Latest updates and news

New feature for members: Online Marketing Report

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Members can now request a detailed Online Marketing Report which analyzes how easy it is for new students to find you online and contact you. Your report will break down your online presence into easy to understand sections so you can see exactly where you're at and how you compare to your competitors.

We provide recommendations on effective ways you can increase your online presence and we'll help you out the entire way.

Benefits for new guitar teachers:

  • Avoid trial and error and start on the right path
  • Attract students from the very start
  • Use effective marketing strategies that have been tested with other guitar teachers

Benefits for established guitar teachers:

  • Ensure competitors don't overtake you
  • Improve your visibility to locals
  • Expand your student base
  • Get a snapshot of your current marketing effectiveness

The report is completely free for Live and Teach Guitar Members and there are absolutely no strings attached. We're doing this to provide you with quality advice to improve your situation.

To request your own report, simply fill out this form. We'll email you with your report once we complete it.

Latest lesson plans: Randy Rhoads and Paul Gilbert

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We're building up our range of 'in the style of' guitar lesson plans and have two new plans on Randy Rhoads and Paul Gilbert. Even if your student hasn't hear either guitarist's music before it's worth checking out as they contain challenging licks incorporating multiple techniques. The Paul Gilbert licks will definitely challenge even the more advanced students.

PRO-07 Randy Rhoads

Teach your student how Randy changed the face of lead guitar playing. Teach your student how he used legato, tapping and phrasing in a few interesting licks. The lesson also has a quick look at his rhythm approach.

PRO-08 Paul Gilbert

This is a great lesson for intermediate to advanced students as Paul's playing is highly technical. Show your student different ways they can approach complicated licks and how to break them down in the learning process. The included Teacher's Guide will show you one possible way you could teach an entire lesson using this lesson plan.

More lesson plans on other guitarists coming in the next couple of days.

New resources: Restringing Guitars

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A new set of handouts have been included in the Lesson Materials section showing your student how to restring their guitar. Photos are included in each guide to make the process easier.

MAI-01 Changing Electric Guitar Strings

MAI-02 Changing Nylon String Acoustic Guitar Strings

MAI-03 Changing Steel String Acoustic Guitar Strings

We also have a new 'in the style of' lesson covering a couple aspects of Dimebag Darrell's lead style. This is a great lesson for students wanting to develop their metal lead playing abilities.

PRO-06 Dimebag Darrell

New lesson plans: Eric Johnson & Joe Satriani

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New guitar lesson plans have been created to give your students a quick snapshot of the style of Eric Johnson & Joe Satriani. These lesson plans are handy if you want to see how interested your student may be with their style or just to teach them new approaches to guitar.

PRO-04 Eric Johnson

This lesson focuses on a couple unique aspects of Eric Johnson's playing such as his use of chord voicings, hybrid picking and triads. This style would suit most intermediate students interested in more lead playing.

PRO-05 Joe Satriani

This lesson looks at how Joe Satriani uses tapping, legato and modes in his style. The examples are quite technical so aren't suitable for beginners. Intermediate and advanced students would benefit from this lesson even if they have not heard anything by Joe before.

Want to see a lesson plan on a specific guitarist? Let us know here.

New guitar lesson plan series: In the style of

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A new guitar lesson plan series is available to help you cater to your student's needs. If a student wants to learn a bit about a certain guitarist, these lesson plans are ideal. They focus on the core techniques, licks, influences and styles the guitarist is known for. They're great to capture the interest of beginners not sure what to do on guitar and provide a great way to show students how to use techniques in musical ways.

These guitar lesson plans work best when used in combination with song transcriptions. These 'in the style of' lesson plans give the student a quick overview of the guitarist and any song transcriptions you provide the student will help them work towards specific songs.

We've only just started creating these lesson plans so keep an eye on the News Section for updates. Here's a few to start with so you can get an idea on what they're all about:

PRO-01 Stevie Ray Vaughan Rhythm

Looks at a few different ways SRV approached blues rhythm. Your student will learn how to use ninth chords, muted rakes and adding embellishments to basic chords. Any blues student will enjoy learning the examples and techniques used.

PRO-02 Stevie Ray Vaughan Lead

Looks at SRV's approach to lead playing. The lesson focuses on SRV's influences and how he took those influences and incorporated them in his own way. This is a great way to teach your student how to develop their own style instead of merely learning licks.

PRO-03 Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen popularized a lot of lead techniques but this lesson focuses on a few and shows how the student can use them in musical ways. The included Teacher's Guide explains everything in detail so even if you're not familiar with the techniques used (like violining), the guide will help you teach them effectively.

Want to see a lesson plan on a certain guitarist? Contact us and we'll put one together.

New resources: Scale exercises and conversation guides

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Along with a few new guitar lesson plans, we've put a couple guides together to help you deal with a couple common issues guitar teachers face:

BQA-05 Questions on Qualifications and Experience

This is a very useful guide for any new guitar teachers as you will most likely come up against this tough question from prospective students. The guide will help you answer the student's questions in a positive way to increase the chances that they decide to give you a go. All new guitar teachers should read through this guide.

