Kids' Jam Winter 2011 Success!

Hi. We had a great time at the Jam , Saturday. There were almost 50 students and 100 guests! It was a great place to have it, The Underground , in Naperville. Kids from 5 to 17 played. Everyone did a great job. I had three people making vid's so hopefully I'll have some good shots. As soon as I get something I'll post it.

After another successful Kids' Jam I think some thank you's are in order for all the help I had.

First I want to thank Wendy Daly for suggesting The Underground at Alleluia Lutheran, it was a nice place to play music. She also did a lot to setup/takedown chairs and to get the show started.

I want to thank Craig Johnson, Katie Khoury and Scott Dahl for taking video during the performance. This way I don't have to run around looking for snippets of video and trying to put it all together.

I want to thank Missy Wichhart and her daughter for keeping track of the smoothie coupons. I anticipated 55 students running around and she did a great job getting liquids into their empty stomachs.

I want to thank the parents of the performers that made sure their students were able to practice. And to the students for diligently practicing in-between homework.

I want to thank the parents who brought their kids just to watch and had to stay an hour longer than I said. 

I want to thank Morgan and Hannah for working so hard to sing songs they didn't know. They did that to make some of the bands more complete. Well done, ladies.

I want to thank my student and associate teacher Joe Pillatsch for running around with a tuner so kids didn't sound too avant-guard. 

I want to thank Alissa McCoy for popping popcorn even though we couldn't have it at The Underground (my misunderstanding).

I want to thank my son, Brendon, for helping put amps in place, running extensions, setting up chairs, helping with the organization and getting some of his students to perform.

I want to thank my daughter, Tegan, for putting up with me when I made her practice and learn a very difficult acoustic guitar part.

Most of all, I want to thank my wonderful, beautiful wife of 36 years who has to put up with all this and my general madness in the week leading up to the jam. She did a great job rounding up adrenaline-crazed, smoothie-high musicians for their performances. 

If I forgot someone, I am sorry. Please let me know.

It was really, really fun... and I think the kids had a good time , also! 

Terry

Can I learn to play guitar?

Hi everyone.
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.

I hear the question "Can I learn to play the guitar , even at my age?"  I hear this from people in their 30's and in their 40's. And the answer is yes! With a qualification: if you'll allocate the time to learn/practice/play the guitar. Just taking lessons isn't enough. And I know everyone knows this, but when it comes to doing it we don't always allocate the time. You need to set aside some regular time almost every day. I say almost everyday because we as busy adults can't always play EVERY day. But we should have the time scheduled and when we have to travel etc, we should get back on the practice schedule as soon as possible.

I can hear you saying "I know, I know". And I know you know. But you have to do it. After playing guitar for 40 years, I wanted to learn a new instrument (for me) to remember what it is like to be beginner adult. So I started to learn the banjo! I spent years standing next to a banjo playing rhythm guitar in small clubs. But I never bothered learning. A few months ago, I bought a banjo and started learning.

It was going well. I was learning rolls and started a couple of songs. I was playing/practicing everyday, even if it was just for 10 or 15 minutes. Then disaster struck; I slipped on the stairs and jammed my left shoulder. Nothing was torn, just bruised enough that I couldn't hold my arm up enough to play banjo. Not at all. So I stopped learning for about 5 months. After some physical therapy my shoulder is great. A few weeks ago I picked up the banjo.

I had forgotten just about everything I had learned; the muscle memory had faded. Not surprised. I started all over, learning some rolls and learning some songs. I now have 2 songs about up to speed and I can fake a few more. I'm doing it the old fashioned way, a little bit at a time.

Even though I'm a guitar teacher and I run my own business as a guitar teacher, I'm just as busy as anyone else. I have lots of things to do when I'm not giving lessons. I have to always tend to my marketing and sales needs. Then there's the books and maintenance of the guitars , etc. Things to do around the house. And I got kids! And three cats! Ok, only Zuko is a high maintenance cat.

