Category : Teaching and Learning

Just open the case

You’d think it wouldn’t be that simple. But as soon as the case is open, you’re looking at the guitar. And as soon as you’re looking at the the guitar, it’s difficult to not pick it up. Once you do, it’s difficult to not start playing it.

And now you have to make a decision.

What’s your intention for picking up the guitar. Fun? Improvement? Those two things don’t always go together.

If it’s for fun, you usually play stuff you already know. If it’s to get better, you generally need to work on new stuff, listen to new stuff, work on new ideas. 

That can feel like work. One of my college students once told me that I had taken something he loved, and turned it into homework. 

The plateau

Not looking at new things can lead to complaints of reaching a plateau, of not progressing, either technically or creatively. You just stay where you are, playing and making stuff that doesn’t feel much different than what you’ve already been playing and making for a long time.

So, how do you get to the point where you feel like you’re progressing?

It’s pretty simple. Stop playing stuff you already know, and seek out stuff you don’t. 

Deliberate practice 

Which leads to the idea of deliberate practice, something many people aren’t willing to do. Here’s what I mean when I say “deliberate practice.” This is from Ethan Mollick’s book on AI.

“Imagine two students: Sophie and Naomi. Sophie spends her afternoons playing the same pieces she’s comfortable with over and over again. She might do this for hours on end, believing that sheer repetition will improve her skills. She feels a sense of accomplishment as she gets better and better at this work. Naomi, on the other hand, conducts her practice sessions under the guidance of a seasoned piano instructor. She begins by playing scales and then moves on to progressively more challenging pieces. When she makes mistakes, her instructor points them out, not to chastise her but to help her understand and rectify them. Naomi also regularly sets goals for herself, like mastering a particularly tricky section of a piece or improving her speed and agility on certain passages. The process is much less fun than Sophie’s experience, because Naomi’s challenges escalate with her skill, making sure she is always facing some degree of difficulty. Yet over time, even if both students clock in the same number of practice hours, Naomi will surpass Sophie in skill, precision, and technique. This difference in approach and outcome illustrates the gap between mere repetition and deliberate practice. The latter, with its elements of challenge, feedback, and incremental progression, is the true path to mastery.”

In other words, practice stuff you’re not already good at. No, it’s not always fun, but experiencing yourself getting better is worth it. 

Listen to stuff you don’t like, and ask yourself, “What makes this good?” Does it feel like you’re threatening your identity as a hardcore metalhead, a pure-hearted folkie, a whatever? Don’t worry. Nobody’s watching. And you might learn something about your own tastes.

As you get better technically, as you accept other approaches, your creativity will soar. You will be able to do things you couldn’t do before. You will get ideas you never knew existed. That’s exciting. That’s worth the exploration.

It’s really about getting your brain moving down different pathways, to stop thinking the way you normally think.

Consider all that for a bit, and then check out the next post.

Teaching rhythmic notation in guitar lessons

Some teachers avoid theory in guitar lessons in favour of giving students something they like. No note-reading or rhythmic notation unless the student is interested in doing that.

I get it. Make sure you give them what they want so that they enjoy themselves, have a positive experience, and keep coming back.

But this can go too far, and it’s not necessary to eliminate all vestiges of theory. This strikes me as an unreasonable fear of losing students.

Beginners

I take the following approach with beginners.

At the beginning of guitar lessons, I do what the teachers I mention above do: give them only what they want, and help them make sounds that they like. Students need to be motivated, and guitar is hard enough without being made to learn notation right at the beginning. It’s ok if the first six months are nothing but song after song, slowly adding more challenges.

But once they get to a certain level, rhythmic notation can be introduced without fear. I find that, in general, students like to have some technical know-how. Rhythmic notation is relatively easy to learn, and it provides vocabulary for discussing more interesting rhythmic topics. Notes can wait; rhythm doesn’t need to. Besides, it can be enjoyable.

Here’s what I do.

Clapping quarter notes

During guitar lessons, have the student clap at an even tempo that is comfortable for them. Then find that tempo on a metronome, and have them clap to the metronome. Tell them that you’re going to write down the rhythm that they’re playing, then do so. Make sure that they keep playing as you do this. This provides instant visual feedback for what they’re doing, and connects their bodily movement with the parts of the brain that process symbols.

Give them vocabulary for what they’re doing, and for what you’re writing. For instance, “You’re clapping quarter notes, and this is what quarter notes look like.”

Clapping eighth notes

Now have them clap twice as fast; keep the metronome on quarter notes. This gives them the sound of notes between quarter notes. Make sure they’re clapping evenly. If necessary, have the metronome play the eighth notes, or clap along with the student  to model the correct placement.

As they’re clapping, write down eighth notes, and give them vocabulary for what they’re doing as you did with quarter notes. Change tempos so that they can get a feeling, both physically and emotionally, for what that is like.

Once they can clap eighth notes in a few different tempos, place quarter rests in the flow of notes on the page. Do this gradually. They should be able to play a rhythmic figure with a single quarter-note rest in a single bar. Have them loop the bar until they can do it easily. Do it in different tempos.

Now play that same rhythm on the guitar.

So now you’ve covered quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests. They will now have a solid physical and cognitive understanding of these concepts. The key is to have them clapping or playing at all times during the process of learning.

You’ve also given them some independence, since they’re now able to pick up guitar books, and understand what’s going on. This is the aim of guitar lessons – give the student the means to learn for themselves.

