It’s often been said that inspiration can come from the strangest of sources. Some years ago, inspiration for my teaching came in the form of a practical article on methodology titled “99 Ways to PLAY BETTER NOW”. No, it wasn’t an EFL or ESL related article. In fact, it was an article that appeared in ‘Guitar Player‘ magazine (May 2006). The piece was a compilation of tips on “tone, technique and creativity“ passed down by guitar playing idols. You see, one of my colleagues and I play together in a makeshift guitar band, so I’m always on the lookout for interesting articles which will help me be a better guitar virtuoso… not that I have any inclination of giving up my teaching career! Well, at least not yet!

While reading these musical pearls of guitar wisdom, it occurred to me, being the reflective practitioner I am, that there was even some wisdom to be gleaned and applied generally to my teaching practice. So the following, dear colleagues, are some of my abstract connections between the world of guitar playing and the world of teaching. I encourage you all to find your own sources of inspiration from interests or hobbies you enjoy, even if they, at least on the surface, have nothing to do with teaching. After all, what is professional development without personal development and vice versa? And, please remember as always that teaching, like guitar playing, is an art!

TASK: Read the tips from Guitar Player magazine and try to free associate them with your teaching experience before reading my ideas.

RENEW!
“Moving into uncharted territory is a key ingredient to making your practice sessions a success. Playing the same stuff over and over again will only take you so far.” – Joe Satriani

EXPAND
“Learn everything you know in all keys.” – Joe Pass

LOVE YOU LESS
“Listen more to the other players on the bandstand than you do to yourself.” – Bill Kirchen

SCREW UP
“Don’t worry about a bit of slop. Instead, put truth in every note. Music isn’t about playing with absolute perfection – it’s the intense and soulful commitment to the note.” – Greg V.

HELLO?
“Experiment with not being the loudest thing on the stage.” – Bill Kirchen

PLAY, DON’T WORRY
“Don’t spend more time worrying about what it is you are supposed to be doing, rather than just doing the work.” – Bill Frisell

GROOVE
“Slowing down our tempos really opened things up for me. Suddenly, the songs had a real groove, instead of always being driving, relentless, and in your face. As a guitarist, that openness allowed me more to explore parts that had more funk and feeling.” – Allison Robertson

TEAMWORK
“When you sit in with musicians you’ve never played with before, do your thing in a way that compliments their sound. Listen attentively, and make sure that what you’re doing isn’t stepping on anyone’s toes. Play as if you were a member of the unit, and keep your eyes open to allow for good communication.” – Dan Lebowitz

MESS WITH YOUR HEAD
“Try to keep your playing as fresh as possible, and not rely on set patterns. When I practice, for example, I often tie off some strings with rubber bands to force myself to look at the fret board differently.” – Jim Hall

SING, SING, SING
“Before you play a solo phrase, sing it first. Then you’ll know if it’s going to be effective or not. And if you start to sing a line, and find you have to grasp for breath – well, you’ve overextended yourself.” – Ronnie Montrose
MY FREE ASSOCIATIONS

Renew / Mess With Your Head
Lesson Planning: Try something new. While younger children feel more secure with having a regular routine they can count on, adults prefer variety to stave off boredom. Vary the range of tasks you include in your lesson. If you use a coursebook, break up the regular organization of tasks by inserting some of your own into the coursebook mix. You can also change the way students do tasks. Try putting students into pairs to generate discussion even when the coursebook doesn’t explicitly tell you to! Try some tasks which involve music or drama.

Expand
When lesson planning for a particular level, consider for a few seconds how you might present a grammar point or a vocabulary item to a different level of proficiency. Would you take the same approach or would you perhaps use mime or visuals? For which levels would you just have your students look it up in a dictionary or grammar resource for themselves? Would you use visuals for all levels?

Love You Less / Hello? / Teamwork
Teacher Talking Time (TTT): Too much TTT! Some teachers just love the sound of their own voice or the idea of standing in front of the class and letting their authority ring! Do you love the sound of your voice? In the guitar tip, take the word ‘bandstand’ to mean ‘classroom’. How much talking do you do in your classroom? How much time is left for students to talk in the classroom. After all, you already know the language you are teaching! Class time is really the students’ opportunity to talk, not yours! Give your students the time they need. For some students, especially in non-English speaking countries, the classroom may be the only opportunity they have to practice the language they are learning!

Screw Up / Play, Don’t Worry
Teachers are not dictionaries, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Teachers are only human. They will give the wrong definition of word from time to time or even make an occasional spelling mistake when writing something on the board. They might even write a grammatically incorrect sentence or two! Go with the flow and make your mistakes part of the lesson. Here’s an idea: screw up on purpose from time to time just to get them to notice the mistake. Praise students who catch you when you fall and don’t be resentful of their proficiency!

Groove / Sing, Sing, Sing
Lesson Timing: Having a well paced lesson is the hallmark of good lesson planning. However, giving more emphasis to completing tasks in their originally allotted time becomes a futile and impersonal game of ‘beat the clock’. If you don’t accomplish the hundred tasks you set out to do in a 90-minute lesson, it’s not the end of the world… only the end of that particular class. Every lesson will always develop it’s own pace despite your most efficient lesson planning attempts. Flexibility is always more important than obsessive punctuality… and a lot more humanistic too!

Lastly, if you are also play guitar, do yourself a favor and check out Guitar Player magazine. It’s like the ‘most’, Dude! It’s like, really, far out, man! Rock on and Rock hard!

Suggested Reading

Note: This article has been re-edited from its original form that first appeared in ELT-Vista periodical in the 2006. Spring-Sumner issue.
Reference: 99 Ways to Play Better, Guitar Player, Vol 40, No. 5, May 2006, pp: 76-104