Guitar Instruction

I was approached by the adult son of a friend to teach him to play guitar. He says he tried to teach himself while in college. He knows a few basic chords and can read tabs. He doesn't read standard music. Having never actually taught anyone from scratch other than working with my kids a bit, I'm looking for suggestions on teaching material for a guy in his late 20's. Mel Bay has a few technique/instructional books for older beginners. Does anyone have any experience in this type of situation? I need to keep it basic, but yet keep it geared up and interesting for an adult. Any suggestions?

I tried to teach a guy beginning guitar 30ish years ago; I'm no help to you.

GrtBill,
Actually I have done this type of instruction. It's best to have a discussion with the student to learn what THEY want to learn from you. Then you can begin to set realistic expectations for both of you.

You might start by asking the student to list 3 things they want to learn in 3 months, and how much time are they willing to practice, e.g. 30 min/day? 3 days/wk? etc. Then ask more specific questions such as to they want to learn to read standard notation music? Basic music theory? Specific songs? Learn more chords, e.g barre chords? Learn the basic notes on the fretboard in the first 3 frets? etc.

As for books, buy one that YOU understand how it goes about explaining things. If those are things the student wants, then there's your instruction book!
-NW Harry

Well, I started the lessons the other night. Both I and the student thought it went well. I picked up an instruction book that geared towards young adults which is pretty basic and straight forward. The book will give me a structure to follow and keep me from going off on tangents.

Our one hour lesson took two hours, but as they say, "Time flies when you're having fun". He had already taught himself a lot of the 1st position chords, i.e., A, C, D, E and G. What he neglected to teach himself were any of the notes, so when he played a C chord he had no idea which notes were involved.

Harry, you had some good ideas. I think we discussd most of them in the two hours. I like the "3 things in 3 months" question; I'll have to try that next week.

The good thing is he seems to be a quick learner who has the interest. it doesn't look like practicing will be a problem. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but it should be a good experience for both of us.

Another good thing is that he is the son of a friend, so there is no way I want to charge him for the lessons. I'd be happy just to have him learn. The student just happens to be a golf pro, so he suggested providing me with golf lessons as compensation. It sounds like a win/win situation.

I'll have to see who is the more successful teacher as well as student.

gtrbill wrote:I was approached by the adult son of a friend to teach him to play guitar. He says he tried to teach himself while in college. He knows a few basic chords and can read tabs. He doesn't read standard music. Having never actually taught anyone from scratch other than working with my kids a bit, I'm looking for suggestions on teaching material for a guy in his late 20's. Mel Bay has a few technique/instructional books for older beginners. Does anyone have any experience in this type of situation? I need to keep it basic, but yet keep it geared up and interesting for an adult. Any suggestions?

grtbill,

Just a question. Does your friend want to learn to be a guitar player or does he want to sing some favorite songs and accompany himself on the guitar. I've been down this road before and after a few lessons most of my friends really wanted to be able to sing and play with others. If this is the case I believe you will get a flood of ideas.

Good Luck, Al