If you're teaching guitar there are a number of tools you must own to
be profitable and stay sane. The more things you can find to make your
life easier the better. You'll have more fun teaching guitar and have
more time to focus on becoming a better guitar player and instructor
when you use the right tools.
Here are a couple of things that over the years I have become totally dependent on.
Writing supplies
I
know this one is general sense, however I'm mentioning it since I used
to work with a guitar instructor who never had a pencil or manuscript
paper and always interrupted my guitar sessions to ask me for some.
Imagine how amateurish this must have appeared for his students.
A
few things I suggest always having on hand at all times are a pen or
pencil, a notebook for taking simple quick comments, an assorted variety
of chord chart paper for writing chord shapes, scales, and arpeggios
on, and some type of combination TAB/Manuscript paper for writing out
song and guitar solos.
Cell Phone
This has become a lot more
valuable with the current advancement of technology and smart phones.
Your phone is your best friend. You can use it to keep track of all your
student's phone numbers, to schedule lesson times and if you have
internet access you can even look up tabs and music videos or video
guitar lessons.
I recently upgraded to a smartphone with the
capability to install applications and found a 4 track music studio app,
and app for reading Guitar Pro Tabs and an app for writing songs. Talk
about a sweet little tool to have when you need it..
Business cards
Your
business cards should have the easiest way for students and parents to
get a hold of you, your email address, your web url and the physical
location of your music studio on it.
Receipt Book
If you are
planning on charging for guitar lessons you need a receipt booklet for
obvious reasons. One thing I'll bring up is the capability to take
credit card payments from your smartphone. I know, I'm all geek advocate
today, but it's a pretty cool idea
An app I use for this is
called "Square" and it's FREE! They even send you a little device that
plugs directly into your phone gives you the ability to swipe people's
credit card. The funds are then directly deposited into your bank
account of choice and both you and your customers are emailed a receipt.
Seriously, how sweet is that?
If you're not into technology you'll be taking mostly cash and
checks for your lessons. There are tons of paper receipt options out
there but I recommend creating your own template with your logo and
contact information if possible. It just looks more professional.
A Schedule
You'll
need an itinerary for tracking your students as well as some
promotional tasks associated with running a profitable teaching
business. As with most things we've discussed to this point there are
several options available for scheduling.
Any standard schedule
booklet will be sufficient but I favor the ones that break the days down
by the half hour so I can keep track my lessons better.
If
digital is your game go with Google calendar. It's cost nothing, has
more scheduling options than you'll need, plus you can sync it across
multiple devices.
Guitar Gear
Obviously you'll need a guitar
and amp unless you are planning on only giving acoustic guitar lessons.
From my experience, guitar effects pedals are a really enjoyable reward
for kids who have been practicing.
For students who maintain
regular practice, I like to set aside 5 to 10 minutes of jam time at the
end of a session to rock out with different effects.
A small
multitrack recorder can also be a cool way to spice up your instruction.
Record a student and let them hear what they sound like. I even started
doing monthly recordings and giving the students a CD as a way to track
their improvement.
A drum machine, or CD player with Jam Tracks
is also terrific for students who are eager to start playing with
accompaniment. I also use a Boss loop station for this since I can
record a chord progression and demonstrate licks to lay over it.
This
is a small list of things that have become common place in my studio.
There are plenty more tools you can add to this list, and feel free to
do that.
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