Right handers should mimic while lefthanders should mirror

I received an email from a left handed guitarist wanting lesson materials specifically for left hand players. While this is great the reality is 99.9999% all books and learning material are written for the right handed guitarist. I then suggested to the following;

I understand how you feel as I have taught quite a few left handed students over the years and developed techniques for teaching them using right hand materials. The problem I found was exactly as you say they were trying to mimic rather than mirror. At first it felt like a step backwards but once they learned to mirror suddenly everything became a lot easier. Jimi Hendrix actually became the most amazing guitarist through this very technique. He was able to watch guitarists on stage and quickly learn what they were playing through mirroring. In recent years scientists have discovered our brains actually have what are called mirror neurons. This means when we watch another person our brains fire in sympathy as if we were doing the actions of the person we are observing. With some actions we switch this around so we mimic and in other actions we mirror. You have developed the mimic approach as any right hand guitarist would but by switching to mirroring you will in effect learn much faster. It is worth the effort to switch because you are left handed. Right handers should mimic for best results and left handers mirror unless of course you are watching a left handed guitarist.

I hope that helps and who knows you might become the next Hendrix or Paul McCartney.

Expectations

The majority of students who take up guitar will give up in the first 6 months. In fact I was go as far as to say that 80% of people who take up guitar will give up lessons in the first 6 months with most of them putting their guitar in some hidden cupboard. Sorry to sound pessimistic but its just a reality.

In my early years of teaching this would worry me and although I accepted it as a fact it continued to bother me. I had began reading books on successful coaches and found that while some coaches had low success rates others had consistently high rates of success. The famous American basketball coach John Wooten is one very good example. He beat almost every record in his sport.

I then decided not to accept the 80% failure rate among my students. My aim was to turn that number around and have an 80% or more success rate. I began keeping stats and found the critical period was the first 6 months of course. I also discovered that most student's short term expectations of themselves was often unrealistic even if they were not aware. Most were expecting to play songs within weeks and many expected after 6 months to be competent guitar players. I will stress that 6 months is possible if you practice 4 hours or more a day but most students are not prepared to do more than an hour and most do less.

Expectations seem to be one of the deciding factors so I worked at bringing things into perspective. First of all students should not look so much in terms of weeks, months or years but in hours of practice and of course quality of practice. A top professional guitarist will have done around 10,000 hours but to reach a reasonable level 1000 hours will be enough. My advice is simple. Track the hours you spend practicing and make sure you have a teacher who can ensure your practice is quality practice.

Hope that helps.

David Hart - Program Director

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“How do I get my child to practice?”

While some children will practice everyday without any prompting many parents know that getting their child to practice is at times a challenge. In many cases if you leave it up your child to decide when they should practice you are likely to be disappointed when they guitar becomes largely neglected. Forcing your child to practice is not the best solution because if you threaten your child with punishment if they don't practice then they will learn to associate fear with learning music. Fear is not a good long term strategy. At times adults who were forced to practice music as a child will sometimes say they gave up music the minute they left home or worse became very unhappy professional musicians. These adults often have bitter memories of learning music.

So what's the answer? The good news is there is a positive solution. Here are my top tips for parents.

Realistic expectations. Many children think learning guitar is all fun and no hard work. Dispelling this myth from the outset will set realistic expectations. Set the rules from the very beginning. Write them down and get them to sign the agreement. E.g. 10 minutes a day practice for 1 year.
Parent involvement. Parents who leave it totally up to their child will usually be disappointed. Getting involved encourages practice because all children seek parental attention. At first sit with them everyday. Even better try learning with them. Overtime you can gradually back away.
Consistency. Set a time each day for practice and stick to it. E.g. 5 pm each weekday. If their routine is broken try to get back on track asap.
Make it a game. When they are doing a particular exercise make a game out of it. Clap along. Sing along. Point to notes and ask them the names of notes.
Monitor progress. If they know you are cheering them on they are more likely to want to practice. Children love to impress their parents but to impress you they need to see that their achievements matter to you. Applaud even the smallest of achievements.
Reward behaviour over results. The behaviour we seek is simply daily practice. Try not to focus on results too much. Rewarding them for practicing will encourage more practice. If its all about results children are more likely to give up before they get a result.
Communicate with their teacher. We work with children and parents everyday. I (David Hart) have personally been involved in teaching guitar for over 20 years. I have learnt mostly from watching how parents work with their children. Your child's success depends on you.
Focus on the positive. Its best to look at what they are doing well and highlight the fact. E.g. "I can't believe you have done 3 hours of practice this week. Isn't that a new record?"
Focus on practice. - Remember its the habit of practice we want to cultivate. Studies show that results come ultimately to those who practice the most and who find practice a positive experience.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact myself directly by emailing g4guitar1@gmail.com
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Why measuring progess is critical for your child's success on guitar

Children (like most adults) want to succeed at what they do. They do not want to appear to fail but sometimes success can seem elusive or just not worth the effort. Basically they lose their confidence to succeed.

