How to Become a Better (and More Successful!) Guitar Teacher!

Becoming a guitar teacher has minimal formal requirements—there’s no license, permit, or exam needed. You could learn a few basic chords, print some business cards and flyers, and start offering lessons.

This lack of formal qualifications means the skill levels of guitar instructors can vary greatly. Some may teach only a few songs (like my first guitar teacher), while others hold advanced degrees or have decades of experience.

No matter your current experience or education, there are always ways to improve your skills. Enhancing your teaching abilities not only elevates your students' learning experience, but it can also boost your earning potential. Stronger student retention, positive word-of-mouth, and a better reputation all come with an increase in teaching quality. Plus, improving your teaching skills often leads to greater playing ability, creating a win-win for both you and your students.

Here are twelve steps you can take to become a better guitar teacher:

1. Take Lessons on Your Instrument

All music teachers should continue to take lessons on their primary instrument. Taking lessons allows you to keep improving and helps you remember what it's like to be a student—feeling challenged, learning new concepts, and working through obstacles. Additionally, you can observe your instructor’s teaching style and learn how they communicate and organize information.
In today’s world, finding a suitable teacher is easier than ever—many offer remote lessons, so you can learn from someone with more experience, no matter where they are located.

2. Take Piano Lessons

Improving your piano skills is one of the best ways to enhance both your teaching and playing. The piano is the universal instrument for understanding music theory, which is why all music degree programs require all students (regardless of primary instrument) to learn and demonstrate fundamental keyboard skills.
A solid understanding of piano will help you communicate music theory more clearly and may even allow you to expand your studio to include piano students.

3. Take Vocal Lessons

Vocal lessons are almost as important as piano lessons for a well-rounded music teacher. Vocal training sharpens your ear, boosts your confidence, and makes you more versatile when performing or teaching.
Even if you don't plan to teach vocals directly, understanding how to help students improve their singing—especially those interested in becoming singer-songwriters—adds significant value to your teaching studio.

4. Learn to Read Music

Learning to read music is essential for any serious musician and teacher. If you want to prepare your students for professional careers in music, including auditions that require sight-reading, you must be able to read music yourself.
By demonstrating your own reading skills, you also send the message to your students that reading music is a necessary part of being a serious musician. This is a critical skill, and not something to overlook.

5. Read About Music

Expand your knowledge by reading music theory books, music history, biographies of musicians, and critiques of different musical works. The more you know about music, the more depth you can bring to your teaching.

6. Read About Learning

Understanding how humans learn can enhance your ability to teach music effectively. Learning music isn’t all that different from learning any other subject, so exploring educational theories can benefit both your own learning and your students’ progress.
The more you understand about the process of learning, the more effective you’ll become as both a musician and a teacher.

7. Read About Teaching

While there are specific books on teaching music, any resource about education and teaching strategies can be beneficial. The better you understand teaching methods, the better you’ll be at communicating musical concepts to your students.

8. Learn Other Instruments

Broadening your skill set to include other instruments will not only enhance your understanding of the guitar, but it can also help you attract a wider variety of students.
For example, the ukulele shares many techniques with the guitar, and learning it will allow you to teach younger students who might find the ukulele more suitable for their size.
In addition to the ukulele, learning instruments like the banjo, mandolin, bass, or even pedal steel will expand your reach as a teacher.

9. Explore Unfamiliar Genres

The more genres you’re comfortable with, the more versatile you’ll be as a teacher. For example, if you primarily teach jazz and a student comes to you with a passion for heavy metal, what can you offer them?
Don’t limit yourself to a single style—expanding your knowledge of different musical genres will make you a more successful and adaptable teacher.

10. Learn Alternative Forms of Teaching

In addition to traditional teaching methods, consider exploring alternative teaching styles such as the Suzuki method, Kodály method, or Orff Schulwerk method.
While these methods require time and financial investment to become certified, they can open up additional income streams and attract students who are interested in different teaching approaches.

11. Get a Degree or Certificate

Obtaining a formal degree or certification can significantly enhance your credibility as a music teacher. Completing a college degree or certificate program demonstrates that you have a strong foundation in music theory and practical experience performing in various ensembles.
This formal education is especially appealing to students seeking a more structured and academically rigorous approach to their music lessons.

12. Leverage the Internet

The internet is a powerful tool for both teaching and learning. There is an abundance of resources available online—many of them free or affordable—that can help you improve your teaching skills and expand your students' learning experiences.
From theory lessons and technique tutorials to interactive tools and instructional videos, the internet offers endless opportunities for growth and development.