So, what I do is I look at my schedule each day and figure out when I can plug in at least 15 minutes of banjo practice. With the way my schedule changes throughout the week, I can't say I can practice banjo the same time every day. But I target about 15 minutes each day. I don't always hit my target. I was never good with shooting at things.

But, and here's my secret, I watch for unplanned practice opportunities. If a student cancels, I pick up my banjo. If I'm home for a lunch break I grab it for 5, 10 or 15 minutes. If Zuko wakes me up at 5 in the morning , after I feed all three of them, I grab my banjo. I have it on my mind that if I get a few minutes, I will play the banjo for a few minutes. As long as other higher priorities have been fulfilled. If you can't do that, then maybe learning an instrument ins't high enough on your list of priorities.

I have a lot of adult students all the way from 21 to 67 years old. And I've noticed that the most successful of them are the ones that consistently find time to play/practice. Yeah, the more you practice the better you get more quickly, but anything consistently will work.

Try it out for a month and see how it works.
Keep playing guitar!

Terry
www.napervilleguitarlessons.com
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www.napervilleguitarlessons.com/ebook

Teach Guitar Lessons

Hi, everyone.
I am always amazed at some of my intermediate students. They have worked real hard and sound pretty good. More importantly they have a lot of fun just playing guitar. They jam with their friends and help others learn some songs. What amazes me is that, when I suggest they should think about teaching guitar, they look at me and say " I don't think I'm good enough! " . That almost dumbfounds me. The first time that happened I just thought it was humility. I later found out it was a little insecurity mixed in with the mystique of teaching.

For some reason, people think there is some magic in teaching others to play an instrument. There isn't. The main element is a strong desire to help other people. I still love to see beginners light up when they start to get it, even after playing for over 40 years and teaching over 30 years. It's one of my greatest joys in life!

Yes, sometimes you have to have an overabundance of patience, you should be organized and the more you know about playing guitar the better you will do. But you will also learn as you go. I have learned more things from my students and from trying to find things to keep it interesting than I ever would have on my own or from another teacher.

The other thing you need is to be a business person. Many guitar ( and piano teachers ) I know are lousy business people. They find a few students but not enough to make it a viable business. They feel they are an artist and can't be bothered with the business side of teaching. Well, without marketing and sales , you don't have a teaching business. You have a hobby. If that's what you want, that's fine. But it's wonderful to have your own business doing what you love to do . I know because I've done both; I've been a slave to others and I've been my own person. You don't have to try to figure out which I prefer!

The three key area you have to work at to be a viable business is Product, Marketing ( subset sales) and Financial. The product is obvious, the more you know about guitar and can organize it the more you have to teach.
Marketing is knowing your potential customer and targeting advertising ( be it Internet, paper or word of mouth ) to that customer; you have to let them know you are there. Then you have to close the deal, convince them that you are their best choice. You do that by showing them what you have and how that will benefit them. If you have a degree in music, you have to show them how that will help them. You can't assume they know, they might just thing you spent a lot of time reading music scores!
Then there is Financial. That covers a lot of things. Like accounting, banking, how and where you spend money, paying taxes (yeah, if you're going to treat it like a business you have to pay taxes), etc. If you don't keep a handle of the finances you can easily get into trouble.

One of the best ways to learn to run a guitar teaching business is to get Rob Hampton's eBook . He covers a lot of information. I swear he has been reading my mail for the last 30 years (jk) because he did everything I did but in a shorter period of time. It took me 30 years to learn some of the lessons Rob wrote about in his book.

Go to www.napervilleguitarlessons.com/ebook.html for more information about one of the greatest jobs in the world!

What does it take to learn to play guitar?

Hi, everyone.
For over 40 years, since I started playing guitar, I've thought off-and-on about what it takes to learn to play the guitar. At first, I wanted to know for myself, so I could learn to play. Then, as I started teaching , I needed to know so I could help my students. I've looked at and written all kinds of lesson plans, I've talked to other teachers and students. I've read a lot about it online. If you ask just about anyone what it takes, they will say "practice!". But, from watching my successful students and the not so successful ones, I now know the answer and I can sum it up in one word. Persistence. You have to keep at it. When you get frustrated at the F chord you have to keep trying. Even if you give up for a week or two, you have to get back into it. If you go on vacation, you have to get right back on it when you're back home. It has to be a focus at least until you get closer to your goal, or the level of playing that you want to achieve.

