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Topic: Lack of feedback

Ok so what do you do in this situation?

The conversation goes like this:

You: "anything you struggled with last week?"

Student: "no not really"

You: "Great! so anything you wanted to work on"

Student: "Not really that I can think of"

You: "are there any techniques that you feel could do with some more work?"

Student: "no happy with how I'm progressing with these"

You: "so is there any songs at all you wanted to try and learn"

Student: "not that I can think of"



Ok so where do we go from here - total lack of response from the student!

Re: Lack of feedback

I'd plan something for him that would be useful to his over-all guitar playing skills... Judge where he is at and what he needs to know, and start filling in the gaps. Would make the decision as to what needs to be taught for him, not rely on his opinion until he said something, or indicated he'd like a change in direction.

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Re: Lack of feedback

wow some old threads are being dug out today!

Do you teach guitar yourself PlayGuitar? I checked out the site in your signature - is this your site?

Re: Lack of feedback

Olly wrote:

Ok so what do you do in this situation?

The conversation goes like this:

You: "anything you struggled with last week?"

Student: "no not really"

You: "Great! so anything you wanted to work on"

Student: "Not really that I can think of"

You: "are there any techniques that you feel could do with some more work?"

Student: "no happy with how I'm progressing with these"

You: "so is there any songs at all you wanted to try and learn"

Student: "not that I can think of"



Ok so where do we go from here - total lack of response from the student!

"GIVE HIM A SLAP" THEN START CONVERSATION AGAIN! IF SAME RESPONSE SLAP HARDER. IF SAME RESPONSIVE CONTINUES HIT WITH HIS GUITAR ON HEAD FIRMLY.

Imagine if the words of Imagine ever came true.....

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Re: Lack of feedback

If he is paying his money let him ass about as much as he likes  default/wink  default/wink
The money's in your pocket!

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Re: Lack of feedback

I always have at least a general idea of what we will cover in the next lesson. I now have a normal sequence to what I teach. If we worked on C last week and he has that down we then move to D the next lesson. Having said that I keep it open to detouring when the student has questions about something.

At first yes you can be at a loss for what to teach but after awhile you automatically know what the next thing they need to learn will be. I never find myself stumped on what to do next anymore. It all just comes with getting more experience at teaching.

Using a good method book as a foundation to build from helps alot also!

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Re: Lack of feedback

How many students do you currently teach Don?

Re: Lack of feedback

I got hit as usual for the summer but I'm heading back towards 30 students.

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Re: Lack of feedback

Do you tend to find that a lot of people quit when it gets to the summer and more people begin when it gets colder outdoors then?

I expect January must be quite busy with all the kids getting guitars for Christmas?

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Re: Lack of feedback

Yes that is the usual way it happens. People are just busy with vacations and other things during the summer. After school starts up it starts to pick up again and yes Christmas brings on a rush of new perspective students.

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Re: Lack of feedback

Do you write your own music at all Don? Is songwriting something that you teach in your lessons?

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Re: Lack of feedback

Yes songwriting is a big part of my lessons. I try to get my students to create their own music using the theory and techniques we are working on at the time.

As far writing my own music I'm slowly getting back into it when I get a couple minutes here and there. I've been so overwhelmed with teaching, business crap and other projects. I'm trying to take some of my old recordings and re-record them. I really need to just push everything aside and get back to work on my own stuff again. The little bit I do here and there does feel good!

I don't know if you are familiar with Troy Stetina but he  just started a free online magazine. I'm doing an article in there that focuses on Rhythm guitar using his instructional material as examples. There is also other great columnist in it. Mark Tremonti does one and last month Micheal Angelo Batio did one.  It's totally free and there is alot of great material in it! If you are interested in it at all go to stetina.com

Re: Lack of feedback

So much talent is out there.

Imagine if the words of Imagine ever came true.....

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Re: Lack of feedback

This is a great question.  I have faced this myself.  Some of what I have learned....

Avoid asking them any questions which can be answered with a "yes" or "no" answer.

