YAMMT (you are my music teacher)!

April 5, 2019 4:50 PM

A good friend's teenage son has taken an interest in learning to play the guitar. Since I play, he has asked me to teach him the basics. I'm looking for suggestions from other players on what to cover.

I'm self-taught and not a professional music teacher. I don't even know the notes (although I do for piano and have a good understanding of music theory). So far, we've gone over the parts of the guitar, how to care for it, how to place your fingers on the neck and hold the instrument. Next up, we covered E, A and D chords and practicing playing them to a beat to help learn. I've giving him other basic chords to learn and he seems to be getting a bit better at it each time we get together. Next up, I'm going to show how to change the strings. Of course, the biggest thing I stress each time is PRACTICE.

Are there other things that I can teach that would help a casual player to learn. Things that beginners do that should be avoided. I figure that if he gets to a point that he is playing good, he can look for a regular teacher to continue.

posted by jabo to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Show him how to find tabs on ultimate-guitar.com and then how to read the tabs.
posted by humboldt32 at 5:29 PM on April 5, 2019 [2 favorites]

Simple fingering exercises (drills, not finger picking) to strengthen and improve accuracy are great to do when you're starting out, building good habits on hand position.
posted by ananci at 5:41 PM on April 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'd say teach some songs that resonate with him and motivate him to play further. Motivation is a big part of it. Anything in particular he wants to learn as a goal? Doesn't have to be new stuff, maybe he's into Zep or Queen. Catch on to that and leverage it. Chords are fine at first, teach him that you can solo around those chords.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:52 PM on April 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Don’t skip at least a little time on scales and arpeggios.
Learning to read a fake book is pretty cool and useful too.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:29 PM on April 5, 2019

I wish someone had shown me power chords and the blues box when I was first starting out.
posted by Pecinpah at 10:35 PM on April 5, 2019

Justin at justinguitar.com does a good job of laying out a progression for learning guitar. Take some time to look through his material for ideas. See especially his recommendations for practice routines.
posted by doctord at 9:54 AM on April 6, 2019

Learning and playing a song you really like is an awesome feeling. Maybe ask him what bands he is into?
posted by xammerboy at 2:27 PM on April 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Yes definitely find out what he likes. I used to have teenage students and even though I didn’t care much for Green Day, I learned a song and wrote it out and centered the lessons for one kid around that. Also , for learning to change chords on the beat and play arpeggios, House of The Rising Sun is hard to beat.
posted by freecellwizard at 4:30 PM on April 6, 2019 [1 favorite]