Jesse R.

The basics of positioning finger and body, the fingering numbers, the music theory notation, etc.

At first, a LOT of hand positioning and fingering techniques. Mastering the fret board is also very important. It is always important to nurture the creative aspects of bass guitar teaching.

The importance of reading percussionist music, mostly the notation of specific idioms using special symbols with what is most familiar to the students. It is also important to slowly, but eventually, introduce the various parts and pieces that come with drums or percussion instruments, such as one or two practice pads and a drum kit, as well as a selection of sticks, brushes, mallets, and a metronome. I like to have manuscript paper, it is a valuable source. A stereo with an auxiliary jack is very useful for playing CDs and iPods, and for amplifying a metronome enough to be heard while a student plays you’ll also need cables to hook up your iPod/metronome to the input jack of your stereo. All of this is obviously a slow and steady process.

I am a big fan of the "CAGED" system. Guitar is an instrument that I am very careful in teaching because it can be overwhelming for beginners when they are first learning. I find that the best way to teach guitar is to let the students choose what songs they want to learn first, because the pride and fulfillment that comes with them hearing themselves play a song they love is very encouraging for them and makes them excited to continue learning. How I teach beginning students logically differs from how I would teach intermediate or advanced students.