40 Guitar Tips For The Music Educator

By Bill Purse Chair NAfME/NAMM/GAMA Guitar Education Team maestrobp@aol.com After years of teaching guitar in the classroom and in private studios, I would like to offer some very practical tips to the music educator which are not found in any guitar method, but gained from my personal experience. The Physical Guitar (Care and Maintenance) Tip 1 - You can usually tell the difference between nylon and steel string guitars by the way that strings are attached. Nylon strings are tied to the bridge, whereas steel strings are held to the bridge of the guitar with bridge pins. Tip 2 - Steel strings exert a great deal of pressure on an acoustic guitar neck, whereas nylon strings exert less pressure. You should never place steel strings on an acoustic guitar made to utilize nylon strings. Tip 3 - When you buy strings for a beginning guitar class purchase very light gauge strings which will be easier on the students fingers. If your budget permits,

you should change all the strings each semester. Tip 4 - A small tool called a string winder is essential for changing strings on multiple guitars. A string winder is a small crank that you place on the tuning peg and allows you to rapidly raise or lower a guitar string’s pitch by cranking it clock wise or counter clockwise. String winders are very inexpensive ($3), and some will have a notch that slips under the bridge pins and make pulling them out easy. Ask your local music dealer about this important tool. Tip 5 - Certain strings break more frequently than others, so always have extra strings ready; single strings can be purchased inexpensively at any music store. On nylon guitars, the 4th string (D) usually breaks, and on electric or acoustic guitars the top two strings (E-1 and B-2) usually break. The number of single extra strings you purchase depends on the class size; as a rule of thumb have three extras of these strings for every ten guitars. Tip 6 - Some string manufacturers (La Bella brand is one) make nylon classical strings that are called Folk Guitar Strings. These are different from regular classical strings in the fact that they have ball-ends and don’t have to be tied to the classical guitar bridge. I always put an extra knot or two in the bottom 1st E string with Folk Guitar strings, because the string is so thin it will often slip through the ball end when you are playing.

Guitar Accessories and Add-Ons Tip 7 - Using a strap will give the music educator the greatest mobility in a professional situation. The strap can remain on the guitar while you are seated so that the you can continue playing if you need to go to another area of the room. Tip 8 - Strap buttons can be purchased for under $2.00 and it is a easy job to add one to the back of the guitar (Most nylon string and acoustic guitars come with only one strap button when purchased). Some guitarists use one strap button and tie the strap to the area behind the nut; this method will get in the way of the left hand playing the guitar. The best area to add a button is centered on the back of the guitar one half inch in from where the neck joins the guitar. If you are not good with tools, a guitar technician can add one very inexpensively, or you could ask the music dealer to include a button and installation as part of your purchase deal. Tip 9 - If your strap does not feel securely attached to your guitar, you can purchase either the Schaler or Jim Dunlop strap lock systems. These are more expensive than a simple strap button but you will never have to worry about your instrument falling from a loose strap, these were designed for rock & roll stage acrobatics. Tip 10 - Picks or plectrums come in many sizes, styles, and materials. Take some time and go into a music store and try out several different pick styles and listen to the results. Try single lines and chords when trying out the different picks

(plectrums). Choose the shape and material with which you feel most comfortable. Tip 11 - When teaching a guitar class, always have a pocket or case loaded with extra picks for class. Students always need picks. Tip 12 - A small plastic pick holder which has a self adhesive strip can be purchased for less than $2.00. Each one holds up to ten picks and I place one on the back of the peg board so I can always find or store a pick. When guitarists place the pick in the strings, it may fall out or become warped and difficult to hold. Tip 13 - An inexpensive alternative to buying a pick holder is a wide rubber band placed around the pegboard that will allow you to slip a pick under it as a no-cost pick holder. Tip 14 - Always place the capo a bit behind the fret and fasten it on the guitar tightly. Never slide the capo from fret to fret with out loosening it as this can scratch the guitar neck. Check your tuning after the capo is placed on the guitar neck. If a string should go sharp loosen it at the peg and tug on the other side of the capo then tune the string up to pitch. If the strings are flat, carefully tune them up to pitch in the new key. Go up five frets from the capo and check your tuning in the traditional way. Tip 15 - Keep a nail clipper in your guitar case, it is impossible to get a good tone if

