Originally Posted by 1neeto
Great thread and very relevant for me because just about 3 weeks ago I started to teach a friend. Now mind you, I'm just an intermediate player, but I think I can teach the basics and go from there. I must say it is very satisfying to see my "student" come every Tuesday and see the improvement.
So here's my "curriculum". Sorry this might get long from here but I'll appreciate any feedback. Remember this is a person with zero experience with guitar or any musical instrument. He's in his mid 20's. The guitar is using is one of my strays that's set up with very low action and light strings. Super easy to play so I thought it's perfect for learning.
Week one:
After showing him the very basics (how to hold a pick for example) I decided to start with single note picking and started to teach him an open E scale which is perfect for not only develop single note picking but it is also a great finger stretching exercise. Here's the scale for those who are wondering:
E 0 2 4
A 0 2 4
D 1 2
I will eventually teach the rest of the scale to the high e, but for now 3 strings will do.
Next was 3 chords. E, Em, and Am. He was really excited about that. And gave him a homework to practice that scale, how to tune the guitar, and those 3 chords.
Week 2:
Open E scale but this time I introduced him to alternate picking and going down after the E note on the D string. This threw him off a little, but I did notice some improvement in his accuracy. He's been practicing! He also showed he's been practicing his chords. But showed a bit of frustration because they're not always clean. Told him to stick to it, showed him some thumb placement techniques so that it makes his chords cleaner and also showed him how to arpeggiate that way he can pin point which strings he's been muting. He doesn't know this is also training him single note picking on all the strings.
New chord: C
I figured he has his hands full with E and Am, so the natural transition from Am is C. He thought it was impossible to get his fingers get that far without muting strings. He promised to practice.
Week 3:
Alternate picking while transitioning to other strings during the open E scale exercise. That was fun.
New chords G, D. Told him the many options to do an open G shape, I personally use my ring, middle, and pinky on the high e, because it makes it easier for me to have that free index finger to transition to other chords. This seemed a bit impossible for him, so I taught him to use the idea, middle and ring finger on the high e. The D was tougher for him but he promised to practice. All this time I've been teaching him only down strums and emphasizing how some chords you can't strum all strings.
Also turned on the distortion on the amp and taught him power chord shapes. I can tell he loved that.
So far he's got E, Em, Am, C, G, and D. I told him if he learn those chords, he can play a bunch of popular songs so he's motivated.
Here's tomorrow's agenda:
1. Will show the rest of that open E scale to the high e string and then back down.
2. Strumming patterns, will introduce him to the metronome and do down strums on time. Will encourage to keep that arm going up down regardless if he misses a strum or not, to concentrate on that metronome click.
3. Chord transitions. Will start with switching from Em to E on time. Since all it takes is adding that index finger on the G string. If he gets that down, I'll have him transition from Em to Am and C. I'm pretty sure transitioning to G and D is out of the question, but who knows he might surprise me!
This has been super satisfying, it brings me back to when I first picked up a guitar. Can't wait to see him grow and me along with him.
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