Welcome to Ask the Guitar Teacher

The goal of this site is to create a simple dialogue that will enable parents of students, students, and teachers to understand each others’ concerns and work together so that students can experience the amazing benefits from learning a musical instrument.

I’d like to invite you to join me—and some future special guests—as we explore the many topics, answer the various questions, uncover the hidden secrets, recover the misplaced pleasure, and discover the inner guitarist in us all.

A Message from Ed:

Welcome to "Ask the Guitar Teacher"!

Just like doctors are asked for medical advice, lawyers nudged for legal suggestions, mechanics interrogated for car tips, guitarists are often sequestered for playing pointers, equipment recommendations, and any other music-related query imaginable. Unlike other professions, guitarists (and all musicians for that matter) do not punch a clock and will field questions with the ultimate goal being to offer sound and solid information based on our experiences.

However, many players don't teach and many teachers don't play out much any more. Some are real gearheads while others could care less. My point being: You can't be all things to all people. So, one of the things that I hope to provide with this site is an online resource for guitar-related and music instruction-related questions.

How did I become "the guitar teacher"?

Although I still perform, produce, record, etc., the majority of my time is dedicated to providing music instruction or producing music instruction-related material. As such, I've found that there are an incredible amount of holes that need to be filled. The first being the teacher-student-teacher-parent line of communication. Many parents just don't know where (or how) to start, what questions to ask, which doubts and concerns to voice, etc. Well, if you're a parent you can start here. Many of the blog topics come from conversations that I've had with parents and if you have something specific then submit a question and it very well may become the topic of the next blog.

Secondly, guitar teachers just starting out can find a wealth of advice and new ideas as well as offering their own insight and experience. Seasoned teachers can find a new perspective on many tried-and-tested techniques and offer younger teachers motivation and inspiration.

Lastly, there are some serious challenges that both teachers and parents can collectively solve by offering opinions on everything from lazy students to those that are obsessively pursuing the guitar at the cost of their schoolwork and other opportunities. We've all dealt with problem and/or troubled students from time to time; but, I don't think that any one of us has dealt with it all.

My aim is that this site becomes an often-visited online resource for ongoing discussions about teaching philosophies, parents' expectations, students' goals, teaching resources (gear, other sites, etc.) in a fun and entertaining manner. So please, if you like the site then tell your friends. Bookmark this page and submit questions and comments.

Thanks for taking the time to visit and please drop me a line with any questions or comments.

Looking forward,

Ed "The Guitar Teacher"