the left hand nails are not kept short. When you evaluate a student’s tone, observe the left hand nail length, and make sure a nail clipper is available for students to use in the class if the length is affecting his or her tone. Tip 16 - Some electric guitars have an apparatus called a string lock or lock down nut; this is a metal clip that screws into the guitar with allen wrenches to lock down all six strings at the nut of the guitar. The locking nut keeps strings from going out of tune when using a whammy-bar, a device that dramatically loosens all the guitar strings either up or down to create dramatic vibrato or dive bomb effects. If you try to tune the guitar with the pegs while a locking nut is clamped on the strings, you will break a string. There is a wonderful all purpose tool called a Guitool (price about $18) that has a string cutter, allen wrenches used by most guitars for locking nuts, and phillips head and slotted screwdrivers. Classroom Techniques Tip 17 - The guitar is a very popular instrument and you may have a budding Eric Clapton in your class. These students can be a good resource and usually will be glad to be your assistant, either by demonstrating guitar performance techniques or assisting other students. Tip 18 - The guitar is essential to the music of many cultures. Put together a library of different styles multi-cultural music that you can play for your class; this will

help them to understand the wide range the instrument possess outside of rock and pop music, such as flamenco, jazz, reggae, classical, South African, blues, folk, blue grass, new age, country, Latin American. “Guitar Player Magazine” has a collection of recordings of world class guitarists called the Legends of: Jazz, Rock (50’s, 60’s, or 70’s), Classical, Electric Blues. See if your school library can order these as a resource. Go to your library and see what guitar CD’s they have that you can take out on loan. Tip 19 - Nothing sounds less interesting and uninspiring than a guitarist strumming chords with the same dynamic range and timbre throughout a song. As your class plays an example, think of musical ways to use left and right hand articulation to color the examples while practicing. By incorporating dynamics and articulations in practice periods, these techniques will feel natural when performed. Tip 20 - You can also turn your guitar over and use its back as a desk top when writing for a student. Don’t try this with a round back acoustic guitar. If you are using a single sheet of paper, don’t press too hard. Tip 21 - Tape record your class sessions once you have gotten a semester underway and play it back so that you and the class can objectively review and discuss what they performed (either solo or ensemble pieces) and how it could be improved musically.

Practice, Performance, and Reading Techniques Tip 22 - Practice your classroom repertoire while standing and also practice singing and strumming while walking around your practice area. You will then feel very comfortable in the classroom when you have to be mobile. You may even want to find a gig as a strolling guitarist at your nearest restaurant. Tip 23 - Encourage your students to practice in front of a mirror in order to observe their implementation of left and right hand technique on the guitar. Especially useful is a mirror on wheels that can be placed in front of a student so he or she can understand how to correct a poor technique through self observation. Tip 24 - A common technical problem: make sure that the student does not place a finger of the left hand that he or she is not using behind the fingerboard and neck. This is a tendency for students that are first starting out, but once they are aware of it they can correct it. I always tell the students that this is a tea cup fingering if they extend the pinkie of the left hand in the air. After teaching larger guitar classes you can develop a scanning technique to zero in on students technical problems. Tip 25 - If your students are having problems spreading their fingers far enough to be in each fret, start higher on the neck where the frets are narrower. They will be able to make the stretch; create a chromatic exercise that will work its way down into

the lower fret region slowly. Have the students make up their own exercises for a technical problems, and share them with other students. Tip 26 - Have your students look ahead to the next note after they play a note to keep the ahead of the music, they will make less mistakes. Try to have the student say the letter name of one note ahead of the one they are playing like a cannon. Tip 27 - When a student is concentrating on sight-reading any poor technical habits will come into play. I like to have a short easy sight reading session during class time to observe the level of technique a student possess, and also help them build their reading abilities. Tip 28 - Remember that the guitar is a transposing instrument; it sounds an octave lower than written. If you are playing single line or notated chords in guitar music, it is fine to play at the written pitches. If you are playing piano or other instrumental music, play the notes up an octave to sound the correct pitch. Tip 29 - Always read chords from the lowest note up to the highest since this is usually the way chords are strummed with the pick. It will make chord reading much easier. Tip 30 - Have your students practice tapping their foot with the metronome. Make sure that their tapping is consistent with the metronome for timing and the height

