Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
2 December 2013
Before approaching the essentials of guitar pedagogy, an adequate amount of attention must be
paid to the method of teaching itself. For many have tried teaching a student a concept which is simple
and clear in their own mind but has failed to solidify it in the mind of their pupil through their
instruction. When this happens, there has been a disconnect between how the teacher had learned the
concept when they were a student and their current understanding of the subject, or a lack of
understanding in how their pupil receives information. In any case, an error of communication has
occurred and so the teacher must again become a student of teaching.
The guitar, as any musical instrument, requires many tasks to be carried out simultaneously. In
order to have the student perform any one of the tasks well, they must be isolated at first. It is only after
adequate performance and understanding of the specific element that another should be added to it in
these early stages of technical training. As teachers have observed, when a new element is introduced
and added (for example: left hand notes being fingered while the right hand plays in rhythm), even a
task that the student can perform well is likely to falter as their attention shifts to the new task to be
carried out simultaneously. When this occurs, the tempo should be lowered, or the rhythmic element
should be removed, or the tasks isolated again. The student may not be ready to combine these
elements at this lesson as well, which trains us in getting an intuition for when a student is ready for the
next step of their technique training.
Just as it is not in the interest of the student to be burdened with several technical tasks too
soon, we should also not weigh them down with too many mental concepts at once. Aaron Shearer's
Four Principles of Efficient Muscle Function are invaluable to us as instructors, but would not be so
useful to explain to an absolute beginner before they are asked to demonstrate them in a lesson. Rather,
they should be introduced and explained upon their transgression by the student, allowing for an
should first be trained by this principle for strengthening and coordination, and will eventually find that
a firm tip joint gives freedom for greater technical feats. The third and most obvious principle
displayed here is Follow-Through: Muscles function most efficiently only when there is sufficient
follow-through to avoid a build-up of counterproductive tension. Sufficient follow through means that,
once a movement has been initiated, no intentional restraint is applied to the movement (Shearer 10).
The fingers are being pulled into the palm of the hand deliberately