"Yes sir, I play the guitar. Therefore I'm a guitarist/instructor."

[Mobius]

Its the same with the Uni Profs i had, they are tomes of knowledge but some of them really suck at teaching. As for guitar teachers (those that I had), I find that they tend to try to impose their style on u rather than let u develop ur own style.

 

[RoRK]

Well, it's apparent that guitar teachers are close to being 'a dime a dozen', except that they charge a thousand times more than a dime.

Teaching, being a trainer; is a near full-time effort. It's not just about guitars, music, musicians, lifestyle, parents, girlfriends/boyfriends, bandmembers, instruments, pedals, software, etc etc etc, but it's ALSO alot about pedagogy.

Can you handle these? If you can't, then how can you be a teacher/trainer???

You make do yah. You do your best. And as long as you're doing your best, you'll get there - maybe. So, in the meantime, get some freshair. Breathe. Be silly. Be stupid, because you are.

It takes years of knowledge and constant upkeep and having a mindset to be a trainer - not a player. You must want to assist, help, train - go out of your way. Be in step. Be in line. Be there when they need you. Can you really be all of that?

Having said that, and all of that, I want to sign up for a course with Shredcow as soon as I puncture my piggybank.

 

[djasli]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts.

 

[eieio]

no doubt, the avaiabilty of materials on the internet nowadays are loads better reference that when i first started where cassetes tapes are the norm. or maybe that's the problem - people learnt in the privacy of their bedroom, not under the void-decks anymore, where I first started....lol. no more jamming, you know?

just my thoughts.

hey dj we got a thing or 2 in common, sadly not the git part though.. hehe
started with cassette tapes too, trying to figure each note just by hearing.. duh!
keep rewinding & forwarding, back & forth use pencil until all the tape roll out from the cassette
came to a point when it gets torn, tried to re attach back the part where it broke by using scotch tape...
hmm come to think of it, all that $2.50 tapes were 'local pressed' & even came with complete 'album photo cover' eh..

ps. i love rima's voice & stage presence, where art thou rima? :mrgreen:

 

[gutturalpiss]

This is a very good question - one which should've been asked a long time ago. I should also say:

"Yes sir, I play the guitar. Therefore I'm a musician."

Same applies.

 

[Likui]

I don't think they clone Jimi. I think they steal his ideas and make them their own. Vai's stage antics. Satch's blues lines. Etc etc. I wouldn't say Satch is the new Hendrix though.

A clone to me would be ... Joe Stump to Malmsteen. Where you listen and scratch your head and think, why I am hearing 100% XXX when I'm seeing YYY play?!

I don't think imitation of certain aspects is bad. I think cloning like in, 100% trying to be the exact same thing, like an Elvis impersonation (slightly out of context but you get the idea).

I think add one's own flavouring is key...

Well there's still a diff between joe and yngwie, i find there's 1 famous yngwie lick not found in joe's playing as far as i know.

 

[Likui]

interesting...hmmmm..to be a music teacher,must have at least grade 5 i think..

my teacher has no grade 5 no grade at all. so I should fire him? lol

 

[Whitestrat]

Wah! 2 year old thread?!?!?!?!

THREAD DIGGER!!!!!!!

 

[Superlocian]

Joe Stump teaches at Berklee...

and apparently he's one of the more popular teachers there for private instruction.

 

[theunknown]

anybody understands the difference between "i'm a guitar teacher" and "i teach guitar"? do you need to be a teacher to teach? what defines a teacher then? an NIE cert? 5 years experience?

i teach my gf guitar though i am by no means a qualified guitar teacher (is there a guitar teacher certification in the first place??).

i taught my friends maths though i was barely through seconday school. i'm not a teacher.

 

[Likui]

Good points bros.
.

some band looking for guitarist I it's a funk band, i said i play rock, funk, metal , country , blues , jazz.
The band audition me also never audition me they say since i got metal influence don't want me.
Another band plays goth metal i said I play lead guitar and rhythm i can play either of it, they don't want because they only want someone who specialise in rhythm guitar.
Another person plays chinese pop, I said i my favourite kind of music is instrumental rock like those by joe satriani , neil zaza etc, the person say cannot because I play english songs.
Well this shows that being versatile has it's disadvantages too u can't play for some band since your versatile all 3 bands rejected me without auditioning me.

 

[Likui]

Some good points, Shredcow.

well for music history and knowledge on theory are very important to me and i like it, i like theory and history of music however these stuff can make some people bored and they will lose interest in guitar. If you teach in a music school and those young 7, 8 yr old kids they all will be bored with history and theory they want to learn more song and more songs. Well the students are like customers they are always right, if you teach them theory and history they will be bored they stop music lessons u lose your students if you lose enough students the boss will fire you because you make the school lose money. So i guess have to make some adjustments to what to teach according to the environment. In this case is a matter of earning money and educate the student properly is secondary. Something like u teach properly u lose your job u make the students happy you keep your job

 

[eieio]

likui, can become a solo artist? or choose your own players?

