Comments on: Stupid Things Guitar Teachers Do to Waste Your Time

By: wat

wat — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:37:44 +0000

That’s one of the creepiest things I’ve ever heard.

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:03:04 +0000

My guitar teacher was like 40 when i was 15 wore leather pants and would hit on me and palyed songs to me and sung about me being his princess and such. I never went back! He also worked for my parents before he opened the guitar shop!

By: Michael Jae

Michael Jae — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:00:00 +0000

You’re lucky I hear drum teachers are usually worse! Just joking. But seriously, maybe it was my bad luck, but these are true stories. I had a guitar teacher in high school that let his students watch Hellraiser in class on the TV! Even at the time I knew he wasn’t all there.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:20:07 +0000

I never took guitar lessons but I did go to drum lessons and I can truthfully say that the instructor didn’t do any of these things. And that picture you have posted of the guy in the speedo, is that a music teacher? Oh my goodness that is terrible and he should have been reported to the authorities for that one.

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:16:35 +0000

Well I have never taken guitar lessons before but my son has wanted to for quite some time now. After reading your article I at list know to research the teachers extensively before I settle on one to teach him, your horror stories have been a real eye opener.

By: Ana

Ana — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:24:35 +0000

How funny! The part about spandex sounds like it should be written into the new musical film, Rock of Ages (now in production), starring Tom Cruise. I hear it is supposed to be funny, too. I can see how the part about a teacher showing off could happen often because some instructors are wanna be rock stars and will take any opportunity to show off or they have more creativity than enough business sense to realize they’ve already sold/ booked you as a student and that they should be focusing on providing great lessons in order to keep their student coming back for more lesstons.

By: Michael Jae

Michael Jae — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:14:07 +0000

Lera Jo, glad you enjoyed the post It’s really amazing what you can learn on your own these days through books and the Internet and just by playing and sharing with other players. Each person is different though and some people, for example, like having a teacher to keep them accountable for progressing.

By: Lera Jo

Lera Jo — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:54:45 +0000

Really? That’s hilarious! Glad that you posted this. I was planning on getting a personal trainer but with the things you mentioned above, I changed my mind. My co-churchgoer has been teaching me with guitars but still just the basics. Sometimes I’d like to give up since my fingers hurt a lot and are swelling.

Oh well! They say if you really like to learn something you must conquer everything that means including pain. I’ve learned from a friend that she’s currently enrolled into this nice small school for those who wanted to learn to play guitar and other musical instruments.

Well, I think learning piano is quite easy than guitar. I don’t need to hold those guitar strings anymore but instead just press those keys and memorize the keynotes.

The picture of the man lying beside those guitars looks familiar. Isn’t he an artist? I think he was the lead actor of the movie “Get Him to The Greek. It’s just his fat in that pic.

By: raf

raf — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:38:00 +0000

I’ve come through all of this, except the last one (and the spandex, thanks god , but than I got an excelent teacher who has lead me way beyond scales and techniques. The interesting thing is that he was 3 years younger than me (he had 19 years old). He is a teacher in the deeper sense of the word.

By: Randy Hough

Randy Hough — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:46:58 +0000

I’ve only had three guitar lessons. The first one was helpful in that I learned the right way to play a G chord, with my pinky.
The next two were helpful because I discovered that I was on the right track and that playing in jams and practicing at home was a great combination.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 06:52:36 +0000

I agree that guitar teacher wasted time but there is truth in the saying to see how the students learn, but the students had better learn how to function in the music world they must compete in.

By: Dentists in Dallas

Dentists in Dallas — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:18:32 +0000

Definitely hilarious…Keep up the good posts.

By: Tony Pearson

Tony Pearson — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:48:45 +0000

Hey nice expression of the article with the funny picture of guitar_guns….
Thanks for this post.

Tony Pearson

By: hema

hema — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:43:03 +0000

That does it…i shall give up my dream to be a famous guitar player and just stick to my lonely world of Internet! Thank you for the insight (which is quite frankly –too GRAPHIC)..lol

By: SWGerber

SWGerber — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:52:20 +0000

I have to admit those are some pretty brutal ways Guitar teachers waste time, and i have been in a situation where my instructor showed his skills off more than he taught me. Even though i was watching in amazement, i was still able to pick up some of the style and sounds. Agreed not much learning going on, but for 20 bucks a week who’s complaining, i got to jam.

-Spencer-

By: Coach Quit

Coach Quit — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:27:37 +0000

Music teachers in general need to focus on the needs of the student. They must always be aware of what the student desires to achieve. It often times is different than what the teacher wants the student to achieve. In addition, of course a teacher can be a bit of a show-off, but they are also demonstrating that it is easier to play well than one might think. Perfect practice makes perfect. All else is just messing around. Great Post!

By: Ashley Jones

Ashley Jones — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 13:59:50 +0000

This is a really funny piece. It gets you thinking about the subject. Lets have some more please. Thank you for posting it!

By: John@Guitar Lessons For Beginners

John@Guitar Lessons For Beginners — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 18:37:31 +0000

Michael, this was absolutely hilarious! Some similar things had happened to me. Especially when I was learning classical guitar. The teacher brought out the old book and bragged about having a classical student. I was only taking from him because my previous teacher got a studio musician gig and quit! Hilarious! Great Post!