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DESPERATELY SEEKING: Guitar teachers

In: Guest blogging, Rocking in the free world Tuesday Aug 5,2008

I remember one day I stumbled upon IG’s blog on the internet and I was just amazed of how well the audience followed his blog. I couldn’t stop asking myself why this was happening, especially since I was on my own quest of building an audience for myself, so I subscribed to his feeds to see why. Soon, I have understood it and ever since I read his blog almost every single day. Now, because I am away, he was very kind to lend me a hand here. So, without any more words, I give you IG!

Howdy Guitar Flame readers. This is IG here, of IG BLOG, guest posting for Ovidiu. Thanks for having me!

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the serious need for guitar teachers.

Consider this: The last time the U.S. instrument industry reported sales results, sales of acoustic guitars in the $350 price range decreased by almost 15 percent from the previous year. Sales of electric guitars in the same price point declined by 24 percent from previous record levels. That’s almost one third.

Why am I talking about cheap guitars? Because that’s the kind of guitar that is typically purchased by the first-time guitar player, the newbie. This group of folks is the new generation, the ones who will continue the tradition of guitar playing. And the numbers suggest they are not very happy right now.

Why not?

A recent American Music Conference survey on music-making asked people to list the barriers that kept them from taking up a musical instrument.” The top response was “inability to find a good teacher,” which rated well ahead of “lack of time,” “it’s too hard to learn,” “can’t afford an instrument,” and “don’t have enough talent.”

Access to decent guitar instruction is critical for those who want to play guitar and are looking to take the next step to act on their dream.

And the weird thing is that the guitar industry is not doing anything about this. I remember the music shop close to my house when I was a guitar hungry teenager. Although I didn’t quite realize at the time, the guitar lessons I took at the shop were critical for me to stick with guitar. But, over the past decade, thousands of similar independent shops that offered lessons have shut down, mainly due to instrument sales competition from Guitar Center and internet retailers.

And this is the nail in the coffin right here: You Google “guitar teacher” and the city of your choice, and you’re likely to get an endless list of online teaching methods that don’t relate at all to the frame of mind of a beginner. Because there is no substitute for the living and breathing guitar teacher when it comes to going from “I just bought my first guitar” to “I can play a cool three-chord song.”

A three-chord song.

Teach a beginner a three chord song, and you’ve just build his or her interest to play guitar for a really long time. There are hundreds of thousands guitar players capable of teaching three-chord songs and inspiring a lifetime of playing. But, somehow, I just don’t see our current guitar selling infrastructure connecting these guitar leaders with the newbies.

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12 Responses to “DESPERATELY SEEKING: Guitar teachers”

DESPERATELY SEEKING: Guitar teachers « IG BLOG (guitar - life)
August 5th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

[…] the guitar industry and apparatus is failing in the post-sale customer service area. Check it out here if you get a chance. When I mention in the post the words “guitar leaders,” I think of […]
jason
August 5th, 2008 at 10:47 pm

Preach on brother….

One of the things that has helped my studio, but at the same time, reflects the change in the industry from when we were teenagers is the Guitar Center phenom….

When we were teens, there were several music stores around the city and all taught guitar/bass. However, when GC came along, they ran the small shops out of business. What they don’t do is teach though.

So i’m able to pick up a lot of students, but we don’t have the mom & pop stores around any more.
Sammy
August 5th, 2008 at 10:57 pm

With the ease at finding free information (lessons, tablature, chord charts, scale charts, video lessons, etc.) on the web, this surprises me.
Ovidiu
August 6th, 2008 at 8:12 am

Sammy, I think not everybody is able to learn by reading tabs, I think a guitar teacher means a lot for some people. Personally I have never had a guitar teacher, but I know people who can not learn like this.
Robert Irizarry
August 6th, 2008 at 1:24 pm

Really enjoyed the guest post IG!

Unfortunately, I’m not surprised about the declining sales in low end guitars. With the big guys seemingly focused on selling big buck guitars to the star struck and the collector, the fast dollar is winning over building long term customers.

