by Glen McCarthy | Oct 13, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Tips + Tricks
Motivation happens when the teachers feed the dreams of their students. I find that students are more into performances when I refer to concerts as “shows”. Most guitar students can (and do) visualize themselves playing an electric guitar in a band, on stage, in front...
by Glen McCarthy | Oct 6, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Tips + Tricks
Adding new students to the guitar class after several weeks of school starting is a bad idea for everyone involved, and yet it happens. Have a plan in place how to deal with students who join the class after the class has learned all of the notes on the first three...
by Glen McCarthy | Sep 15, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Tips + Tricks
Most of your students will excel at guitar, but some are going to discover playing the guitar is far harder than imagined and just give up. Don’t let them ruin it for the rest of the class. Negativity from one or two discouraged students can spread throughout...
by Glen McCarthy | Aug 19, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Tips + Tricks
Let your classroom know what they sound like. Try recording your class sessions once you have gotten a semester underway and play the recording back so that you and your students can objectively review and discuss what they performed (either solo or ensemble pieces)...
by Glen McCarthy | Aug 6, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Tips + Tricks
If a student by nature demonstrates poor left or right hand technique, that poor technique will become permanent if not fixed from the beginning. Teaching proper left and right hand technique from the beginning is extremely important. Far too many teachers ignore poor...
by Glen McCarthy | Jul 15, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Tips + Tricks
The guitar is a very visual instrument. Unlike a band class, it is possible to see a guitar student making a mistake from a long distance away. It is necessary to listen with both ears and eyes. It is also helpful to have the “short” music stands in the classroom as...
