scale diagrams, i told him to learn the basic ones first(he knew the chords pretty well) , so i told him to start on the basic scales(as he knew none of them), i got him started of on the basic major/minor scales, i must say i caught up with him the other day, this lad has jumped considerably in the way he plays.
When i first heard him, his guitaring was all over the place, now he knows some scales and he keeps learning others aswell, he sounds very good for the amount of time his been playing, he reminds me of Ritchies younger in rock days.
Its all patience , personally i get alot of pleasure helping out ppl who want to learn , and hearing him , how his improved has giving me a lift in myself to, cos at the end of the day theres not one of us on here who still dosen't continue to learn, so i say keep teaching him m8:)

he reminds me of Ritchies younger in rock days.
:wtf: can you ask him to give me a few lessons please mart!


:)

regards,
jim.

Find out who and what he likes and try and show him something simple with open chords that he can master. Green Day is a big hit with the youngsters I teach (about 40 of them!). Both 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams' and 'When September Ends' have about 5 chords to them and the only real struggle they have will be getting a B right...no dreaded F in either of these! The second one also has a little tiny bit of tab for the opening intro. Try to remember that you're teaching them what they like...not what you may like.

If they are learning a song they love, it will be less like work for them. Motivation can be easy given the right approach.

I wanna thank you all for the great advice.

I like the 3 chord trick option.

I also agree with helping him out with a song that he really likes. Hopefully that song isn't too complex. If it is too complex, then I would think I'd have to whip out some of the OLD TIME stuff - "You Are My Sunshine" ect.

I know being patient is the key - I guess I need to work on that when I teach people to play. But I have also run into people who have no patients themselves. Guitar players who after trying something, just give up.

Do you all agree that I should write all this down as I'm teaching him this stuff?

When I learned to play, the first thing I learned was the classic blues shuffle and the 12 bar progression. With that you can play alot. Then I learned some simple blues scales and started improvising solos and that was damn fun.
And when its fun you keep doing it!

When I learned to play, the first thing I learned was the classic blues shuffle and the 12 bar progression. With that you can play alot. Then I learned some simple blues scales and started improvising solos and that was damn fun.
And when its fun you keep doing it!

I agree with that.

Having fun is the key for sure.

When I learned to play, the first thing I learned was the classic blues shuffle and the 12 bar progression. With that you can play alot. Then I learned some simple blues scales and started improvising solos and that was damn fun.
And when its fun you keep doing it!

Nah man...everyone has to start with Smoke On The Water. I remember my guitar god cousin showing me that when I was very young and playing it for hours after.

Da Da Daa Da Da Dadaaa Da Da Daa Da Daaaaa... ad infinitum

Funny you mention that Noah cos in the last two weeks I taught at least 20 of my younger students the FULL song because they all love the riff but had never heard the full thing! There's a great backer for it and all their faces lit up when I said we were going to learn the full thing. That and the James Bond theme are BIG with kids! They all come in and play it on the bottom or top E (open, 3rd, 5th - open, 3rd, 6th, 5th ad infinitum!) then you show them the proper thing using the D and G string together and they go NUTS...if Blackmore had a nickel for every person who played the opening riff, he'd be a bit richer than he no doubtedly is!

I've been to guitar stores with signs on the wall that say:

"No Smoke on the Water - or Stairway to Heaven Allowed!"

So how are the lessons going a month on? As I've said elsewhere I teach local kids, and it is one of the most rewarding, and often frustrating, things I have ever done.