#1
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Help! Giving lessons is making me play less guitar.
I have gotten to the place in my life where I am giving more guitar lessons than I am spending time playing, and I am starting to lose the joy of playing for the fun of it.
Can anyone give me some advice, because I think my instruction is starting to suffer a bit as a result. How can I get the magic and wonder back? Has anyone else ever experienced this? |
#2
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Quote:
Teach less (learn to say 'No, I don't have anymore times right now.') Play more for your own pleasure. I keep 6-8 students who only come every other week or once a month. So I'm only tied down 3-4 times a week. And I quit taking beginners and only take intermediate or advanced fingerstyle students. Being selective keeps me happier, and playing for fun. I also have a gigging partner and a weekly gig at a coffee house, and a Worship Team that I play in on weekends. All that keeps me interacting with musicians more on a peer-to-peer than student-teacher interaction. |
#3
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Maybe do something to break the 'commerce' connection - students paying money for your guitar time. Try a solo concert at a retirement home, or children's ward at the hospital (if you can play Polly Wolly Doodle?), and re-establish the connection inside yourself between the joy of playing the guitar and the gift that music is when you play for others and make them happy.
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#4
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Thanks. I think you are both right. The lure sometimes, when you need money to do life stuff, just gets in the way of enjoyment.
I appreciate the reponse. Sometimes, simple things are not simple when they are happening to you personally. |
#5
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DVGuy,
My son's guitar teacher told us this week that he sat and played for his own enjoyment this week for an hour. He loved it and apparently it's a rare thing for him. When asked what he usually did with guitar through the week, he said he prepared lessons, that's all. He does play each week for his church, but as far as just for his own self--I guess not. So you're not alone. Now when he asks me son if he played through the week, I'm going to turn the question around on him! I hope you're able to make time.
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Larrivee OO-05 Larrivee OM-03R Eastman AC308 Pono OO-20 Pono OP-30DC |
#6
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hm Ive never had to be in that situation... never having taught anyone anything...
and I dont gig, and I dont play out, no one listens to me play.. I do the whole thing... for the last 40 years.. just because I like the way it feels.. I have no words of wisdom here.. But, I understand why you miss it... Rick
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Seagull Artist Mosaic Seagull Artist Studio CW '73 Martin D-35 Larrivee LV09E 2008 Standard Stratocaster |
#7
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I used to teach 3 nights a week, had 28 students (10 of which were in a single class), and each one was on a different musical path & level. This was in addition to having a day job. After a few years of this I started to get burned out.
I cut back to my 8 best students, limited my teaching to one night each week, and raised my price. I actually find that teaching enhances my playing. As I'm forced to describe and explain different aspects of music & guitar, I find that I learn a great deal and continue to have cool revelations about guitar playing. Also, when my students want to learn a style I haven't previously explored (e.g hybrid picking/country Tele) I find myself stretched in a good way as I learn myself in order to teach. |