of the up beats even. Tip 31 - Finger placement is dependent on the hand size of the guitarist. Teach your students to let their ears be the judge; does the note have a clear clean sound or is it indistinct? Try exerting more pressure if it buzzes. Never use more pressure than needed to produce a clear sounding note; otherwise, you may push the string out of tune. Tip 32 - The right hand palm mute should be used at the end of each song to deaden the strings after they have sounded for their proper note value. Another option is to roll the right hand over to use the flat upper surface of the hand to insure that all six strings are stopped at the same time. Tuning the Instrument and Ear Tip 33 - Regular quartz tuners need a switch or dial to be set to the pitch of the string you are seeking to tune. Chromatic auto-tuner models automatically determine which pitch you are playing and whether it is sharp or flat, a hands off approach which is especially convenient for guitarists. Tip 34 - When you tune a guitar string, always tune up to the pitch rather than down to the pitch. This way the wound guitar strings will not get caught in the nut of the guitar and sometimes slip below pitch during a performance. When you tuned

up to pitch will not have this problem, if you find the guitar string is sharp go below the pitch then bring it up to pitch. Tip 35 - I have created a game called The Tunemeister which uses an electronic tuner for students having difficulty matching pitches. By using the built in microphone in the tuner, ask the student sing a doo or ahh syllable into the tuner after getting the correct pitch from the guitar. When they sing the pitch, the meter or lights on the tuner will show them when they are sharp or flat. The game is to see how long the can keep the meter centered on the pitch. Quartz electronic tuners are sensitive to a one-hundredth of a tone. This has helped my students: some will get a pitch from a tuning fork, then sing into the tuner. Tip 36 - Keep the tuner as close to the guitar as possible. The music stand is a convenient place; you can also use Velcro to secure the tuner to the bottom lip of the stand. Guitars, Gimmicks, Etc. Tip 37 - You or your ensemble has a solo or group concert and somehow the strap, was left at home or lost; enter the duct-tape strap. This tip is directly from the mother of invention; someone always has duct tape around, and by folding a long piece of this tape over upon itself (sticky side to sticky side) all you have to do is punch in two holes and hook it to the strap buttons!

Tip 38 - Teach your students to walk with their guitar case lid placed next to the leg so that if it should open accidentally (inexpensive chip board cases often do this) the lid will open into their leg, and the guitar will not fall out on the floor from inside the case. Tip 39 - You can have the class turn their guitar onto their laps, strings down, to avoid the cacophony of an entire class creating strums and licks or whatever, while you’re trying to demonstrate or lecture. Tip 40 - You can use regular music manuscript paper as guitar grids, by drawing six lines on the staff to represent the guitar strings, and writing the rhythms on the staff underneath. Bonus Tip - I like to play the guitar dice game with students to help them learn the complete guitar neck. By using two dice you can randomly generate guitar neck positions and have students say the name of the pitches at these various locations. Roll the first dice to select a string, and then roll both dice to select a position on that specific string. After rolling both dice have the student say that specific pitch names then play the note on their guitar. Eventually students will be able to visualize the guitar neck and not have to look at the guitar’s neck to say the pitches.

I would love to hear from you about any strategies, experiences or support you would like

to share for the guitar in music education. After all, there is a reason the guitar is so

popular and we need to help spread the joy of making music at all levels to our students.

The MENC/GAMA Task Force is offering Summer workshops for educators who want to start a guitar program in their school. Scholarships are available covering three graduate credits at three sites in the this summer GAMA will also present a free guitar to the attendees. Please contact me at if your or someone you know would like to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Duquesne University’s School of Music • Pittsburgh PA 15212 • (412) 396-5866 or on America On Line (maestrobp@aol.com) Guitar Tips by © 2013 by Bill Purse – All Rights Reserved