Breaking things down

As a teacher, you must be able to break down even the most seemingly easy exercises.

One of the easiest things to do on the guitar is to play the open high E string with a pick. Only your picking hand is involved, and you only need to play one string.

But problems can emerge and the teacher needs to be prepared for them. Simply finding the string with the pick can be difficult. This is a basic spatial problem. For anyone who hasn’t picked up a guitar before, this can be difficult.

If the student has difficulty with this, have them look at the string, place the pick on the string, and then play the string. Once you have played the string, bring the pick back to the string and briefly rest there. Then play. Repeat until this is easy. Then do the same thing with eyes closed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That will fix the problem. Do this with all the strings.

 

Playing from string to string

The next step is to move from string to string. Begin by using adjacent strings – E and B; B and G; G and D; D and A; A and E – and simply play one and then the other. Make sure to rest briefly on each string before playing it.

 

 

Pressing frets

For beginners, the 8th fret is a good place to start since it’s easier to press the string into the fretboard than at the 1st fret. Most teachers start in first position, and then move up the fingerboard after that. Reversing this makes the process less frustrating.

Have the student press the string at fret 8 at the front, middle, and back of the fret, and play each time, making sure that their finger is in the proper curved position, looking as though it’s holding a grapefruit.

Which place on the fret is easiest to press down? Which sounds best? Get them to do this with each finger.

Once they can do this, get them to move from one fretted note to another, using different fingers. For instance, play the 8th fret with the index finger, and then play the 9th fret with the middle finger. Continue with the ring finger at the 10th fret and the pinky at the 11th fret.

 

 

Moving from open string to fretted note

The student needs to feel comfortable moving smoothly from an open string to a fretted note. Try the following:

Play from the open E string to the note at fret 5. Play the  E string, rest for a beat, press  fret, play fretted note.

 

Repeat until it sounds smooth. Once mastered, play alternating half notes. For example, alternate the E string with fretting the 5th fret.

 

 

This requires more coordination; the student has to time the pick-stroke with each note. This is especially difficult when fretting; the pick has to meet the string just as the finger presses the note down. The slower you do this, the easier you can hear when it doesn’t work.

When half notes are mastered, move on to alternating quarter notes.

 

One string melody

Now introduce a simple, one-string melody.

 

 

Two string melody

Now get them to play a melody between adjacent strings. 

The point of all this is to demonstrate how to break down something that seems to need very little explanation. Most skills developed on the guitar benefit from this type of scrutiny.

Lessons in university

I taught guitar in university for ten years. Since there were playing exams at the end of every term, I devised a curriculum that I could test. This involved the students learning chords, arpeggios, scales, etc. and being able to use this material playing pieces and improvising.

By the middle of the term, students knew pretty well everything they needed for the exam. All they needed to do was work on it to bring it up to a high standard. Students came in each week to check with me that everything was going ok.

Except for one guy who would reliably miss lessons just before the exam. One term he missed five in a row.

My obvious concern was that he would fail the exam. This caused me quite a bit of stress; I really want my students to do well.

He came into the exam and totally nailed it. Other students who reliably showed up for lessons didn’t do as well. One of them failed. What was going on?

Well, two things. First of all, this guy practiced. He came to lessons until he was sure that he had all the information he needed, and then he just worked on it. And he worked on it a lot if the exam results are any indication.

The second reason was more compelling, at least for me: my lessons weren’t interesting enough to show up for. I was basically drilling students on what they needed to know, and giving feedback.

But there was no creative work. I wasn’t discussing ideas, having them write their own exercises, or expand on the material I gave them. None of it was theirs. It was just me saying “Do this,” and then standing in judgement.

For some students, drilling is what they need. In a university environment with timelines and tests and grading, the drilling/feedback model makes sense. Some students just want to get the mark and get out.

But music is about expressing yourself and making things, whether you’re improvising or writing pieces. It isn’t hard to make that part of every lesson. All you have to do is ask, “How would you do this?” Get them to think. Get them to make things.

For some people, it takes longer to buy into this; thinking is harder than just doing what you’re told. But once it kicks in, students come to lessons more engaged and energized. They know that they have responsibility for what they’re learning, and they know that i’m going to give them support and encouragement for the work (or is it play?) they’re doing.

Why teach?

Poet William Butler Yeats said the following: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” I love this, because It implies the discovery-making process for the student, the excitement of encountering new things.

For the teacher, it implies a focus on discovering the interests of the student, and using those interests to establish a relationship in which the student feels valued and heard.

Why teach?

There are many reasons to teach, but for me, it comes down to one thing: the opportunity to have a positive impact on someone’s life. Having that gives me a sense of purpose.

Having a positive impact means helping students:

• build confidence
• nurture a sense of self-worth
• love learning
• be able to deal with failure
• become satisfied, well-rounded people

As for me, I get to

• spend time with interesting people
• have a positive impact on the lives of others
• learn more about myself and the needs of others
• grow and to stretch as a teacher and musician
• become a better communicator
• find the key to each student’s growth

Doing this is a privilege. In order to do it well, I strive to bring these qualities to do the work:

• kindness
• patience
• clarity
• empathy
• and as the following quote implies, an open mind

“Take risks. Try new things. Encourage creativity. Learn from your students. Expect a lot. But always allow for the unexpected. Don’t be afraid to give your students control, because you will often be surprised at the direction their hearts, thoughts, and dreams will take them… and you.” Angie Miller, English and Language Arts teacher.