Great Guitar Teacher in Philly
How to find a good guitar teacher
Most people who decide to learn the guitar will benefit from having a teacher. A good teacher can direct your attention to the work you need to be doing the most. They will help you avoid forming bad habits, place you along a smooth path of learning, keep you motivated and hold you accountable for achieving your practice goals.
How to find a great teacher
Qualifications and Experience
The first thing to consider when choosing a teacher is their qualifications and experience. Positive qualifications include:
- Experience teaching music
- A bachelor’s degree or higher in music
- Professional experience in performing or recording music
Attitude
While there are many people who are very good at playing the guitar, only a few are good at teaching. It is very difficult to make a living in the arts and as a result, there are many people teaching music who do not really want to. They make lack a genuine interest in teaching you how to play the guitar. You need to find a teacher who views teaching you as a job and not an inconvenience.
Popular
Good teachers are normally busy. Establishing a teaching practice takes years of patience so look for a teacher that has a lot of loyal and committed students.
Signs of a great teacher
Great teachers show enthusiasm for the progress of their students, give their students specific feedback, assign exercises to improve areas needing development, and attempt to create continuity from one lesson to the next. Better teachers strive to help their students reach new levels of playing ability. A good teacher is proud to teach and it shows.
Policies
A teacher likely has policies in place to protect their professional integrity and to share responsibility with students. Be prepared to accept that studying with a credible teacher means agreeing to specific terms of payments, missed lessons, and makeup lessons, and being held to them. The fact that lessons are one-on-one leads some students to assume that there is a degree of flexibility with scheduling and payment. Makeup lessons requests can be unfairly burdensome.
Personality match
It is worth considering the personality fit between you and your teacher. It is best to work with a teacher with whom you get along well, and who you feel inspires you to reach a new level of guitar playing ability.
Where to look for a teacher
Asking around is a must. If you know any music educators, ask for leads. Do not assume that the teacher you’re looking for will be at a music learning center or in the back of some store waiting for you. Look for teachers who are active and highly rated on Yelp or Google. If you are lucky and willing to travel a bit, you’ll likely find a great teacher in any major metropolitan area.