All musicians have got to start out somewhere right? Many of them started out teaching themselves and skipped learning the basics. Join Neil as he discusses how you can never assume a player knows the basics, no matter how long they’ve been playing, the importance of understanding the foundations of music and how to change a students life long bad habits.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• There’s an old saying that goes “when you assume you make an ass of you and me”. There are many good guitar players out there and it is often surprising just how good they are considering how they learned. Many of them learned to copy the songs the way they sounded in the records rather than the notes and they often emulated their rock star heroes.

• Many guitar players understand little, make life hard for themselves, and have no idea what to do when the moment arrives to kick back and let go with a made-up-on-the-spot solo. Guitarists are missing out on so much by not having the basics set up right. Without foundational understanding of the instrument they wrestle with the neck of the guitar rather than letting their fingers dance on it.

• Foundations matter. No matter what you teach, you had better make sure that the basics are there, because if they’re not, you are clutching at straws and hoping that something sticks and the lights, somehow, go on.

• As tutors you should assume nothing is well-understood. Regardless of a student’s experience or apparent ability you should always be checking that the basics are there and that the foundations are in place to be built on.

BEST MOMENTS

“So the best of luck to us all as we try to begin all over again.”

“ they cannot play with a capital P.”

“My own assumptions were a big problem in the early days of my teaching life..”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

• Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)!
  • Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724
  • Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724
  • Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529
• Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/
• Contact Neil via this website - com!

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

CONTACT METHOD

info@neilcowmeadow.com