This portfolio displays my teaching pedagogy towards how I teach guitar and how I execute my lessons in order to achieve the best outcome for my students. In my sessions, I teach one-to-one lessons with beginner guitar players, aiming to develop their technique and knowledge of the guitar whilst cultivating a continued interest without it being overwhelming or becoming a burden that they do not enjoy. My style of teaching focuses mostly on student led teaching and allowing them to make their own mistakes and learn from them with my guidance in order for them to realise their own personal growth and develop confidence in their own abilities. Examples of my teaching and planning will be presented throughout this portfolio with the main aim being to show how my style of teaching is effective for the students that I teach and that they progress in their learning whilst also enjoying their experience, growing in confidence, and wanting to continue with their lessons.
In many of my lessons, my students often have a fundamental understanding of the guitar, knowing how to tune the guitar and play basic chords, whilst also having a deeper knowledge of music theory as a whole. This allows for my teaching to follow a unique route as I can utilise that knowledge and help my students understand how the guitar works on a deeper level at this stage despite their lack of technique. Thanks to this, the student is able to make more progress on their own compared to a student can’t apply this knowledge of theory onto the instrument. Furthermore, I can use specific terminology that I otherwise would have to simplify, which speeds up the learning process and improves the level in which my students can understand the instrument as they can take what they already know about music and use it to further understand why the guitar works the way it does. Due to all this, my lessons often focus on technique and how the student manoeuvres around the guitar as that is where the gap in their knowledge and playing resides.
See Fig. 1 for my overall lesson plan.
Introduction
In the opening minutes of my lesson, my initial goal is to make the student as comfortable as possible when they enter the room as it was found that “10% of adults described them as “boring” or “unmotivating,” and 11% found them intimidating” (Bristol Live, 2025). By greeting them with positivity and kindness from the moment they enter the room, it will help the student relax and therefore set a good tone for the rest of the lesson ahead. This could also be done with a short conversation on how their week was, or anything that could create a connection between student and teacher as this will help them see me as a normal person rather than this intimidating figure that will scrutinise every mistake.
Next, I identify what exactly the student wants out of the lesson and what they would like to learn or work on. This could be something they come in with knowing already, or something that needs some guidance in finding out what it is they would prefer to work on if they are unsure. This follows my teaching pedagogy as if they come into a lesson wanting to know something in particular and they leave now knowing it or being able to work towards it, they will have much more confidence, enjoyment and satisfaction as they will have received everything that had wanted from the lesson. I believe that this works much better over having a set plan each week, especially in the early stages of learning, as the main focus is to progress the students ability without it becoming boring, and forcing them to learn one thing without taking what they want into consideration will make the lesson seem more like a chore rather than an opportunity to learn something new. In my example here, the student was not entirely sure of what they wanted to work on, but with some simple questions, I was able to discover this and continue on swiftly with the lesson.
This is also where I would check up on what we covered in the prior lesson in order to see how the student has retained the information whilst also checking on any mistakes or inconsistencies in their learning. This would include incorrect notes or bad habits in their technique that may need correcting early on before they become a lasting issue in the students playing. For example, I had taught the student about a basic major scale in the prior lesson, and in the video shown we recapped what they had learned and despite practising in between lessons, I found it beneficial to evaluate how they played the scale and advise them on what they could improve on when practising in the future. Checking back on what they were taught from the previous lesson helps to reinforce their learning and remind them of any specifics of the lesson that they may have been forgotten as repetition over a longer period of time builds stronger habits and memories (which is one of the core principles of the suzuki method) compared to lots of practise over a short span of time.
This portion is also where the student would warm up and become prepared for the lesson ahead. This is where I would help to build good habits for the student in their preparation for their playing as if they fail at this step, their growth may not be as efficient as it could be. These warm ups would include stretching the fingers, wrist rolls and wrist clenches, which all focus on getting the hands active and loose, ready for playing. At this stage in learning, technical warmup exercises such as scales practise would be inappropriate as routines such as that are part of the main learning and would already be covered in the lesson. They would also be inefficient and unhelpful due to the lack of knowledge that the student currently possesses of the guitar, as it would become more of a memory task to remember the scale rather than preparing the hands for the lesson ahead.
