Are You A Suitable Electric Guitar Tutor For Me?
I have to apologise in advance. This page is quite long. I got carried away because it's such an important question to answer. And because it's such an important question, it deserves a thorough answer!
So grab yourself a coffee (or beer). It won't take too long…promise. 
Introduction
Without knowing you, I can probably guess that you're looking for a guitar teacher with these qualities…
- They can help you improve certain things about your guitar playing.
- They can help you overcome frustrations that you might have with your playing.
- They are someone that you would enjoy learning from. (No one likes being taught by an arsehole!)
Are these pretty fair comments?
And I think I should reveal something about guitar teachers. They also are looking for certain qualities from their students! I can't speak for other teachers, but the four most important qualities that I look for in a new student are…
- They are enthusiastic about learning guitar.
- They are willing to practice regularly.
- They are teachable (They able to and are willing to follow simple instructions).
- They are enjoyable to teach. (No one likes teaching an arsehole!).
When the needs of the students also match the needs of the teacher, there can be an awesome student-teacher relationship. When they don't match, obviously there will be a problem!
There are two important questions that we need to ask at this stage…
- How do we work out if I am a suitable guitar tutor for you?
- How do we work out if you are a suitable student for me?
How I Ensure A Good Student-Teacher Match
I have a very organised, thorough and effective method for ensuring that I am a suitable teacher for potential new students. It have been developed over time after dealing with an insane numbers of guitar lesson enquiries over the years. The process achieves a few things…
- It helps you get clearer about what you actually want to learn.
- It helps you conveniently learn about my guitar teaching service.
- It helps me quickly work out whether or not I can help you.
- It helps me to learn more about your musical goals and frustrations with learning guitar.
- It helps you to find out if you would enjoy learning guitar from me.
- It helps me to find out if I would enjoy teaching you.
Let's take a look at the process. It might look a bit long and complex on paper, but it's actually pretty simple…
Think About Your Musical Goals/Frustrations:
Even before you start looking for guitar tutors you need to get totally clear about what you want to learn. It involes thinking about things like…
- What style of music are you most interested in learning?
- What are some specific things that you would like to improve about your playing?
- What are some of the things that are frustrating you with learning guitar?
If you don't know what you want to improve about your playing, then it becomes hard to find a suitable tutor.
Read Website Content:
I've put together this website to help you research my guitar teaching. I have included far more information than many other guitar tutor websites.
Why?
It allows you to make an informed decision about my teaching. This website helps me to give you far more details about my teaching than a single phone call would. And this allows you to make a much better decision as to whether or not I'm the tutor for you.
Willing to book ONE Lesson?
After reading my website you will have a pretty good idea whether or not I can help you. Now it's decision time.
You need to ask yourself "Am I willing to book just one lesson with Craig?"
Before you freak out and say "What…Craig wants me to book a lesson! I still don't know for sure if he's the teacher for me!!!). I should point out now that I have a First Lesson Guarantee. Because of that, there is absolutely no risk to you in booking one lesson. If you don't like my teaching during that first lesson, then you don't pay for that lesson.
Booking one lesson is very important. Why? Here are a few reasons…
- It allows you to get a small taste of my teaching style.
- It allows us to see clearly if we would work well together as student-teacher.
- It allows me to see you play and analyse your playing. And this allows me to accurately assess your current level and confirm exactly how I can help you.
Arranging The First Lesson
This is easy-peasy!
- At your convenience, get in touch with me using the website contact form.
- I'll email you back with a few questions to answer. These questions allow me to learn a little bit more about you. They also allow me to quickly work out whether or not my teaching would be suitable for you. And best of all…they will only take a few minutes to complete.
- Once you've answered the questions I'll then give a quick phone call to…
- Arrange a time for the first lesson.
- To answer any questions that you might have.
- Before the first lesson, I'll post a new student questionnaire to you. This will ask you quite a few questions about…
- You past musical history.
- What bands, guitar players and musicians that you like.
- What you want to get out of guitar lessons.
You get the idea. I'll bug you with lots of questions. If I tried doing this on the phone, it would probably take a three-hour phone call.
Important:
I hate paper-work as much as the next guy. But I can't stress how much this questionnaire will benefit you. It helps you in several ways including…
- It helps you gain clarity about…
- What you want to learn.
- What your priorities are.
- How you want me to help you.
- It enables me to do a good job of teaching you. The questionnaire will help me design lessons that are tailor-made to your own unique musical goals and frustrations.
The First Guitar Mastery Lesson:
The first lesson is an exciting time for both student and teacher. But you might be feeling some uncertainty about what to expect. And this is perfectly normal…
So what can you expect from your first lesson from me?
Generally the first 10-15 minutes of the first lesson is spent…
- Reading the new student questionnaire that you filled out.
- Talking about your goals for guitar.
- Talking about the frustrations that you might be having with your playing.
- I also like to see your current level of playing. (If you're relatively new to guitar then this won't take very long).
Once this is done, we’ll get straight to work! My commitment to you is that you will get something of value at EVERY lesson—especially the first lesson!
What If I Don't Like Your Teaching?
Very occasionally someone may come for lessons and realise that my teaching style is not for them. This is to be expected, because everyone learns differently. And it would be arrogant for me to think that I am the perfect teacher for everyone!
If at the end of the first lesson you don’t want to continue lessons then I won’t charge you for the lesson. The last thing I want is for someone to feel like they have been “short-changed”!