Success on guitar can only be achieved if the student perceives some kind of progress. This perception of a  progress comes from having some kind of measuring system. The G4 GUITAR METHOD provides that measurement system. Of course students need to be moving forward to actually progress and this can only come from practice but more importantly the right practice. Doing the right practice happens as a combination through a combination lessons and monitoring their practice. For most children there is one very critical almost make or break factor that ensures the right practice will occur. PARENTS. 

Children need to be coached into doing the right kind of practice. Parental support is the magic ingredient. Young children are often not self disciplined enough to sit down and focus for 20 minutes of practice a day. They need help in establishing the routine and also help understanding the material. For teachers 30 minutes a week is only enough time to guide them in the right direction and check on progress. Teachers simply can't make students practice with weekly lessons. Only daily lessons could provide such a result. 

The teacher's responsibility is to inform parents of what needs to happen at home.

Children go to school six hours a day so school teachers have more time to monitor children as they learn. In the case of weekly music lessons parents need to do that work at home. At G4 GUITAR our best young students are the ones whose parents sit in on lessons from time to time, regularly check in with the teacher, check their child's practice log each day or better still help them with their practice, ask questions and read our blogs. We also have many parents who learn with G4 GUITAR and this is without a doubt a winning combination. Basically the more involved you are the better your child will do.

If you have any questions please feel free to email myself directly at david@g4guitar.com.au.

Students who continue lessons in holidays have a big advantage

School holidays are a well deserved break for children who have been at school all year 5 days a week 6 hours a day not to mention homework and extra activities. The summer holidays are 6 weeks and as a child I remember looking forward to this time as it meant I could spend all day doing the things I enjoyed such as swimming and guitar.

Guitar lessons on the other hand are a very different story. We don't learn 6 hours a day 5 days a week so a break is really not necessary. Students who continue through holidays do far better and over years end up far better guitarists. When a student who learns guitar breaks for holidays it adds up to 12 weeks a year. Basically 20%. Most of the students who don't attend lessons in holiday periods tend not to practice. Years ago I would not teach students in holidays until I read a report on how students who break fall far behind over the long run.

Over 5 years students fall behind by one year but research has shown the effect is actually much more dramatic. Children who are on holidays have more time to practice and therefore make more progress then normal. Some students can actually end up 6 months ahead of those who do not do holiday lessons. 

We therefore encourage you to continue lessons in holidays if possible. It will make all the difference.

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The Shadow Effect. Why some students give up guitar.

Students (especially children) often become victims of the shadow effect. When two people compete for the same space the one who seems to have no chance of winning will usually bow out. In guitar this means they will give up. Imagine two siblings learning guitar. As one gets ahead usually by doing more practice the other begins to lose confidence. Overtime the shadow grows and the less progressive students loses confidence and eventually gives up. Many studies have been conducted on this problem but there are also some good possible solutions.

The problem is the student is comparing themselves negatively to a more progressive student.  I will usually point out their individual strengths and challenges and encourage them to compete against themselves . I often use the Practice Log as an example. I will ask students to beat their own high score and not to be concerned with other students. Its all about keeping them focused on themselves rather than their siblings or class mates. Faster progress while usually the result of more practice can also be the result of earlier experiences such as learning another instrument, having a strong reason for learning (E.g. a guitar hero) or just listening to more music in general. 

When I teach groups of children say five kids all trying to be number 1 may result in one or even 2 winners but it leaves the others feeling crushed. The way to do it is to always talk in terms of team. 1 + 1 = more than 2 so to speak. Keeping them supporting each other and working as a team turns a potential negative experience into a positive one.

You can't always get what you want...

Many teachers fall into the trap of just pleasing students at the cost of sticking to a proven program. I am all about keeping things positive but if a teachers only goal is making someone happy in the moment this can be a problem. Think of children. If your child wants to eat sweets every meal saying yes to them may keep them happy in the moment but it won't serve them well in years to come. They will end up a very sick adult probably with diabetes. Good teaching is basically like good parenting. We need to balance what students want with what is actually good for them.

Often we see learning guitar as a fun hobby. Somewhat like bike riding. Its true that it doesn't take long to learn some basic chords and songs but this can be deceiving. Guitar is actually quite challenging if you plan to get past the beginner stage and should be seen as an ongoing challenge where constant improvement is the focus. Taking this approach will keep frustrations at bay and you will soon find yourself loving the practice. If your focus is on the challenge opposed to the results you will end up a far better guitarist.

Note for parents.

If you are a parent paying money for your child to learn guitar you should feel free to ask questions either directly with your teacher or by contacting our student coordinator. This is especially important in the first year. I can assure you that no matter how good the teacher or the method of learning a curious parent can be the difference between success and failure. A parent who asks questions gets answers and is in a better position to help their child. Many of my blogs are motivated by parents who ask questions. As a teenager when I first began teaching I would dread the parents who ask questions for fear of not having the answer. But over time I realised that the parents who asked questions were the same parents whose children were my best students. There was an 'Aha!' moment in there somewhere. I realised at that point that parents who were involved made a difference.

So please, feel free to to ask questions of your child's guitar teacher. It is for the good of all.

Kind regards,

David Hart - Program Director

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