to help you become the best tutor possible

TTQ-05 Questioning Techniques

/in /by

About this guide

Questioning is one of the most important aspects of teaching and takes up a large portion of your time as a teacher. While you may feel you already understand your student's needs well with your questioning, it's worth spending the time to learn effective questioning techniques. A lot of research has been completed to properly understand what questioning techniques work. This guide will explain the most useful and effective questioning techniques you can use as a guitar teacher.

If you want to improve the quality of your teaching, it is imperative that you fully understand and use these questioning techniques. Each type of question is explained and given in examples. Tips and best practices are provided so you can start using the techniques straight away.

Why the questions you ask matter

As a teacher it's your job to make sure you provide the student with the best quality tuition possible. Asking the right type of questions will help you become a more effective teacher. Studies have shown that teachers that use effective questioning techniques were able to provide better quality instruction compared to teachers not using effective questioning. In a nutshell - questioning has a big impact on your effectiveness as a teacher.

You can use questions for a variety of purposes, such as:

  • To increase interest and motivation
  • To review previous lesson topics
  • To assess achievement of goals
  • To encourage student insights
  • To actively involve the student
  • To allow the student to think critically

Questions also allow you to focus your student's attention and move their train of thought in the right path. Using the wrong type of questions can discourage the student and hinder their progress. As you can see, it's important to use the right questions effectively.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now

TBP-02 Students Rushing Ahead on Materials

/in /by

About this guide

If you teach children you might have encountered this problem already. Some students always seem to rush through the content and always looking ahead to what will be played next. While it's great that the student is keen to learn more, the problem is they don't focus on the material at the time and don't learn it properly. Over time this can have a big impact on the student's abilities because they won't have learned anything properly and only 'just enough'. In this guide we will look at the problem in detail and provide you with ways to get your student to focus on the material in front of them.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now

TPR-03 Teenagers

/in /by

About this student profile

Most teenagers are great students because they actually want to learn guitar. One of the issues with teaching children is that they may not want to learn but their parents have told them to learn an instrument. With teenagers they are likely to be really motivated to learn guitar. While most teenagers are fantastic students, you may come across issues. Read through this student profile to get an idea of the common issues faced when teaching teenagers and actions you can take to overcome the problems.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now

Related guides

TPR-00 How to use these student profiles

TPR-01 Children under 8

TPR-02 Children 8-12

TPR-02 Children 8-12 years

/in /by

About this student profile

Teaching children between 8 and 12 years of age is a lot more straightforward compared to children under 8 years. However this age range does have their own unique set of issues. This student profile will explain the most common issues teachers face when teaching students in this age range. Suggested solutions to each issue is identified to help you if you encounter any of these issues. Read through the profile to get an overall idea on what it would be like to teach children in this age range before deciding if it's right for you.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now

Related guides

TPR-00 How to use these student profiles

TPR-01 Children under 8 years

TPR-01 Children under 8 years

/in /by

About this student profile

If you're considering teaching children under 8 years of age, it's worth reading up on issues you're likely to face. This Student Profile contains the most common issues tutors face when teaching young children. Each issue contains suggested solutions as well as links to other relevant materials to help you out. While teaching young children can be very rewarding, it can also be tough. Children aren't as straight forward to teach as many people think. Read through the student profile to decide whether you want to teach children or not.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now

Related guides

TPR-00 How to use the Student Profiles

TPR-02 Children 8-12 years

TTL-04 Using an iPad as a teaching tool

/in /by

About this guide

Technology can allow guitar teachers to create a completely new experience during lessons that help students learn in interesting ways. This guide will give you ideas on how you can use an iPad as a guitar teaching tool. We identify best practices, suitable apps and strategies to keep your students motivated and assist their development.

Please note that while this guide discusses using the Apple iPad, other tablet devices can be used in similar ways with similar apps.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now

TBP-01 Students not practicing

/in /by

About this guide

Possibly the most frustrating aspect of teaching guitar is when your students don’t practice in-between lessons with you. It’s frustrating because it means you have to go over the same materials and you can’t push on to more complicated (and interesting) material. In this guide we will identify possible causes to the problem and how to deal with it.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now

TTQ-04 Keeping Children Interested During Lessons

/in /by

Children can be pretty difficult to teach guitar so this guide will give you three basic ideas to keep in mind to help you keep children interested and motivated during lessons. Apply these tips properly and your job will become a lot easier when teaching children.

What happens when things go wrong

One of the worst experiences you can suffer through as a guitar teacher is a child student who doesn't practice, doesn't pay attention and gets bored within the first five minutes of the lesson. The truth is most of the times when this happens it isn't the child's fault. With a slight modification to how you teach, you can easily change this habit. Even the best guitar teachers can fall for this trap and if you have ever experienced one of those students before you will know the frustrating feeling it creates. This guide will help you prevent it from happening.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now

TTL-02 Software to use in your lessons

/in /by

About this guide

If you have a PC/Mac/Laptop within reach when giving lessons, there are many tools you can use to give the student a richer learning experience. In this guide we will look at a few different programs and how you can use them in your lessons.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now

TTQ-02 Repetition

/in /by

About this guide

This guide will explain what repetition is and how you can use it to improve the quality of your lessons. Repetition is fully understood by school teachers and they use it effectively to ensure students remember new topics. Most guitar tutors on the other hand are unaware how they could be using repetition to achieve the same results. This guide will show you how to do it.

About repetition

Repetition is a method that can be used to help students learn facts, lists and procedures amongst other things. By repeating the new information to students and having them recite the information they are far more likely to retain and recall the information later on. In other words, it helps students memorize new information.

By using repetition effectively, you are increasing the quality of your lessons. Ironically if you use repetition properly you will need to spend less time in the future repeating material that the student would have forgotten.

Why should I use repetition?

To memorize a fact, the more often the information is retrieved and used, the more deeply it will be imbedded in the person’s long term memory. In other words, repetition helps a student memorize information.

This isn’t just a subtle effect; repetition can help achieve a very strong link to a person’s long term memory. One study found that 9 weeks after new material was given to students, when the students weren’t taught with repetition they could only remember 14% of the material while the students who were taught with repetition could remember 70% of the material. That is a huge difference. In other words, by not using repetition you’re students are likely forgetting most of what you say after about 9 weeks.

Only Live and Teach Guitar Members have access to this resource and all other resources on the site.

If you're a member, please login to access this resource

If you're not a member yet, find out how our professional materials, resources and support can help you succeed as a guitar teacher here.

Please login or register to gain full access now