BQA-07 Negotiating Lesson Rates

While it isn't very common, some people like to haggle and try to bring your lesson rates down before starting. This can significantly impact your income if you don't prepare for it in advance. This guide will help you deal with any people trying to bring your lesson rate down.

Here's a few scale exercises to give your student's fingers a workout:

SCE-04 D Major Scale Exercises

SCE-05 A Major Scale Exercises

SCE-06 E Major Scale Exercises

 

For any students wanting to learn the Blues, this lesson plan will give a fresh perspective to the traditional 12 bar blues progression:

BLU-05 12 Bar Blues Shuffle Variation

The idea behind this variation to the traditional 12 bar blues shuffle is something Stevie Ray Vaughan would often do. Your student will learn how to included muted hits in to their playing to create a percussive sound.

New lesson plans: Country style

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Here's a couple new guitar lesson plans to use to introduce your student to Country style playing.

COU-01 Basic Country Style Licks

This lesson provides a broad overview of the country style of playing so you can see if your student is interested in pursuing the style or not. The licks cover rhythm and lead so the student will be able to see a few different aspects of the style.

COU-02 Chicken Pickin'

Chicken Pickin' is a type of hybrid picking used often in Country music. This lesson will teach your student how to use the technique to achieve a country sound. The lesson will also teach your student how they can change licks they already know to use Chicken Pickin'.

We have also created a new guide to help new teachers work through their first few guitar lessons.

TBE-01 Topics to Avoid in Early Lessons

 This guide will provide you with topics that can easily discourage new students. By avoiding these topics in the first few lessons, you will have a better chance of the student staying with you. The guide explains why these topics should be postponed until later lessons. If you're just getting started as a guitar teacher, this guide help you avoid a lot of problems.

Update to all downloadable resources

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We have just completed an update to all of our downloadable PDF resources. Some Mac users were experiencing issues with the fonts used in our guitar lesson plans. We have fixed this issue and all resources should now be compatible with all systems and devices.

Everything should display fine however if you experience any issues, please contact us here so we can help you out.

Latest business guides and lesson plans 21 May

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We've added some new business guides to help you gain control over tough situations like students not showing up to lessons. Check out the guides and remember there's more available in the Business Guides Section.

BQA-03 Students Cancelling Lessons

This guide will help you deal with any student who repeatedly cancels lessons. While it's understandable that sometimes students need to miss lessons, some students go too far and consistently cancel lessons. This can result in a big drop in income for you so it's important to handle properly. The guide will give you plenty of advice on how to take care of the issue.

BQA-04 Handling No-Shows

This guide will help you deal with any student who simply doesn't show up to their lesson. It can be an extremely frustrating thing to happen when a student doesn't call ahead to let you know they need to miss a lesson. The guide will give you advice on how to effectively handle the situation and prevent it from happening in the first place.

BAS-06 Introduction to Rhythm

This basic lesson plan is suitable for complete beginners who have never learned music before. The lesson plan clearly explains how rhythm is notated on the staff and more importantly, how the student can count along with any rhythm. The included Teacher's Guide will help you explain the most important points.

BTD-01 What To Do When Your Timetable Fills Up Completely

Eventually you may reach the point where your timetable fills up completely. This guide will help you look at options you can take to further improve your situation. Planning ahead will save you headaches and can even help you earn more income.

New Lesson Plans - Celtic, Metal and more

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Here's a few more new resources available to members. We're trying to create a wide variety of resources so you will always have new and interesting lessons to give your students. More to come shortly!

CEL-01 Basic Celtic Solo Piece

This lesson plan will introduce your student to a Celtic style piece. The lesson plan breaks the structure of the piece down so the student can actually learn how to create their own similar piece. This lesson is also handy when teaching your student how to create any solo piece - not just Celtic influenced.

 

MET-05 Metal Riff Exercises 1

The exercises in this lesson plan are very handy when teaching students wanting to learn metal. The exercises focus on coordination between both hands and applying palm muting. Once your student develops the skills used in these exercises they will find a lot of metal riffs much easier.

 

SCE-03 F Major Scale Exercises

These exercises will help your student feel comfortable with the F Major Scale. The exercises focus on different intervals so the student will also learn to move up and down using different intervals.

 

New Business Guide: BPL-10 Setting Your Rates 3: Changing Your Rates

This business guide continues on from the first two on setting your rates. This one will explain the importance of regularly reviewing your lesson rates and how much of an impact it can have on your overall income. The guide continues to give you strategies on how to increase your rates and how to deal with existing students who may not like the higher rate. All teachers should read this guide as it's important to regularly review your rates.

Want to see a specific topic covered in a guide or lesson plan? Contact us here to suggest it and we'll look at creating it for you.