Cross-Cultural Use of the Pentatonic Scale

The pentatonic scale is a fascinating example of how different cultures, often with little or no contact with each other, developed similar musical systems. Its use spans continents, with evidence of pentatonic music found in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The pentatonic scale’s universality comes from its simplicity and its natural consonance, making it accessible for a variety of musical expressions, from folk traditions to spiritual rituals. Here's a more detailed look at its role in different cultures:

Africa:

In many African musical traditions, the pentatonic scale is foundational, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. African music often emphasizes rhythm and polyrhythmic patterns, and the pentatonic scale fits naturally into this context because its notes can be used in a variety of harmonic combinations without producing dissonance. This makes it ideal for the repetitive, cyclic patterns common in African drumming and vocal music.

In West African cultures, for example, the pentatonic scale is frequently used in folk songs and traditional instruments like the kora (a stringed instrument), the balafon (similar to a xylophone), and various types of flutes. The scale’s flexibility allows for easy improvisation, which is a key feature of much African music. This use of the pentatonic scale spread to other cultures through the African diaspora, especially in the Americas, where it became influential in the development of blues and jazz music.

East Asia:

The pentatonic scale is integral to the traditional music of several East Asian cultures, particularly in China, Japan, and Korea.

• China: As mentioned earlier, the pentatonic scale has been a core element of Chinese music for thousands of years. The Chinese pentatonic scale, also called the wǔ shēng scale, is associated with natural elements and philosophical concepts. Traditional Chinese instruments like the guzheng (a plucked zither), the pipa (a type of lute), and the dizi (a bamboo flute) are often tuned to the pentatonic scale. Chinese folk music, as well as classical compositions, use this scale to evoke a sense of harmony and balance, reflecting its deep cultural importance.

• Japan: In Japan, the pentatonic scale is known as the yo scale or the in scale, and it is used in various forms of traditional Japanese music, including court music (gagaku), folk songs, and religious music. Instruments like the koto (a type of zither), shakuhachi (a bamboo flute), and shamisen (a three-stringed instrument) are often used to play music based on pentatonic scales. The yo scale, which avoids semitones, is used to create a bright, open sound that is common in Japanese music.

• Korea: Korean traditional music, especially in folk songs and court music, also relies heavily on the pentatonic scale. Instruments like the gayageum (a zither-like string instrument), the daegeum (a large bamboo flute), and the piri (a type of oboe) are frequently used to perform pentatonic-based melodies.

Celtic Music in Europe:

In Western Europe, the pentatonic scale is prevalent in Celtic music, particularly in the folk traditions of Ireland and Scotland. The use of the pentatonic scale in Celtic music may have been influenced by the natural structure of ancient European instruments like the bagpipes, harps, and flutes. Many traditional Celtic tunes are based on pentatonic melodies, which give the music its distinctive, flowing sound.

Celtic pentatonic music often has a modal character, using variations of the scale to create different moods and colors. These pentatonic melodies became central to folk songs, dances like reels and jigs, and storytelling ballads, forming an essential part of the region’s cultural heritage. The simplicity of the scale also allowed for communal participation, as the pentatonic notes can easily be sung or played in group settings.

Native American Music:

In Native American music, particularly in the music of tribes from North America, the pentatonic scale is commonly used in flute melodies, vocal chants, and ceremonial songs. The Native American flute is typically tuned to a minor pentatonic scale, and the melodies often have a meditative, spiritual quality.

The use of the pentatonic scale in Native American traditions serves both musical and ceremonial purposes. In tribal music, the scale is used in songs meant to honor nature, communicate with the spirit world, or accompany dances in rituals and celebrations. The absence of half steps in the pentatonic scale allows for a smoother, more soothing sound, which aligns with the music’s connection to spirituality and nature.

Southeast Asia and Indonesia:

The pentatonic scale also plays a major role in the music of Southeast Asia, especially in the traditional music of Indonesia and Vietnam. In Indonesia, the slendro scale, a type of pentatonic scale, is used in gamelan music, a genre of traditional ensemble music that includes metallophones, drums, gongs, and bamboo flutes. The slendro scale is one of the two main tuning systems in gamelan music (the other being the seven-tone pelog scale). Gamelan ensembles often use pentatonic scales to create intricate rhythmic and melodic patterns, which are fundamental to traditional Javanese and Balinese music.

Similarly, in Vietnam, the pentatonic scale is frequently used in folk and classical music. Traditional instruments like the dan bau (a one-stringed zither) and the sao (a bamboo flute) often play pentatonic melodies, which reflect the cultural and spiritual aspects of Vietnamese music.

