teaching for the first time

[Danny Clark]

i have been playing for about 15 years,i soon will be starting to teach young children mandolin at church,any suggessions from you teachers where to start,2 finger chords etc...

[Jon Hall]

I would recommend two finger chords and then teach them a familiar song, with a simple rhythm asap.

[JeffD]

What age level?

Might it be appropriate to get some beginner fiddle books at the local music shop. Get them started reading music right from the beginning - as long as there already is a lot to learn.

Just a thought.

[pops1]

I remember taking piano and organ lessons when i was young, and hated it because the music was boring and unfamiliar. When i give lessons to younger children i try to work the lesson by using songs that they are familiar with and enjoy to keep their interest level up. Sometimes it means custom lessons for each child, but i feel it is worth it. When it gets to scales i tell students why they learn scales and demonstrate what they can do with them. First lesson with scales is a song that stays simply in the scale. I also tell them not to bore themselves with scales, but to use them to warm up and then go on to something fun.

[Danny Clark]

7 year old

[lenf12]

Good for you Danny!! Also, try to be aware of which kids are having trouble pressing down pairs of strings and consider removing one of each pair. It may be helpful to some of your students to play a 4 string mandolin rather than struggle with an 8 stringer.

ymmv,
Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[pops1]

I like a real lite action, and have done setups on students instruments so they are easy to play. It's hard enough without struggling to push the strings down. Usually they have inexpensive mandolins and they play hard so i feel is is a necessity.

[jim_n_virginia]

Hey I just started teaching beginning mandolin a while back after repeated requests to do so.

I am definitely new at this and there are loads of more qualified teachers than I but this is what I have learned in the short time I decided to teach some young people in my neighborhood.

I started out with no curriculum and kinda wrote up each lesson every week. You have to keep progress of what you have covered so you know what they are doing. I even designed my own handout and I taught just like I learned by tab and ear.

Making up your own curriculum is extremely time consuming if you have more than two students. What I do now is use a book (Hal Leonard Mandolin Method - By Rich Delgrosso) and teach that to them. I get them to buy it. I also teach simple fiddle tunes along with the book. Using this book has made it SO much easier.

And my other suggestion is and I have heard from MANY music teachers at home have the same problem. If possible get the money for your lessons one month in advance. It makes them not want to skip and makes the parents less apt to blow it off because of something THEY want to do.

My friend who has been teaching guitar for 20 years said that is the biggest problem teaching at home. You are sitting there waiting for them and they don't show up or even call. It is the reason why so many teachers teach out of a music store because they make you pay for the lesson if you don't show up.

Good luck, teaching was much more involved than I thought!