Find a Good Guitar Teacher
Does a good teacher have to be a good player?
The majority of people searching for a guitar teacher in Philadelphia typically know very little about the guitar other than their desire to learn how to play. You can take guitar lessons for a while before realizing that the instruction you had been given was quite poor. Finding a good guitar teacher can be a challenge but putting the effort into researching candidates will be worth it in the end. It is far better to start with the best teacher you can find in your area so you can develop a good foundation instead of correcting bad habits later on.
This leads us to the question; does a good teacher have to be a good player in order for you to learn? The most important quality in a good teacher is that they are qualified to teach the instrument. If someone does not possess the knowledge to teach, it doesn’t matter how well they can play the guitar. A good teacher should be someone whose qualifications include academic achievements such as degrees and diplomas, playing experience and playing ability.
The best way to judge a teacher is by their academic qualifications. The higher the level of degree a guitar teacher has, the higher the possibility that they possess the knowledge required to be a good teacher. Does having a degree guarantee that someone is a good teacher, however? No, it doesn’t.
In guitar, just like all subjects, there is a great variety in the quality of education provided by different universities and music schools. Studying with someone who had a good degree from a respected school is no guarantee that they are a good teacher. Maybe they have not had a good teacher at the school or may lack teaching ability. Studying at an institution does show a level of commitment toward the instrument and at any school, a certain level of knowledge and playing ability is required to graduate. This is at least an assurance that someone with a degree knows how to teach you how to play.
A good guitar teacher does, in fact, have to be a good player in order to teach but not all good players are good teachers. See the difference here? Granted you have to be able to do something well in order to teach it. But regardless of how good you are at something, you may lack the skills to actually teach what you know to someone. Some teachers prefer to concentrate on teaching rather than performing and there is nothing wrong with that.
Playing ability is a qualification similar to academic qualifications. Not every good player is a good teacher. Like academic accomplishments, playing ability is one of the easier qualifications to evaluate in a prospective teacher. Have high criteria when deciding who a good player is and try to find the best guitarist in your city. While they may not all be good teachers if you can try a lesson with several of the better players you should be able to find one who is a good teacher.