I totally get this. Teaching one-to-one can get very boring actually. The same songs, the same types of kids, the same scenarios, over and over. Teaching is spending all of your time, enabling other people, to do the things that you wish you had time to do yourself. Teaching can be very rewarding, but it can also be a real grind.
Yeah I agree I teach about 36 students a week. Sometimes it's so demoralising especially when kids don't practice. However compared to quite a lot of my friends my job comparatively is way more interesting and fun.
I have been a private guitar/bass guitar teacher in Orlando since 1996. As much as I love teaching music, I have to agree with all of the points you've made on the things you do not miss about teaching. I would be remiss in not mentioning one more item: The adult student who doesn't practice or refuses to practice their lessons, because of their preconceived notions about what he/she can or cannot, will or will not do - then blaming me because they haven't progressed in their lessons. Narcissistic students are the worst. It is truly difficult to make a living as a guitar teacher now. The world of music desperately needs new guitar hero's - because without them, there is very little motivation for young students. Is guitar a dying art?
Amen! I have a video on the queue close to that point you made. It'll be out in the near future. An older brain is sometimes slower to catch on but that should also mean they now have the wisdom to know it takes time to get good at anything.
@@TheArtofGuitar Hey Mike, it's nice to be validated sometimes by other guitar teachers who have endured the not-so-great parts about teaching music. Looking forward to the next video on this. Thanks! Dave
I used to teach here in Colorado, and I actually had a 14 year-old tell me that what I was teaching him was actually making him worse and he wanted a refund. Turned out he just got his first girlfriend, and wanted the money (his parents paid, not him) to upgrade his wardrobe 🙄
I took bass lessons for almost 6 years, and never practiced. Felt awful about it every time, but I just got frustrated, since I wasn’t instantly amazing at it, it wasn’t any fun. Then all my friends formed a band and they invited me to join, but I wasn’t good enough because I never practiced. Talk about motivation! I’ll never forget the look on my teacher’s face the first day I showed up, actually having practiced, with a newfound enthusiasm for learning and passion for playing. 20 years later and I’m still rocking out. Thanks for being patient with me, Mr. Charlsen!
I think what you described is accurate for most kids taking lessons. It's not till you join a band that will get you motivated to play. I did the same thing and for me, it's more of a challenge to be the best at something in a group of friends so that really motivated me to practice. Now I'm a pretty good guitarist lol
@@jazzyhalf Could be true. I started out playing trombone in middle school, so that was in band by default. I loved practicing, and I enjoyed our few performances each year. Never had an issue with guitar either, but I started playing as a hobby in college (I had a job, and could finally afford to buy stuff). Never played guitar in a band, but I still loved to play. And since I was paying for it out of pocket, I definitely practiced in between lessons.
Ive been learning guitar from the same teacher for over a year now. I do hope teaching me isn't boring for him. I also make sure to show up to every lesson having fully learnt the song/part we were practicing and then some, basically telling him that I care about guitar. And my music taste includes old rock songs which of course he loves aswell so that makes lessons much quicker and efficient. God bless him, he turned me from downpicking an entire rift to fluently alt picking solos
I did it full time for about 8 years with 136 kids a week at the height of it all. My least favourite things: Chasing parents for money. Lack of practice. Playing E A D for 8 hours a day. Junk guitars that wouldn't stay in tune that were gifted to little kids by well meaning relatives. On the upside, every now and again you'd get a kid who took what you taught them, and take it to the next level.
It's kind of scary when you extrapolate this to education in general. In every 100, 99 are going to be talentless, don't care, and have no potential. The world needs ditch diggers I guess.
Love this! I wish I could've taken lessons at a younger age, I still have a student statement from my school when I was aged 12 and in it I state that I would like to learn guitar. I have my struggles with practice these days for many reasons, but I just know it would've had a good effect on me back then, I might not be a totally different person but I might have become more like what I am now sooner in my life. That being said, later is better than never and my journey to learn has brought me so much already, some great experiences but even greater friends. Looking forward to the companion video :-)
Geezuzf*ck, i wish you were my teacher 30 odd years ago... I was a rocker at the time and my "teacher" was a jazzhead with a headless steinberger. To say the least, this arrangement didn't work out. And I just watched your video on older students, being 51 and learning how to replay the bass, actually made me understand myself little bit more. Many thanks to you, young lad. Subscribed🙂
I was probably a terrible student. I never practised anything my teacher set me. It was a super relaxed environment so i never felt bad and I was one the best guitarists at college so I must been doing something right. Honestly, one on one guitar lessons were fine but the one thing that made me improve more than the 2-3 years private lessons was suddernly be thrown in the deep end playing with guys lightyears better than me.Trying to keep up with people much better than you is the biggest motivator ever and i improved so much just being around highly skilled musicians.
That’s how learning guitar was essentially for me. I’m a horrible music student and found my progress came from just going into the deep end from the get go. Sure I sounded like alley cats having water thrown at them for a time, but finally one day everything literally just clicked. I was able to recognize chord progressions from other songs and the muscle memory of where each fret is just finally stuck. And it all came from learning to play stuff like Jake E Lee, Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen. Just coming back to songs time and time again and I’d get a little better each new attempt.
I have been a violin teacher for around 20 years and I can really to many of your points. The reason for me to quit teaching and to focus on a normal daily job (insurance employee) was the financial risk of teaching. As you say every student counts and how can you feed your family if you loose some students? I could not sleep well anymore especially after I got own children, so sometimes I think about to start again as a teacher, but certainly only as sideline job.
Teaching anything is a regular job- When I retired I taught guitar, songwriting and uke for The University of the Third Age(UK) once a week but with decompressing, prep and teaching two groups a week my songwriting went to the wall!
What a wild journey you’ve been on. The description of the tiny box room gave me anxiety lol. I have massive respect for anyone who teaches… it’s incredibly difficult.
When I was getting into learning drums from a teacher and then eventually guitar from the same one, I didn’t realize how close I could get with a teacher. It’s more than a traditional school teacher relationship because you’re one on one every lesson and you get to have regular conversations. Some of my favorite memories learning drums and guitar from a teacher was talking about bands or albums we’d gotten into and showing each other. Techniques, players, bands, songs, albums, all of it. Such an amazing experience that is worth it for more than learning your instrument
What I enjoyed about teaching was when I got that rare pupil that decided to take music at school or joined a band and I could teach them what I am interested in songwriting, arrangements and theory but you have to sit through all the kids that don't practice and worse those who are being forced to be there
I took piano as a kid but bounced off it. But then in high school I studied drums and really got into it. I’m honestly not very good at it, but I really like it, even if it’s “only” a hobby.
