Latest updates and news

New marketing guide: People buying guitars as gifts

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A new marketing guide is available to help you attract new students during the Christmas holidays. A lot of children and adults will be receiving their first guitar as a present. This is a great opportunity to promote yourself as a teacher and book them in for lessons. The guide will give you detailed strategies on how to promote yourself to the people buying the guitar as a gift. They're already spending a lot of money on a guitar so they are very likely to spend some extra money for lessons with you.

Check out the guide and use the strategies to find some new students ready for 2013.

Access the guide here: BMK-11 Marketing to people buying guitars as gifts

More marketing guides are available in the Business Guides Section.

New worksheet: Chords in Mixolydian Mode

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A new worksheet is available covering the chords in the Mixolydian mode. This worksheet is part of a series of worksheets that teach your student how to harmonize the modes and figure out which chords fit in each mode. This will help your student understand the modes as well as learn how to apply them.

Access the worksheet here: WMO-05 Chords in Mixolydian Mode

The worksheets on the other modes are available in the Lesson Materials section.

New lesson material: Phrasing

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A new guitar lesson plan is available covering the basics on phrasing. If your student wants to learn to improvise and write better licks and solos, then phrasing is essential. Phrasing is the way a lick is played. Using stylistic techniques the student will learn how to take a basic lick and change the way it sounds.

Access the lesson plan here: INT-10 Phrasing

More lesson plans on improvising is available in the Lesson Materials Section

New teaching guide: Students rushing ahead on materials

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A new teaching guide is available to help you out whenever you have a student rushing ahead on materials. This is a common problem when teaching children and can be extremely frustrating to deal with. In the guide we identify the cause of the problem as well as suggested solutions for you to try.

Access the guide here: TBP-02 Students Rushing Ahead on Materials

More guides to help you correct problems with student are available in the teaching guides section.

New guide: Students Cancelling Lessons

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A new guide is available to help you deal with students who regularly cancel lessons at late notice. These students have a big impact on your income over time and must be dealt with. The guide will give you different strategies to correct the issue. If you have a student who always seems to cancel at the last minute for every excuse under the sun, then this guide is for you.

Access the guide here: BQA-03 Students Cancelling Lessons

Similar guides are available in the Business Guides section.

New teaching guide: Teenagers

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A new teaching guide is available to give you an idea on what it would be like to teach teenagers guitar. Most teenagers are fantastic students because they are really keen to learn and if you give them the right incentives they will practice regularly. You may however come across a few problems when teaching teenagers. This guide will identify the most common issues teachers face when teaching teenagers and suggest solutions to teach problem.

Access the guide here: TPR-03 Teenagers

More student profiles and guides are available in the Teaching Guides section.

New teaching guide: Children 8-12 years

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A new student profile is available to give you an overall idea on what it would be like to teach children between 8-12 years. Common issues are identified along with suggested solutions. If you encounter any of these issues when teaching children in this age range you will have specific advice you can put to use. Read through the student profile if you are considering teaching children in this age range.

Access the student profile here: TPR-02 Children 8-12 years

More student profiles and teaching guides are available in the Teaching Guides section.

New Teaching Guide: Children under 8

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A new teaching guide is available to help you decide whether you want to teach young children or not. While teaching guitar to young children can be rewarding, it can also be tough. This Student Profile will explain common issues tutors face and suggests solutions to each issue. It's a handy resource if you haven't taught young children before.

Access the profile here: TPR-01 Children under 8

More teaching guides are available in the Teaching Guides section.

New teaching guide: Using an iPad as a teaching tool

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A new teaching guide is available to help you use an iPad as a teaching tool. The popularity of Apple's iPad and the wide range of music/guitar related apps available means you now have a very powerful teaching tool to use in guitar lessons. Many guitar teachers use the iPad to create a richer learning experience away from the traditional book. The guide will walk through various apps and how you could use them in lessons.

While the guide is specifically for the iPad, other tablet devices such as Android or Windows tablets can be used with equal success. Think of the iPad simply as one possible tool you can use in your lessons. The best results always come when you use a wide range of materials and not rely on one single type of resource (eg: a method book). Combining the guitar lesson plans and worksheets available on this site with the iPad is a great way to keep your lessons fresh and keep your students interested.

The guide will be updated over time when new suitable methods and apps are identified.

Access the guide here: TTL-04 Using an iPad as a teaching tool

More guides are available in the Teaching Guides Section.

New teaching guide: Students not practicing

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A new teaching guide is available to help you out when you have a student that doesn't practice regularly. Having a student who doesn't practice can be extremely frustrating as it wastes your time as well as the student's. This guide discusses the problem and provides you with suggestions on how to correct the issue. Every student will have different needs so multiple solutions are given.

Access the guide here: TBP-01 Students not practicing

More teaching guides will be added shortly.