Have you mastered the art of strumming the guitar and now wish to become a guitar teacher? Or are you looking for a guitar teacher to teach you how to play the guitar? No matter in which part of the world you are, whether in Singapore, Shanghai or Switzerland, there are certain qualities which a good guitar teacher needs to have.

1. Patience

One quality which a guitar teacher needs to have is lots of patience. You need to remember that whomever you are coaching do not have music background. During the guitar lesson, your student may be slow in picking up strumming techniques. Try to slow down your teaching pace and guide your student along so that he can catch up on the lesson.

2. Wide genre

A good guitar teacher needs to be able to play and teach a wide repertoire of songs. Whether it be the rhythm and blues, jazz, pop, rock, or church music, you need to know the various techniques required for each of these genres. Different people wish to learn to play the guitar for different reasons. Some just want to play as a hobby, others want to master the skill to jam with friends, some other people wish to perform in church. As such to be a versatile music teacher, you not only need to know these different genre of playing, it would help if you collect a range of scores to teach your students as well.

3. Adaptability/ Creativity

To be an effective guitar teacher, you need to adapt to your student’s requirements. Some students have a short timeframe whereby they wish to accomplish a fixed goal. Let me give you an example from my music school. One day, John came to our school and informed us that he wishes to learn to play one song on the guitar in four weeks time. He aims to perform that song during his wedding! Our music teacher listened to his request and tailors his music lesson content accordingly.

In addition, you need to be creative and be able to motivate your students through creative and inspirational methods of teaching. Create different teaching approaches so you stand out from other music teachers. Be unique! Once you stand out from the crowd of many music teachers, your students will seek you out.

Some other students wish to build a strong foundation in music theory, before proceeding to chord harmonizing and strumming. As a music teacher, you then need to adapt to this request and structure your lessons accordingly.

Well, I have covered three key elements as qualities a guitar teacher should have. Good luck!