I just want to say that some of the kids that quit lessons may not have quit guitar. When I was starting out I took a few lessons with someone my mom knew. It quickly got to the point where the lessons were not affordable anymore. So after about 5 lessons I stopped going. I never stopped playing guitar though, I'm still playing 21 years later. In the end it worked out because those few lessons gave me a jump off point to start guiding myself while learning. There were enough other resources for me to be able to do that thankfully.
Hi Mike, a friend sent your video because I'm kind of going EXACTLY what you're doing. Word for word. I finally quit one school and so I can work on being creative and NOT be constantly burning out. I love playing, gigging and teaching as well... and Im also finally teaching at my studio again :) ps You still look 25yrs old
I was a bad student that didn’t practice much cause my teachers wanted me to learn theory & “Mary had a Little Lamb” & I wanted to learn Welcome to the Jungle. If they would have taught me a small piece of the songs I wanted to learn every week, I would’ve stayed interested in the basics. “Gotta crawl before you can walk” they’d say, so I’d quit. I wish those teachers would’ve listened to me more instead of just pushing the boring beginnings on me only 😢
I learned bass from youtube by just picking a song that i liked, that was just outside my playing ability, and played it over and over until i could do it. I dont like when teachers say you have to do this or that. It might be more efficient but it isnt fun, and fun is what its all about at the end of the day. I wanna play enter sandman not learn the major scales lol
The point is to help the student learn things they are interested in. There are things that are easy to play that are more appealing to kids than Mary Had A Little Lamb. The teachers that are the best are the ones that can incorporate the fundamentals while teaching kids what they want to play. I mean what's the point if you bore them to the point they don't want to practice? @@jrb748
I can relate to a lot of these. I've gotten over the quitting students one after about 21 years or so. No student is forever, and most of them don't last a year. I doubt I'd still be a private instructor if guitar were still the only instrument I taught, though. I took up piano teaching about 7 years ago, and piano gives (almost) instant gratification, whereas you have to fight with the guitar a bit before you finally get past how touchy it is at the start. I also have a hard time trying to teach when I'm not allowed to teach theory, scales, notes by name, reading, etc and I'm forced to use nothing but tabs and rote learning. My student success rate with kids who don't do the formal music stuff is pretty low. With teaching piano, those problems evaporate. I think if I had to move on to another career, that would be the #1 thing I don't miss about teaching guitar...the idea that reading and formal music are for squares. Nowhere is that more prevalent than in guitar instruction.
Wow, I can relate to this. Instead of piano, it’s double bass and (most) electric bass lessons that help me maintain the feeling that I’m actually teaching music, as opposed to “put your fingers here to play this song”. It’s not for lack of trying with my guitar students!
@@mikegoodspeedmusic Strongly discouraging learning nothing but songs by tab/rote has cost me some students for sure. Probably some short-term income, maybe. But you can't pay me enough to encourage that, because it simply doesn't work. The only thing that does work is practice. And when you are a musician on the job talking to other musicians about the music you're playing, you really need to get to know the language and preferably how to write it and read it so any written material has meaning. A student and their teacher are both musicians. I'm lucky enough to teach at a formal music school where I'm an employee, though. Landing that gig and getting better at piano so I could teach it as well was what saved me from feeling like parents were wasting their money. Teaching guitar at a retail store is something I hope I never have to go back to.
I've taught guitar lessons for more than 30 years now, and I totally relate with everything you've been through, its like the things I would have said I've I'd made a video like this, thanksfor sharing, I so understando you, 100%!
I took lessons briefly in elementary school, but I didn't like the teacher. She wanted to play folk stuff, and I wanted to learn rock. It didn't last long, but when I was 20, I went to a local music school. My student complaint is that the teachers kept quitting. I also wanted someone to teach me to read music and play songs. The music school told me that most of their guitar teachers were "street players" (their term), and they didn't read music, just taught tabs. Finally, I got a great teacher who did both. The music school changed venues, and we ended up in those cages. The room was maybe 6'x8' with no artwork and no air conditioning. In the summer, it was a sweatbox. It was so small you had to be careful the guitar necks didn't bang into the other person's guitar body. After a couple years, he quit as well. When he told me he was leaving, I told him I would probably quit because the place lacked what I was looking for in a teacher. He replied, "It would be unethical of me to tell you that you could come to my house for lessons, but if you asked me if I am continuing at home, I could answer you." I took lessons from him for four years and put the guitar down for a while because life happened. Now I'm back at it and play monthly which definitely keeps me motivated to practice.
Just started teaching formally and let me tell you, it’s hard not to take it personally when they show now interest. However the 2-3 kids that are really excited, work hard, and continue to grow musically makes it all worth it.
The thing about the 5 % rule is so true. And, it is such a dangerous thing. In business, at least, it is so worth it to rid yourself of people like that, because they can just drain you, so much.
congratulations for your persistence and success sir! I know all those issues you are talking about - essentially it all comes down to really wanting to share the joy that guitar has brought to one's own life and really try to get others to experience the same magic - of course over the years we just realise that not everyone is the same as us - alot just want to play when they feel like it (which I think is a wonderful and life affirming thing, but often a teacher is just put in the role of some taskmaster to make excuses to), others are just MADE to do lessons etc. and so on, and it all comes down to just appreciating that everyone wants to put in different amounts and get different rewards from the guitar. That takes a few years I think to just realise its just that basic fact. I know a guitar teacher whose "student" is a man in his 60s who really just shows up to have the guitar teacher play his favourite riffs to him. The teacher in question really is a fine guitarist who performs regularly, and the "student" appreciates the fact he can pay and just have his riffs played by a great! The practicalities of running a business are the same for every industry of course (problem clients in terms of organising or paying or being difficult)
I've been teaching for 40 years and I can identify with every single one of these. I still teach but only 16 year old's and up and no beginners. Intermediate to advanced.
I’m I new guitarist but I have hella shows and need a teacher I went to the local guitar shop recently, ima go tm n hopefully og can teach me sum stuff I just don’t have a lot of funds rn
Interesting that you saw a spike in interest when Guitar Hero came out, because it killed my business. My biggest issue (and most teachers of any kind usually say the same thing) was always with parents. Sure, there would be the kids wasting their parents’ money because they’re not putting anything into it, but some parents were unbearable…and it always came down to money and cancellation. I had a 24 hr policy on cancellation on whether they would be charged or not, and gave every parent a print out of my policies…and they would still try to argue with me. And it’s tough to maintain a good relationship with a kid when they know you’re at odds with their parents.