 

[Likui]

ya i became a solo artist, my band mate is my ipod i put my backing track in it. unfortunately some organisers do not except my band mate

 

[thelaggyspy]

Hello everyone. my name is djasli. some of you might know me. if you don't, count your lucky stars....

Well, As long as a person can teach me techniques and he could personally play well.I do not care about his/her credentials.Besides,playing guitar cannot be taught.It can only be practiced. Only the technique can be taught but other than that its sheer practice.

 

[eieio]

ya i became a solo artist, my band mate is my ipod i put my backing track in it. unfortunately some organisers do not except my band mate

that is a start, take it as an opportunity to organize your own gigs with ipod
meet more musicians who use ipod as their garage band mate, ask apple to sponsor?

 

[Likui]

Well, As long as a person can teach me techniques and he could personally play well.I do not care about his/her credentials.Besides,playing guitar cannot be taught.It can only be practiced. Only the technique can be taught but other than that its sheer practice.

there's something important about practice that can be taught it's called practice technique. That's the reason why some ppl can learn a song in a week and some can't although both practice for the same amount of time everyday. Very important thing how to practice.

 

[Likui]

that is a start, take it as an opportunity to organize your own gigs with ipod
meet more musicians who use ipod as their garage band mate, ask apple to sponsor?

that's hard, in singapore i don't see many people playing instrumental rock live as compared to bands with singers. I haven't come across anyone who uses ipod to play with their guitars live. For singers who can't find bandmates well they can just go ktv with their friends lol.

 

[Whitestrat]

that's hard, in singapore i don't see many people playing instrumental rock live as compared to bands with singers.

I did.

Entered the Yamaha Band Competition (now known as Asian Beat) back in the late 90s. 3 piece prog instrumental band. Made it into the semi-finals somemore. Chose a poorly arranged song for the semis and didn't make it to the finals. Oh well. It was fun.

That said, I can no longer play what I did in the heats or the semi finals. Too technical for me now. Can only play in 4/4 or 3/4 these days... Hahahhaa...

 

[Whitestrat]

Well, As long as a person can teach me techniques and he could personally play well.I do not care about his/her credentials.Besides,playing guitar cannot be taught.It can only be practiced. Only the technique can be taught but other than that its sheer practice.

That's the simple way of looking at it. What makes a good instructor great, is something that goes deeper. Any clown can teach you how to pick a note or strum a chord. A great instructor will teach you what to do with that note, and how to make it sing.

Learning the guitar is about practice. But developing yourself as a musician, on the other hand, is entirely different. Classical pianists that are good enough to enter the Royal Music College in London are beyond grade 8. They are not only taught how to read and play a demanding classical piece, they are also taught and guided on how to interpret the music, and how to bring out the best of the music using THEIR unique talents. That's why there is a huge difference from a Julliard graduated concert pianist, and a Yamaha Grade 8 student.

That is something 99% of guitar instructors in Singapore lack.

I played with a guitarist once. Completely technical. fine. totally accurate. fine. But lacking in character. Asking him to bend a note sounded like just a simple bend. No story was told in that one bend. Nothing engaging. Completely boring. He had abolutely no clue what he was doing, or rather, WHY he was doing what he was doing. Just running licks mindlessly. No structure, no character, no form.

Yet he also teaches students. I shudder to think of what they might end up becoming when they learn from him. People who don't even know what they're doing shouldnot be teaching. And no, being able to play well is not an indication.

I'm not even talking about "feel" here. I'm talking about application. Knowing what to do, when to do it, and how to do it best. You want to bend? Fine. What do you want your bend to say? What do you want your audience to envision when they hear that bend? Apprehension? Anticipation? Relaxed? What? THINK about what you want to play before you play it. You will make a lot of sense. Same applies to talking. What that guy was playing? Was garbage.

That was taught to me by a GREAT instructor a long time back. Made me rethink what I was doing. A great instructor is able to help you with your mistakes. He can tell what you're doing wrong just by looking and guide you to ensure you don't pick up bad habits. he can explain to you WHY you sholdn't be doing what you're doing.

Remember, guys, it's easy to wow a noob or a casual listener. It's a lot harder to impress and experienced listener/guitarist.

Ever wondered why I've been playing for 20 years yet I refused to accept students? (yes, I've been asked from time to time) I only agree to give pointers. Not teach per se. I cannot teach what I do not know. And I don't know A LOT.