I see it all the time. Kids take lessons and, no matter how easy the teacher makes it, the kid decides it's too hard. He/she thought the teacher would just show them where to put their fingers and they would play like EVH/Orianthi/whoever. Or they go on vacation and they loose their momentum.  They give up. But I also see kids and adults stick with it and get better. I work hard to help them over the humps. Ultimately it is the student that overcomes the difficulties. You need to be persistent in practice, in learning technique and new songs. The more you keep at it the better you'll get. You need to know when to take a short rest and how long.

I tell the following story to my students. About a year after I had been playing , a friend of mine ( who played very well ) and I were at a party. We were playing guitar. There was a guy there, a beginner, who was trying to play his guitar with us. We felt he was cramping our style so we acted like he wasn't there. He got the message and stopped playing, annoying us. About a year later I was at another party and, sure enough, that beginner guy was there. Only this time he was playing like an old pro, better then I or my friend. Really showing us up. I asked him what happened. He said, well, since the last party you and I were at (Ha, he remembered!) I lost my job, my girl and had to move in with my relatives. All I had was my guitar. So I played a whole lot, I kept at it and kept trying. I didn't even realize I had gotten that much better until tonight when I played with you guys!
Yeow. We deserved that. I learned two lessons that night. Persistence and don't slam on a beginner. Treat him/her with kindness for someday you may want to jam with that beginner.

Keep at it. Keep playing guitar!

Why I teach guitar

Hi, there.
I've worked a few jobs in my life and teaching guitar is the best ever. I mean, I have cooked chicken at one of the bucket head fast food places, I've driven a courtesy car for a car dealership (several interesting stories there), I've delivered pizzas, I've worked in the steel mills, I've been a customer service rep, salesman, a sales manager, a facilities manager, an operations manager, an IT manager, etc, etc. Within each of those I usually made a good living, at least from the mill job on. But it was never really satisfying. I didn't get the great feeling I do with teaching.

I think I've always wanted to be a teacher or some kind or another. I just always thought it would be in a classroom. But I found in college I didn't like working with a room full of kids. From personal experience, I know that it takes a very special person to do that and do it well. They deserve as much money as they make and more!

I like helping people learn to play guitar. I love seeing someone go from not knowing how to hold the instrument to being able to play songs they like to play. Most people want to learn to play an instrument to play the music they enjoy. That's what I try to help them do.

One of the things I've noticed over the years is that some kids (and adults) feel that the teacher is going to do something magical for them. That I'm going to show them where to put their fingers and they'll play like (their favorite guitar hero here) the next day. It doesn't work like. It takes hard work and a lot of repetition of the correct technique. That's where I come in. I try to make sure the person is doing things right that will help them reach their goals.

But I teach because it makes me feel good.

www.napervilleguitarlessons.com

Teach guitar

I have been playing guitar for 40 years and have been teaching guitar for over 35 years. Of those 35 years, the last 6 years have been full time. And it has been the best 6 years of my life!
I would come home from my 9 to 5 office job and tell my wife I should have started teaching guitar full time 30 years ago. One day she said she was tire of hearing that and didn't want to hear it for the next 30 years! So we looked at our finances, we looked at where the students might be and how many I needed to have to break-even and pay the bills. We sucked it up and pulled the plug. And it has been the best decision we have ever made.
I get to set my own schedule, work when I want to. If I need a raise I add more students. I set the rules. If I want to take a nap or run to the store, I do it. And I make a great living.
I get to go into peoples' homes and meet a lot of nice people; I help them do something they want to do; they are happy to see me; I get to play guitar all day long; and I get paid for it! What could be better?

If you want to help people, play a lot of guitar and make a great living go to this link

www.napervilleguitarlessons.com/ebook.html