I guess I was fortunate that I had so many students start up wanting to learn for real all the songs they learned on Guitar Hero. I thought the opposite would happen. I actually had the game in my lobby at my school.
@@TheArtofGuitar I had a bitter hatred toward that game for too long. I eventually came to love it for the fact that it introduced great music to kids who never would’ve paid attention otherwise. But at the time, I had a few kids quit lessons saying it was because it’s easier on Guitar Hero. Incidentally, I also hated the game because people at parties would judge my ability as a guitarist based on my ability to play a video game…and that was infuriating.
I also like how you filmed the lessons so the students can see themselves playing. I film myself playing just to see progress over the years. Never had a teacher unless you count books and youtube 😂
I could never be a music teacher, for all the reasons you mentioned, and more! It may be rewarding in some respects, but that is far outweighed by the stress of it all, in my opinion. Total respect for all music teachers out there!!
As a high school math teacher I can appreciate the challenge of working with kids that want to be in your class versus those that don't. My goodness, Mike, how have you been teaching for 30 years? You look so young!
I've been playing guitar for almost 30 years and I've been teaching part-time for the last year. This video really hit home. Had a kid punch a guitar once during his 2nd lesson. That was a first for me. It's a brutal business, I can't imagine doing this full time. Also, I can concur with hunting down money and dealing with awful parents. Worst part of the job.
Please continue with as many points as you need in the “good” video. I’d personally love to hear them, even if it doesn’t end up as an even number or something.
I've always wondered whether guitar teachers don't have an inherent advantage over piano teachers when it comes to young students because piano is (traditionally speaking, anyway) the instrument that parents push on their kids whereas interest in guitar tends to come more from the kids themselves and, therefore, you're dealing with (on average) more motivated learners. It's common to hear an adult guitarist say something like, "I started with piano lessons when I was 10 because my mom really wanted me to learn piano. So I didn't start with guitar til I was 14." Or something like that. And let's face it, motivation is key because teachers (of anything) don't so much 'teach' as they do facilitate learning. In the end, it's the student who must do the work.
Don't feel bad if someone quits taking lessons from you. I only took 1 week of lessons or was it a month. Anyway I didn't stop playing and learning though. I just needed that kick to get me started.
I have nothing but admiration for private teachers. I'm a keyboard player. I decided to take vocal lessons to expand my musical skills. The teacher seemed happy to have a student who practiced, was prepared, and who listened. I'm sure he had plenty of students who didn't want to be there, didn't practice, and didn't care.
In my experience, you can feel when you're gonna lose a student in the lesson before they actually stop. The atmosphere is different, their demeanour is different. And normally, not so soon after, they stop. Practice is a big one. Especially if teaching a song which has different sections with the aim to play through all of it. It's almost impossible for the student to do it if they haven't practiced the sections or tried to put sections together at home.
I taught private guitar lessons back in the mid-eighties for a very short period of time. In my situation they paid up front or they didn't get any lessons. My biggest problem was the students wanting to learn songs before learning the fundamentals of playing the guitar. Therefore, regardless of how many lessons they paid for, they would get the same lesson until I believed they were actually practicing it. Because of continued and ongoing lackluster performances, I quit teaching very soon. When I began playing guitar, back in the early seventies, I would play 8 - 10 hours every day. The only way to get me to put down my guitar was put a bullet in my head and pry it from my cold dead hands. My fingers are so calloused from playing for 50+ years, I can pick up a hot lump of charcoal out of a grill, with no harm done. That's the kind of commitment it takes to be a guitar player.
Had a student recently wanting to learn "Bohemian Rhapsody" on guitar. I told her to read the interview with Brian May where he goes on about how hard that song is for HIM to play, and in the meantime here's an E, an F and a G. I get that all the time. I wish I could help them, but 21 years of teaching experience tells me that when you're new at it, the best place to start is with Hal Leonard. The best guitar students I've had were all either band kids who already knew how to count/read, or kids who were willing to do at least one book before we get to attempting songs. The ones who insist on nothing but "show me the moves and give me the tabs" never get anywhere. Ever.
I got interested in guitar with 16, after I wasn't forced to go to guitar lessons. From 6-16 I hated my guitar. I taught myself from this point on and play still, now exactly 16 years later.
You said you sold guitars for a while. Everyone I know who worked at a guitar center has some horror stories-you should post a video of those if you have some crazy memories!
Mitch Mitchel told a story of Hendrix making bacon and eggs in the morning while still having his strat strapped on his back and swapping it around to play a little between cooking
I thought it was funny when you were talking about making sure you had a bigger room in your own studio & remembering when I was teaching there sometimes having to teach out of the storage room because my regular room was double booked with another teacher 🤣 But it was fine, I had much worse rooms at other studios I remember one I had clarinet lessons in the room next to me that was so loud I could barely hear my student. But what hit home the most of the things you listed (& it's nice to hear other people had the same issue) was what you said about being burnt out after teaching. That was me for many years I often would not pick up my guitar between lessons & I instead put my energy more into martial arts which I also teach. But I always felt guilty about not playing guitar more & only really got back into practicing when I started my you tube channel (which I did during covid when I couldn't do much else). Because having to create content that more then just my private lesson students would see & also teaching less has reignited my desire to play & practice. anyways good video 🤘👍
Regarding 'The guy who wouldn't pay.' A lot of the stores that offer lessons have a policy where you pay each month in full ahead of time.__ this includes their online lessons. And for those students who bail the same day as the lesson? That's a no go. Must give 24-hour notice to cancel and reschedule a lesson. This is what most stores are doing in the St. Louis market. Other options?
Very interesting take on this topic ! I wonder if many of these issues wouldn’t have been mitigated by teaching adult or more mature teen guitar students? From personal experience, I am a much better student now than when I was younger. I completely understand the concept of the “five percenters”…in the Army no matter what level you attain there are what we used to refer to as the “10 percenters”-basically guys who were pushed through training because some general wanted to see better numbers. Either way, I suspect that you will find them in all lines of work. Great topic and I can’t wait to see your ten good things. I’m thinking of doing something like this on my channel but it will be about retiring from the Army; top five or ten good and bad things!