It reminds me of the situation the current American car companies are in. While the Japanese spent years building the hybrid market, the American car companies built one lumbering SUV after another catering only to the immediate. Now those SUV’s sit idle in car dealer lots while hybrids are flying off the shelves, so to speak.

At what point will folks get tired of paying a premium for someone’s name on a guitar or collectors move on to some other item?
Keith Moore
August 8th, 2008 at 9:09 am

I agree that GC and the Internet are putting the squeeze on Mom & Pop stores (the boss at the one I teach at complains about them regularly–band instrument rentals brings in most of the revenue, I think), but the business of guitar instruction seems bigger to me than it was even twenty years ago. Publishing, DVDs, online resources for lessons, even illegal tabs can motivate beginners. And here in the Bay Area, there are more than enough teachers to start a softball league! However, finding a QUALIFIED teacher is another story…
Justin @ GG
August 11th, 2008 at 4:32 pm

Ive become pretty good friends with my guitar instructor and Ive gathered that living where we live (a major city) its not hard to find students but its hard to find the students who really want to learn. Most students he has start to flake out after a month and its unfortunate because he really loves teaching guitar. So in his downtime I have him video recording lessons and helping build him a good website so he can hopefully help out more people online. In-person lessons arent the only way to go anymore it seems.
Frank
August 12th, 2008 at 6:13 pm

Wonderful post — I actually can relate, but I want to introduce another aspect to this…

I spent some time with a guitar teacher, and what I learned from him was invaluable.

The problem that I had was eventually the teaching wasn’t good enough. I worked with him for about 3 or 4 months. I didn’t like how he was trying to teach and I think it ultimately got in the way… I’ve actually tried two teachers. The first teacher I couldn’t work with at all – I had one lesson, and that was it. The second teacher is the one I worked with for a few months.

So, another question I’d like to pose is how does one find a quality guitar teacher in an environment like this (with those previously mentioned shops)?

Everyone has had the teacher in school (not music, I mean high school or college) where they felt like that teacher was really, really good at teaching, you could just connect with him or her. Those “good” teachers were like 1 in 25 or something.

That is what I need in a guitar teacher. A teacher that is really good and really passionate about teaching. I’m in the chicagoland area; there are a ton of teachers but I don’t know how to evaluate their ability to teach and I hesitate to start with another one…

I was hoping to find one of those shops that you’ve mentioned in the post because I figured professional full time guitar teachers would be better at it then those moonlighting as guitar teachers. There is nothing wrong with teaching on the side – I just think one who spends full time teaching will be more invested in teaching…

Both of the previous teachers I’ve tried did it “on the side.”
The trip is over, back to blogging! | Guitar tabs,electric guitars,acoustic guitars
August 13th, 2008 at 8:23 pm

[…] big thanks to IG for his great post about seeking guitar teachers that got quite a few good page views while I was away! Thanks, man! I owe you […]
Tennyson Williams
August 14th, 2008 at 8:38 pm

Its true. It goes back to that whole “give a man a fish” thing. I think its important to also convey in students how they might teach themselves along the way. I try and do this with my readers as much as possible, by showing the connections between different musical styles and approaches. Great post IG - you speak pure wisdom.
Your Guitar Teacher
August 21st, 2008 at 9:56 am

Really a nice post!!
To learn a new instrument usually is a little challenging for the people. Learning to play the guitar is not so hard but it will be when we first begin. It can be mastered in no time.
How many guitars are sold on eBay? (stats) | Guitar tabs,electric guitars,acoustic guitars
September 17th, 2008 at 9:45 am

[…] websites Wednesday Sep 17,2008 Following 2 articles on this blog, Jack Pribek’s and IG’s guest posts here’s another statistic chart about acoustic guitars being sold (on eBay this time). It is […]

DESPERATELY SEEKING: Guitar teachers

12 Responses to “DESPERATELY SEEKING: Guitar teachers”

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