North America and the Blues:

In North America, the pentatonic scale became especially significant in the development of the blues, a genre rooted in African-American musical traditions. African slaves brought with them a musical heritage that included the use of pentatonic scales, and this influence became integrated with European musical forms in the southern United States.

The minor pentatonic scale, in particular, became a staple of blues music, forming the basis of its melodies and improvisations. The "blues scale," which is a modified version of the pentatonic scale, adds a "blue note" (a flattened fifth) to create the unique sound of the blues. From blues, the pentatonic scale spread into jazz, rock, and other popular music genres, where it remains a crucial tool for improvisation, especially in guitar solos.

Universality of the Pentatonic Scale:

One of the most remarkable aspects of the pentatonic scale is its universality. Cultures as geographically and historically distant as those in Africa, East Asia, Europe, and the Americas all developed music based on pentatonic scales independently of each other. This suggests that the scale may have a deep, intuitive appeal to the human ear.

Some theorists believe that the pentatonic scale’s natural consonance, lacking dissonant intervals, makes it pleasing to people across cultures. Its five-note structure also offers flexibility, making it useful for both simple melodies and complex improvisations. The scale’s adaptability has allowed it to survive and thrive in a wide variety of musical contexts for thousands of years.

In summary, the pentatonic scale’s cross-cultural use is a testament to its simplicity, versatility, and natural consonance. Whether in African folk music, East Asian classical music, Celtic traditions, Native American spirituality, or the global spread of blues and rock, the pentatonic scale remains one of the most enduring and universal elements of human music-making.

Ancient Origins of the Pentatonic Scale

The pentatonic scale is considered one of the earliest musical scales developed by humans, and its use can be found in various ancient cultures around the world. The simplicity of the scale—comprising five notes—makes it a natural starting point for the development of musical systems. Here’s a deeper look at its early history:

China:

In China, the pentatonic scale has deep roots in ancient philosophy and cosmology, dating back to at least 2000 BCE. Early Chinese music was based on this five-tone scale, known as the wǔ shēng (五声), which was central to their understanding of the universe's harmony. The five notes of the scale were associated with the five elements of Chinese cosmology—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—as well as various natural phenomena, such as seasons and directions.

The traditional Chinese pentatonic scale includes the notes Gong (C), Shang (D), Jue (E), Zhi (G), and Yu (A), with these notes forming the foundation for much of Chinese classical and folk music. The use of this scale reflects the importance of balance and harmony in ancient Chinese thought, both in music and the broader universe.

Ancient Greece:

The ancient Greeks also used pentatonic scales, and these can be found in early Greek music theory. Pythagoras, the ancient mathematician and philosopher, is often credited with exploring the relationship between musical intervals and mathematical ratios, and the pentatonic scale was one of the intervals he studied. In Greek theory, these scales were seen as simple and consonant, embodying a certain purity of sound.

Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia:

Artifacts such as ancient flutes and harps discovered in Egypt and Mesopotamia suggest that these early civilizations also utilized pentatonic scales. The prevalence of the pentatonic scale in ancient instruments indicates its wide-ranging use. It was likely an intuitive scale for early musicians to use because of the natural consonances it produced.

Prehistoric Evidence:

There is archaeological evidence that suggests the pentatonic scale may have been used even before written history. In 2008, archaeologists discovered a 35,000-year-old flute made from the wing bone of a vulture in the Hohle Fels cave in Germany. This ancient instrument was tuned to the pentatonic scale, suggesting that early humans had an understanding of musical intervals long before the development of complex societies.

Why the Pentatonic Scale?

The pentatonic scale’s prominence in ancient music is often attributed to its simplicity and universality. The five notes of the scale (without half-steps) create a set of intervals that are naturally consonant, making them easy to sing and play on simple instruments. The lack of dissonance allows the scale to be used across a wide range of cultural contexts, from folk songs to religious ceremonies.

Because it avoids the half-steps found in other scales (such as the major or minor scales), the pentatonic scale naturally avoids much of the tension and instability that dissonant intervals create. This quality may explain why so many ancient cultures, independently of each other, gravitated toward pentatonic scales as a foundation for their musical systems.

In summary, the pentatonic scale’s ancient origins show its universality across early human civilizations, from China to Greece to prehistoric Europe. Its simplicity, mathematical harmony, and consonant intervals made it a natural building block for the earliest forms of music, and it continues to be used in many cultures today.