With the learning video game music in lessons, you really got my number with that one haha. But it's the music I'm passionate about and at some point I would like to create, and i like the tones/timbres you can get out of guitar, and it's just a nice, convenient instrument that doesn't need a lot of space and it's easy to move around and use where ever and get comfortable versus a piano. :p
I had a few students from 2017-2020 and 2-3 more after the pandemic. I enjoyed it, but it was disappointing if 1 of them wasn’t practicing. Also, some just wanted a few lessons & couldn’t afford it. The extra spending $ was nice, but I eventually stuck w/ being a TA at my university and a student. Now I just compose when I have time. Occasionally I miss having students.
You're gonna get this comment a lot I'm sure, but yeah... I remember this 😅 It was so weird teaching video game music... As you're aware, some of it is really good, so you can kind of get into it and forget that it was a total desperation move to get somebody interested, since no music at the time was. I got lucky - most of the rooms I used, most of the time, were pretty good. Hung it up in 2014.
I tried to teach guitar to a few people and stopped. What I hated most was that never learned the basic chords. When it was the next lesson, we were back to square one. "How did you play that Cmag chord, again? When I got my first electric guitar in 1972, I immediately buried myself in my Mel Bay guitar chord manual and spent at least 4 hours a day practicing. Self taught!
I've never been a teacher, I'm 43 years old and taking lessons with a good friend of mine, but I feel like I let him down. I practice, about an hour a day, but don't feel I'm improving. I don't want to waste his time. I do pay him.
As a guitar teacher since 2005, I feel this. I would also add that for most guitar teachers in the US, you’re going to be an independent contractor and not an actual employee. And you will feel the pain when taxes are due.
Yep, teaching art killed my art. Really difficult to spend time working with stuff you just escaped on the drive home. Also no matter how much you love your students and what you are teaching them any job with people is draining.
Also u need to set a limit on when and how many students u have. If I got to a point where I felt like I couldn't keep up with everyone's personal lessons then I wasn't doing my job to the best of my ability for that student
You've been teaching for over 30 years, so...since you were in grade school? I can identify with #3. I was a flight instructor for about two years and had a couple of "students" who were in the 13 - 15-year-old range - too young to fly solo (gotta be 16), but their parents brought them in anyway, and the kids weren't really interested. It was painful.
I would add one more item to the list. Being asked to teach a kid that is too young and/or has not been provided with a suitable instrument for their age/size.
One thing I hate about Guitar, it's a big hate is the money and learning it (just give me a minute to explain). I really struggle to learn things via a video they just don't appeal that all to me and I need someone to talk to and bounce off. Plus online only won't fix you bad habits or maybe show a different way to seeing something that would get with a private tutor. There is other crap like Rocksmith saying this is the way to learn guitar, NO it's not, I play Rocksmith it's a way laid out like Guitar Hero where I can process what I'm being asked but it's only minor step in the right direction, again it stop you learning bad habits, a practise schedule etc... Having a one on one private teacher is perfect, but the cost a tutor and then are you getting a good tutor or one that doesn't mesh well with you, so you are having to constantly having to go to the start again with a new tutor. My old tutors forgot to turn up and forgot I had a lesson or just stopped caring. Having suspected ADHD and actual Dyslexia make this thing really difficult. I have found way to try and learn on my own but I feel because of this my progress is alot further behind than it should be. But that is just my two cents.
I tried teaching guitar for a while but there just wasn't the interest from people where I live, so I couldn't make it worth the effort; most kids were (still are?) into pop/dance/rap music or not even interested at all as football (soccer) is drilled into the population and is the No.1 interest for the majority in the UK.
Id be inclined to agree, there isnt really much of a music "culture" here in the UK, not for rock/metal/jazz etc, Im always reminded of this when i hear Americans say "one of your local guitar stores" and i think to myself. "theres only one nearby and they have about 4 guitars for sale". Theres quite a few guitar teachers in the area so they must have students but perhaps people arent as open about instruments and just play in their own homes with no interest in bands or performing.
Guitar teacher here too. How about the kid that has a little power trip by throwing your cash on the floor just so they can watch you pick it up. Let's just say I gave a few talks about respect.
Did you ever get people that guitar was just not their thing, not they did not want to but no matter how much you tried they could not get a grips at all
If you are teaching 60 people, you should charge more and teach less. You also will get more desirable students this way. Also, charge a flat fee ahead of time or run a semester model. No one gets a lesson without paying ahead. Run it like a business. This is an interesting video!
I've tried to teach many many people over the years how to play guitar. Rough guess...30. Out of all those people, guess how many stuck with it and actually did anything it.... 1. Only 1 person actually stuck with it and stayed serious about it.
I totally get this. Teaching one-to-one can get very boring actually. The same songs, the same types of kids, the same scenarios, over and over. Teaching is spending all of your time, enabling other people, to do the things that you wish you had time to do yourself. Teaching can be very rewarding, but it can also be a real grind.
Agreed! Its all about the balance isnt it
That is EVERY job
Yeah I agree I teach about 36 students a week. Sometimes it's so demoralising especially when kids don't practice. However compared to quite a lot of my friends my job comparatively is way more interesting and fun.
I have been a private guitar/bass guitar teacher in Orlando since 1996. As much as I love teaching music, I have to agree with all of the points you've made on the things you do not miss about teaching. I would be remiss in not mentioning one more item: The adult student who doesn't practice or refuses to practice their lessons, because of their preconceived notions about what he/she can or cannot, will or will not do - then blaming me because they haven't progressed in their lessons. Narcissistic students are the worst. It is truly difficult to make a living as a guitar teacher now. The world of music desperately needs new guitar hero's - because without them, there is very little motivation for young students. Is guitar a dying art?
Amen! I have a video on the queue close to that point you made. It'll be out in the near future. An older brain is sometimes slower to catch on but that should also mean they now have the wisdom to know it takes time to get good at anything.
@@TheArtofGuitar Hey Mike, it's nice to be validated sometimes by other guitar teachers who have endured the not-so-great parts about teaching music. Looking forward to the next video on this. Thanks! Dave
I used to teach here in Colorado, and I actually had a 14 year-old tell me that what I was teaching him was actually making him worse and he wanted a refund. Turned out he just got his first girlfriend, and wanted the money (his parents paid, not him) to upgrade his wardrobe 🙄
There will always be a marker for great songs
Market
Yeah, it's no fun teaching guitar to a kid who doesn't care. But it's such a JOY to teach a kid who REALLY cares. Then it's so rewarding!🎸
Damn readn these comments ima go get lessons tm ima ask if I can exchange content or even intern for lessons
I took bass lessons for almost 6 years, and never practiced. Felt awful about it every time, but I just got frustrated, since I wasn’t instantly amazing at it, it wasn’t any fun. Then all my friends formed a band and they invited me to join, but I wasn’t good enough because I never practiced. Talk about motivation! I’ll never forget the look on my teacher’s face the first day I showed up, actually having practiced, with a newfound enthusiasm for learning and passion for playing. 20 years later and I’m still rocking out. Thanks for being patient with me, Mr. Charlsen!