Some things I might say, are....

"So, tell me what you've been working on since we last met..."

or

"Show me what you've done on the homework..."

I usually "verify" that they are getting it, I don't take it by what they say.  That's why on my lessons site even (as Don will attest) homework and finishing assignments are a part of the learning process.  "OK, show me what you've done to this point with what I've taught you..."  "Go home and bring me back 2 progressions in Dorian, one for Bb and one in F#, using principles we just went over today."

Once they do that, I can tell if there's a disconnect on the process.  It's sort of important that you maintain control over the flow of the lesson.  It sounds good on paper to say to the student "What would you like to learn"  but I think the student needs to feel that the instructor has a game plan and is going to be shown what it is.  Don had it right, there needs to be that flexibility to answer questions, and maybe even take small detours, but there's also a need for that to be done in moderation.  Its detrimental for the student to be leading the teacher down a lot of random rabbit holes, and sometimes you will find a student's must have's change from one week to the next, and nothing is  really accomplished.

Instructor

http://rnbacademy.com

Online Guitar Academy

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Re: Lack of feedback

Yes I agree you need to be careful not to go too far off track. At the same time you need to be careful not to loss the chance to explore deeper into a certain area and take advantage of a chance where the student is sucking up everything you are teaching. In one class I took in music school the teacher from time to time would go way off of what we were supposed to cover in that class because a student had a question. He said he actually really enjoyed these classes because everyone was really learning. Had he gave a simple answer and got back to that days material we would have lost out on an opportunity to really learn something substantial.

On the same count I totally agree that if a student keeps coming in every week with new random questions you need to put a lid on it. Each student is different and you need to use your best judgment as to how you will deal with each individual.

16 (edited by Instructor 03-12-10 14:32:38)

Re: Lack of feedback

The place I struggle with is, is when they have a question to something that's not yet been covered.  Like we will be on Triads and they've just learned a lot and can name every Major and Minor chord, and so they say, "What about 9th chords, I just heard about them"  I Have to say, we'll get there.  Many times they have a little pre-existing knowledge and they'll say, "Oh can you show me how to solo in Mixolydian?"

And I'll say, "Yeah we'll get to that"  And they say "Cool, when can we get to that?"  And you have to say, "Well you see, first we have to get the fundamentals down, and triads and Major Keys and..." and you can see on their face, they realize it's not gonna happen next week.

That's never a fun thing, but we push on.

Also, there may be times where a student needs a break from theory, and we'll say, "hey man, lets just jam", or "hey can you teach me this song", and well take a few weeks sabbatical from the theory and throw a bone to the students...and that really IS a good thing, and I quite enjoy it.  There's nothing wrong with saying...hey, time for a little break, lets change it up a bit!

Good points, Don! 

Instructor

http://rnbacademy.com

Online Guitar Academy

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17 (edited by 57Deluxe 04-07-12 14:26:41)

Re: Lack of feedback

...I get round that by immediately tuning up and saying - "Right I thought we would try this today.... it takes into account the items we learned last time and moves them into a different scenario".  Often, I don't even give them the chord sheet!

To be honest, if they not practiced it is their problem. I then just turn the sessions into jam sessions and always inject lots of history and inside the music biz facts and that does the trick...

I don't teach metal

http://rockriffs.jimdo.com

Guitar Mad? Sanity is Here:
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www.guitarorama.wordpress.com

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Re: Lack of feedback

As the guitar teacher you should be taking control of the lesson.  Assess their playing and respond by formulating a lesson plan to improve their playing.  As a guitarist who is learning, they might not even be aware of what could be better.  For them they're playing as well as they ever have!

With some students you can rely on their feedback to give you an insight into how their practice went that week.  With other students you have to do a bit more investigative work.

Is this student a teenager by any chance?  Not wanting to stereotype or anything here but from experience, they tend to be less vocal about how they feel they're doing.

Looking for a guitar teacher in Manchester?  Check out my website: Guitar Lessons Manchester