I think what you described is accurate for most kids taking lessons. It's not till you join a band that will get you motivated to play. I did the same thing and for me, it's more of a challenge to be the best at something in a group of friends so that really motivated me to practice. Now I'm a pretty good guitarist lol
@@jazzyhalf Could be true. I started out playing trombone in middle school, so that was in band by default. I loved practicing, and I enjoyed our few performances each year. Never had an issue with guitar either, but I started playing as a hobby in college (I had a job, and could finally afford to buy stuff). Never played guitar in a band, but I still loved to play. And since I was paying for it out of pocket, I definitely practiced in between lessons.
I'm from Brazil and I teach for 20 years. I can relate to everything you said. I think these problems happens all around the world.
Ive been learning guitar from the same teacher for over a year now. I do hope teaching me isn't boring for him. I also make sure to show up to every lesson having fully learnt the song/part we were practicing and then some, basically telling him that I care about guitar. And my music taste includes old rock songs which of course he loves aswell so that makes lessons much quicker and efficient. God bless him, he turned me from downpicking an entire rift to fluently alt picking solos
I did it full time for about 8 years with 136 kids a week at the height of it all. My least favourite things: Chasing parents for money. Lack of practice. Playing E A D for 8 hours a day. Junk guitars that wouldn't stay in tune that were gifted to little kids by well meaning relatives.
On the upside, every now and again you'd get a kid who took what you taught them, and take it to the next level.
It's kind of scary when you extrapolate this to education in general. In every 100, 99 are going to be talentless, don't care, and have no potential. The world needs ditch diggers I guess.
As a guitar teacher I feel your pain
My dog ate my guitar. I got it back, but I couldn't practice this week.
I love all of the clips you inserted of your adorable students!
My next video will probably have way more.
Love this! I wish I could've taken lessons at a younger age, I still have a student statement from my school when I was aged 12 and in it I state that I would like to learn guitar. I have my struggles with practice these days for many reasons, but I just know it would've had a good effect on me back then, I might not be a totally different person but I might have become more like what I am now sooner in my life.
That being said, later is better than never and my journey to learn has brought me so much already, some great experiences but even greater friends.
Looking forward to the companion video :-)
I’ve wanted to teach guitar for years but you are making me rethink my dreams! Great video!
Geezuzf*ck, i wish you were my teacher 30 odd years ago... I was a rocker at the time and my "teacher" was a jazzhead with a headless steinberger. To say the least, this arrangement didn't work out.
And I just watched your video on older students, being 51 and learning how to replay the bass, actually made me understand myself little bit more. Many thanks to you, young lad.
Subscribed🙂
I was probably a terrible student. I never practised anything my teacher set me. It was a super relaxed environment so i never felt bad and I was one the best guitarists at college so I must been doing something right. Honestly, one on one guitar lessons were fine but the one thing that made me improve more than the 2-3 years private lessons was suddernly be thrown in the deep end playing with guys lightyears better than me.Trying to keep up with people much better than you is the biggest motivator ever and i improved so much just being around highly skilled musicians.
That’s how learning guitar was essentially for me. I’m a horrible music student and found my progress came from just going into the deep end from the get go. Sure I sounded like alley cats having water thrown at them for a time, but finally one day everything literally just clicked. I was able to recognize chord progressions from other songs and the muscle memory of where each fret is just finally stuck. And it all came from learning to play stuff like Jake E Lee, Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen. Just coming back to songs time and time again and I’d get a little better each new attempt.
I have been a violin teacher for around 20 years and I can really to many of your points. The reason for me to quit teaching and to focus on a normal daily job (insurance employee) was the financial risk of teaching. As you say every student counts and how can you feed your family if you loose some students? I could not sleep well anymore especially after I got own children, so sometimes I think about to start again as a teacher, but certainly only as sideline job.
*lose
Teaching anything is a regular job- When I retired I taught guitar, songwriting and uke for The University of the Third Age(UK) once a week but with decompressing, prep and teaching two groups a week my songwriting went to the wall!
What a wild journey you’ve been on. The description of the tiny box room gave me anxiety lol. I have massive respect for anyone who teaches… it’s incredibly difficult.
When I was getting into learning drums from a teacher and then eventually guitar from the same one, I didn’t realize how close I could get with a teacher. It’s more than a traditional school teacher relationship because you’re one on one every lesson and you get to have regular conversations. Some of my favorite memories learning drums and guitar from a teacher was talking about bands or albums we’d gotten into and showing each other. Techniques, players, bands, songs, albums, all of it. Such an amazing experience that is worth it for more than learning your instrument
What I enjoyed about teaching was when I got that rare pupil that decided to take music at school or joined a band and I could teach them what I am interested in songwriting, arrangements and theory but you have to sit through all the kids that don't practice and worse those who are being forced to be there
I took piano as a kid but bounced off it. But then in high school I studied drums and really got into it. I’m honestly not very good at it, but I really like it, even if it’s “only” a hobby.
I just want to say that some of the kids that quit lessons may not have quit guitar. When I was starting out I took a few lessons with someone my mom knew. It quickly got to the point where the lessons were not affordable anymore. So after about 5 lessons I stopped going. I never stopped playing guitar though, I'm still playing 21 years later. In the end it worked out because those few lessons gave me a jump off point to start guiding myself while learning. There were enough other resources for me to be able to do that thankfully.
Hi Mike, a friend sent your video because I'm kind of going EXACTLY what you're doing. Word for word. I finally quit one school and so I can work on being creative and NOT be constantly burning out.
I love playing, gigging and teaching as well... and Im also finally teaching at my studio again :)
ps You still look 25yrs old
Thanks for sharing... I'm just starting to teach more full time !
i never would've guessed you've been teaching for 30 years. unless you've been teaching since 8 years old! youthful genes!
I was a bad student that didn’t practice much cause my teachers wanted me to learn theory & “Mary had a Little Lamb” & I wanted to learn Welcome to the Jungle. If they would have taught me a small piece of the songs I wanted to learn every week, I would’ve stayed interested in the basics. “Gotta crawl before you can walk” they’d say, so I’d quit. I wish those teachers would’ve listened to me more instead of just pushing the boring beginnings on me only 😢
I'm sure you knew better than the teacher who has already done everything you're trying to.
How were you gonna play Welcome to the jungle good, if mary had a little lamb was too much 😂
I learned bass from youtube by just picking a song that i liked, that was just outside my playing ability, and played it over and over until i could do it. I dont like when teachers say you have to do this or that. It might be more efficient but it isnt fun, and fun is what its all about at the end of the day. I wanna play enter sandman not learn the major scales lol
Imagine a kid that can't play anything asking his teacher to teach him how to play the intro alone. No
The point is to help the student learn things they are interested in. There are things that are easy to play that are more appealing to kids than Mary Had A Little Lamb. The teachers that are the best are the ones that can incorporate the fundamentals while teaching kids what they want to play. I mean what's the point if you bore them to the point they don't want to practice? @@jrb748
I'm laughing my ass off because I deal with this every day... Very good points thanks for putting out this video
I can relate to a lot of these. I've gotten over the quitting students one after about 21 years or so. No student is forever, and most of them don't last a year. I doubt I'd still be a private instructor if guitar were still the only instrument I taught, though. I took up piano teaching about 7 years ago, and piano gives (almost) instant gratification, whereas you have to fight with the guitar a bit before you finally get past how touchy it is at the start. I also have a hard time trying to teach when I'm not allowed to teach theory, scales, notes by name, reading, etc and I'm forced to use nothing but tabs and rote learning. My student success rate with kids who don't do the formal music stuff is pretty low. With teaching piano, those problems evaporate. I think if I had to move on to another career, that would be the #1 thing I don't miss about teaching guitar...the idea that reading and formal music are for squares. Nowhere is that more prevalent than in guitar instruction.
Wow, I can relate to this. Instead of piano, it’s double bass and (most) electric bass lessons that help me maintain the feeling that I’m actually teaching music, as opposed to “put your fingers here to play this song”. It’s not for lack of trying with my guitar students!
@@mikegoodspeedmusic Strongly discouraging learning nothing but songs by tab/rote has cost me some students for sure. Probably some short-term income, maybe. But you can't pay me enough to encourage that, because it simply doesn't work. The only thing that does work is practice. And when you are a musician on the job talking to other musicians about the music you're playing, you really need to get to know the language and preferably how to write it and read it so any written material has meaning. A student and their teacher are both musicians.
I'm lucky enough to teach at a formal music school where I'm an employee, though. Landing that gig and getting better at piano so I could teach it as well was what saved me from feeling like parents were wasting their money. Teaching guitar at a retail store is something I hope I never have to go back to.
I've taught guitar lessons for more than 30 years now, and I totally relate with everything you've been through, its like the things I would have said I've I'd made a video like this, thanksfor sharing, I so understando you, 100%!
I took lessons briefly in elementary school, but I didn't like the teacher. She wanted to play folk stuff, and I wanted to learn rock. It didn't last long, but when I was 20, I went to a local music school. My student complaint is that the teachers kept quitting. I also wanted someone to teach me to read music and play songs. The music school told me that most of their guitar teachers were "street players" (their term), and they didn't read music, just taught tabs. Finally, I got a great teacher who did both. The music school changed venues, and we ended up in those cages. The room was maybe 6'x8' with no artwork and no air conditioning. In the summer, it was a sweatbox. It was so small you had to be careful the guitar necks didn't bang into the other person's guitar body. After a couple years, he quit as well. When he told me he was leaving, I told him I would probably quit because the place lacked what I was looking for in a teacher. He replied, "It would be unethical of me to tell you that you could come to my house for lessons, but if you asked me if I am continuing at home, I could answer you." I took lessons from him for four years and put the guitar down for a while because life happened. Now I'm back at it and play monthly which definitely keeps me motivated to practice.
I taught music lessons for over 20 years, and I relate to every single thing you said in this video
Just started teaching formally and let me tell you, it’s hard not to take it personally when they show now interest. However the 2-3 kids that are really excited, work hard, and continue to grow musically makes it all worth it.
The thing about the 5 % rule is so true. And, it is such a dangerous thing. In business, at least, it is so worth it to rid yourself of people like that, because they can just drain you, so much.
congratulations for your persistence and success sir! I know all those issues you are talking about - essentially it all comes down to really wanting to share the joy that guitar has brought to one's own life and really try to get others to experience the same magic - of course over the years we just realise that not everyone is the same as us - alot just want to play when they feel like it (which I think is a wonderful and life affirming thing, but often a teacher is just put in the role of some taskmaster to make excuses to), others are just MADE to do lessons etc. and so on, and it all comes down to just appreciating that everyone wants to put in different amounts and get different rewards from the guitar. That takes a few years I think to just realise its just that basic fact. I know a guitar teacher whose "student" is a man in his 60s who really just shows up to have the guitar teacher play his favourite riffs to him. The teacher in question really is a fine guitarist who performs regularly, and the "student" appreciates the fact he can pay and just have his riffs played by a great! The practicalities of running a business are the same for every industry of course (problem clients in terms of organising or paying or being difficult)
I've been teaching for 40 years and I can identify with every single one of these. I still teach but only 16 year old's and up and no beginners. Intermediate to advanced.
I’m I new guitarist but I have hella shows and need a teacher I went to the local guitar shop recently, ima go tm n hopefully og can teach me sum stuff I just don’t have a lot of funds rn
Interesting that you saw a spike in interest when Guitar Hero came out, because it killed my business. My biggest issue (and most teachers of any kind usually say the same thing) was always with parents. Sure, there would be the kids wasting their parents’ money because they’re not putting anything into it, but some parents were unbearable…and it always came down to money and cancellation. I had a 24 hr policy on cancellation on whether they would be charged or not, and gave every parent a print out of my policies…and they would still try to argue with me. And it’s tough to maintain a good relationship with a kid when they know you’re at odds with their parents.
I guess I was fortunate that I had so many students start up wanting to learn for real all the songs they learned on Guitar Hero. I thought the opposite would happen. I actually had the game in my lobby at my school.
@@TheArtofGuitar I had a bitter hatred toward that game for too long. I eventually came to love it for the fact that it introduced great music to kids who never would’ve paid attention otherwise. But at the time, I had a few kids quit lessons saying it was because it’s easier on Guitar Hero.
Incidentally, I also hated the game because people at parties would judge my ability as a guitarist based on my ability to play a video game…and that was infuriating.
I’ve experienced many of these myself. Thanks for sharing your experiences
It doesn’t take many students to experience the worst typical interactions. If they all just had passion it makes up for most of the issues.
I also like how you filmed the lessons so the students can see themselves playing. I film myself playing just to see progress over the years. Never had a teacher unless you count books and youtube 😂
I could never be a music teacher, for all the reasons you mentioned, and more! It may be rewarding in some respects, but that is far outweighed by the stress of it all, in my opinion. Total respect for all music teachers out there!!
As a high school math teacher I can appreciate the challenge of working with kids that want to be in your class versus those that don't. My goodness, Mike, how have you been teaching for 30 years? You look so young!
I've been playing guitar for almost 30 years and I've been teaching part-time for the last year. This video really hit home. Had a kid punch a guitar once during his 2nd lesson. That was a first for me. It's a brutal business, I can't imagine doing this full time. Also, I can concur with hunting down money and dealing with awful parents. Worst part of the job.
Please continue with as many points as you need in the “good” video. I’d personally love to hear them, even if it doesn’t end up as an even number or something.
This is all too relatable 😂 Especially the babysitting and collecting payment points.
4:11 You know what is not a bummer though Mike? That beautiful SG, and I’m not really an SG guy.🎸👍
I've always wondered whether guitar teachers don't have an inherent advantage over piano teachers when it comes to young students because piano is (traditionally speaking, anyway) the instrument that parents push on their kids whereas interest in guitar tends to come more from the kids themselves and, therefore, you're dealing with (on average) more motivated learners. It's common to hear an adult guitarist say something like, "I started with piano lessons when I was 10 because my mom really wanted me to learn piano. So I didn't start with guitar til I was 14." Or something like that. And let's face it, motivation is key because teachers (of anything) don't so much 'teach' as they do facilitate learning. In the end, it's the student who must do the work.
Don't feel bad if someone quits taking lessons from you. I only took 1 week of lessons or was it a month. Anyway I didn't stop playing and learning though. I just needed that kick to get me started.
Yeah it really sucks when they cancel or sometimes not even say they were not coming. 🤦♂️
I can’t be the only one that, when the rat in a cage number came up, I thought of the smashing pumpkins lyric
Loved seeing those faith no more and mr bungle albulms in your old classroom. I hope you got some of your students to listen to some good music lol
I have nothing but admiration for private teachers. I'm a keyboard player. I decided to take vocal lessons to expand my musical skills. The teacher seemed happy to have a student who practiced, was prepared, and who listened. I'm sure he had plenty of students who didn't want to be there, didn't practice, and didn't care.
Nail on the head man, I could relate to all of this and most of it is still going on!
Wow Mike, your experience is really different from my experience. Maybe I'll have to do a video on my experience.
Agree with you 100% I teach guitar 5 days a week for the last 3 years.
In my experience, you can feel when you're gonna lose a student in the lesson before they actually stop. The atmosphere is different, their demeanour is different. And normally, not so soon after, they stop.
Practice is a big one. Especially if teaching a song which has different sections with the aim to play through all of it. It's almost impossible for the student to do it if they haven't practiced the sections or tried to put sections together at home.
I really needed this video! Came at the right time, so relatable!
I taught private guitar lessons back in the mid-eighties for a very short period of time. In my situation they paid up front or they didn't get any lessons. My biggest problem was the students wanting to learn songs before learning the fundamentals of playing the guitar. Therefore, regardless of how many lessons they paid for, they would get the same lesson until I believed they were actually practicing it. Because of continued and ongoing lackluster performances, I quit teaching very soon. When I began playing guitar, back in the early seventies, I would play 8 - 10 hours every day. The only way to get me to put down my guitar was put a bullet in my head and pry it from my cold dead hands. My fingers are so calloused from playing for 50+ years, I can pick up a hot lump of charcoal out of a grill, with no harm done. That's the kind of commitment it takes to be a guitar player.
Had a student recently wanting to learn "Bohemian Rhapsody" on guitar. I told her to read the interview with Brian May where he goes on about how hard that song is for HIM to play, and in the meantime here's an E, an F and a G. I get that all the time. I wish I could help them, but 21 years of teaching experience tells me that when you're new at it, the best place to start is with Hal Leonard. The best guitar students I've had were all either band kids who already knew how to count/read, or kids who were willing to do at least one book before we get to attempting songs. The ones who insist on nothing but "show me the moves and give me the tabs" never get anywhere. Ever.
I feel your, and my own..pain
I got interested in guitar with 16, after I wasn't forced to go to guitar lessons. From 6-16 I hated my guitar.
I taught myself from this point on and play still, now exactly 16 years later.
You said you sold guitars for a while. Everyone I know who worked at a guitar center has some horror stories-you should post a video of those if you have some crazy memories!
Mitch Mitchel told a story of Hendrix making bacon and eggs in the morning while still having his strat strapped on his back and swapping it around to play a little between cooking
I thought it was funny when you were talking about making sure you had a bigger room in your own studio & remembering when I was teaching there sometimes having to teach out of the storage room because my regular room was double booked with another teacher 🤣 But it was fine, I had much worse rooms at other studios I remember one I had clarinet lessons in the room next to me that was so loud I could barely hear my student. But what hit home the most of the things you listed (& it's nice to hear other people had the same issue) was what you said about being burnt out after teaching. That was me for many years I often would not pick up my guitar between lessons & I instead put my energy more into martial arts which I also teach. But I always felt guilty about not playing guitar more & only really got back into practicing when I started my you tube channel (which I did during covid when I couldn't do much else). Because having to create content that more then just my private lesson students would see & also teaching less has reignited my desire to play & practice. anyways good video 🤘👍
We'll have to talk about that on the podcast. I remember I think doing a lesson in the repair area too. haha
I can totally relate to all of these
Regarding 'The guy who wouldn't pay.' A lot of the stores that offer lessons have a policy where you pay each month in full ahead of time.__ this includes their online lessons. And for those students who bail the same day as the lesson? That's a no go. Must give 24-hour notice to cancel and reschedule a lesson. This is what most stores are doing in the St. Louis market. Other options?
Taught guitar myself and I would agree disinterested students was not good. Not enjoyable for me or them.
Very interesting take on this topic ! I wonder if many of these issues wouldn’t have been mitigated by teaching adult or more mature teen guitar students? From personal experience, I am a much better student now than when I was younger.
I completely understand the concept of the “five percenters”…in the Army no matter what level you attain there are what we used to refer to as the “10 percenters”-basically guys who were pushed through training because some general wanted to see better numbers. Either way, I suspect that you will find them in all lines of work. Great topic and I can’t wait to see your ten good things.
I’m thinking of doing something like this on my channel but it will be about retiring from the Army; top five or ten good and bad things!
Great video Mike! I’d like to see you make a list like this for playing gigs.
I did. th-cam.com/video/G--wAkDaZ1o/w-d-xo.htmlsi=omEKtvf7QzIXy5OG
With the learning video game music in lessons, you really got my number with that one haha. But it's the music I'm passionate about and at some point I would like to create, and i like the tones/timbres you can get out of guitar, and it's just a nice, convenient instrument that doesn't need a lot of space and it's easy to move around and use where ever and get comfortable versus a piano. :p
I had a few students from 2017-2020 and 2-3 more after the pandemic. I enjoyed it, but it was disappointing if 1 of them wasn’t practicing. Also, some just wanted a few lessons & couldn’t afford it. The extra spending $ was nice, but I eventually stuck w/ being a TA at my university and a student. Now I just compose when I have time. Occasionally I miss having students.
You're gonna get this comment a lot I'm sure, but yeah... I remember this 😅
It was so weird teaching video game music... As you're aware, some of it is really good, so you can kind of get into it and forget that it was a total desperation move to get somebody interested, since no music at the time was.
I got lucky - most of the rooms I used, most of the time, were pretty good.
Hung it up in 2014.
I tried to teach guitar to a few people and stopped. What I hated most was that never learned the basic chords. When it was the next lesson, we were back to square one. "How did you play that Cmag chord, again? When I got my first electric guitar in 1972, I immediately buried myself in my Mel Bay guitar chord manual and spent at least 4 hours a day practicing. Self taught!
I've never been a teacher, I'm 43 years old and taking lessons with a good friend of mine, but I feel like I let him down. I practice, about an hour a day, but don't feel I'm improving. I don't want to waste his time. I do pay him.
As a guitar teacher since 2005, I feel this. I would also add that for most guitar teachers in the US, you’re going to be an independent contractor and not an actual employee. And you will feel the pain when taxes are due.
Yep, teaching art killed my art. Really difficult to spend time working with stuff you just escaped on the drive home. Also no matter how much you love your students and what you are teaching them any job with people is draining.
Also u need to set a limit on when and how many students u have. If I got to a point where I felt like I couldn't keep up with everyone's personal lessons then I wasn't doing my job to the best of my ability for that student
You've been teaching for over 30 years, so...since you were in grade school? I can identify with #3. I was a flight instructor for about two years and had a couple of "students" who were in the 13 - 15-year-old range - too young to fly solo (gotta be 16), but their parents brought them in anyway, and the kids weren't really interested. It was painful.
I agree, Guitar Hero really made guitars more popular
Hello!
I would add one more item to the list. Being asked to teach a kid that is too young and/or has not been provided with a suitable instrument for their age/size.
One thing I hate about Guitar, it's a big hate is the money and learning it (just give me a minute to explain).
I really struggle to learn things via a video they just don't appeal that all to me and I need someone to talk to and bounce off. Plus online only won't fix you bad habits or maybe show a different way to seeing something that would get with a private tutor. There is other crap like Rocksmith saying this is the way to learn guitar, NO it's not, I play Rocksmith it's a way laid out like Guitar Hero where I can process what I'm being asked but it's only minor step in the right direction, again it stop you learning bad habits, a practise schedule etc...
Having a one on one private teacher is perfect, but the cost a tutor and then are you getting a good tutor or one that doesn't mesh well with you, so you are having to constantly having to go to the start again with a new tutor. My old tutors forgot to turn up and forgot I had a lesson or just stopped caring. Having suspected ADHD and actual Dyslexia make this thing really difficult. I have found way to try and learn on my own but I feel because of this my progress is alot further behind than it should be.
But that is just my two cents.
Is that a robotron sign on the floor?
Hey Mike just curious I have been playing guitar for a while then I got better than my teacher so he stopped lessons what should I do.
I tried teaching guitar for a while but there just wasn't the interest from people where I live, so I couldn't make it worth the effort; most kids were (still are?) into pop/dance/rap music or not even interested at all as football (soccer) is drilled into the population and is the No.1 interest for the majority in the UK.
Id be inclined to agree, there isnt really much of a music "culture" here in the UK, not for rock/metal/jazz etc, Im always reminded of this when i hear Americans say "one of your local guitar stores" and i think to myself. "theres only one nearby and they have about 4 guitars for sale". Theres quite a few guitar teachers in the area so they must have students but perhaps people arent as open about instruments and just play in their own homes with no interest in bands or performing.
"I hate you" lol😂
Guitar teacher here too. How about the kid that has a little power trip by throwing your cash on the floor just so they can watch you pick it up. Let's just say I gave a few talks about respect.
OK, you have to be close to age as me but you taught for thirty years? Did you start teaching in your teens?
Wait a minute Mike did you teach piano as well ???
Did you ever get people that guitar was just not their thing, not they did not want to but no matter how much you tried they could not get a grips at all
When I taught guitar, I needed to have at least 30 lessons a week to make any $. With cancelations you really need about 40 students a week
If you are teaching 60 people, you should charge more and teach less. You also will get more desirable students this way. Also, charge a flat fee ahead of time or run a semester model. No one gets a lesson without paying ahead. Run it like a business. This is an interesting video!
1. Do i really need to pay for this lesson?
2. Is this jacked up guitar i brought OK?
3. It's been 2 lessons, why haven't you made me EVH yet??
how much did you charge per lesson?
I wish I had the time and money for lessons. Just 2 lessons would cost me more per week would end up being more then I spend on food.
Sign up for his online guitar courses.
30 years of teaching? Damn, I'm jelly of you baby faces.
All of that sounds terrible to deal with, especially the dads not paying and the asshole ripping down decorations he didn't prefer.
Damn you were far more tolerant of a$$holes than I would have been.
I've tried to teach many many people over the years how to play guitar. Rough guess...30. Out of all those people, guess how many stuck with it and actually did anything it.... 1.
Only 1 person actually stuck with it and stayed serious about it.
You changed that 1 kid's life. Be grateful.
I feel seen.
What you’re describing are the struggles of all self employed people.
Markiplier looking great!
Owning your own school is like being a dairy farmer. Never a day off.
I don't teach beginners, and I'm absolutely insulted when people ask me to teach their little kids.