Main Body
After deciding on the main topic of the lesson, now comes the learning. This is where something new would be introduced to the student and I would deploy various techniques in order for them to remember what they have learned. This includes using 4 stages of accelerated learning.
Initially I would explain what I am teaching, show them on my guitar, and then walk them through it slowly as they attempt it. The main focus of stage 1 is encouragement and positive reinforcement as this is the moment in the lesson where the student will feel the most vulnerable and unsure of themselves, so it is key to be patient and understanding at this point as you don’t want to make the student stressed and uncomfortable as this will deter them from continuing with lessons in the future. Despite this, I also find that it is important to let the student figure mistakes out by themselves and to speak up when they have corrected themselves as confirmation of their efforts. This both grows the student’s confidence and solidifies the lesson into their memory as they are learning through their own achievements and efforts rather than being constantly corrected and criticised.
Stage 2 focuses accelerating the learning by applying the teaching using the different senses and in different manners in order to solidify what has been learned in the memory, as the student will have multiple ways of recalling the information. For example, when teaching a major scale, I put particular emphasis on how the scale sounds, the repeated shape that is made on the fretboard, and how it feels on the hand when it is played, creating a link between sight, touch, and hearing. By focusing in on these details as the student is playing, it will solidify the scale in the students memory by having multiple pathways for them to remember it by, which will accelerate their learning as a whole. Focusing on using other senses also improves their aural skills which allows them to correct themselves more confidently if they make a mistake, which improves their overall confidence on the instrument as they can take the initiative rather than having me correct them. This is portrayed in the following video, as rather than showing my student what to play, I let them figure it out themselves using their ears, and only intervening when they get particularly stuck.
To further push this idea, I also offered alternative ways to think about what they had learned that utilises the musical knowledge that they already posses. This included thinking of the scale in terms of intervals rather than the shape, which engages their prior knowledge and listening skills, whilst also contextualising what they had just learned in a different way that they may not have originally considered.
Stage 3 aims to link and apply what has been learned to outside sources such as games, images, objects, etc, whilst also getting them to practise what they have learned in unique ways in order to create a true understanding of the material for the student as “newly discovered knowledge will disappear once they get back to work” if they are not “given enough time to reflect on their learning” (C2C Organizational Development (C2C-OD), 2017). One way of applying this is by comparing how something should be played to a real tangible thing, for example, playing a scale as smooth as a snake, and then getting the student to perform it in this way. This contextualises how something is meant to be played and adds another layer of depth that would not be possible by exclusively describing what to do using technical terms. One exercise I implemented was getting the student to play different major scales around the neck, in order to put into practise what I had shown them about where notes are on the fretboard whilst also allowing them to practise that scale that they had learned. This applies the knowledge they have learned previously whilst also challenging them in a unique way. This will both accelerate their learning whilst also boosting their confidence as they will have applied their knowledge onto something with little guidance, improving their independence and also giving them something new to practise in their own time.
Finally, stage 4 focuses on evaluating whether student has understood what has been taught and transferring it to other situations on the instrument. This was done by taking the C major scale that had been taught and using it to play other scales. This helps the student to learn the notes of the fretboard whilst also allowing them to become more fluent in the way they play through the scale, improving their speed and accuracy. Another example was teaching a known song such as “7 nation army” and showing how it could be used in other contexts outside of the original key. This was essential to show as when a student learns a song, it would help them gain a deeper understanding of the instrument rather than just the song as they learned how to take it and apply it into different keys, which could then be applied in their later practise. This idea was explained perfectly by John Mayer when talking about his song “Gravity” in which he states that if you only learn the song, “You don’t have an understanding of the guitar, you have an understanding of gravity,” and continues to explain that the song is part “of a much larger scale that goes all the way across the neck.” (www.youtube.com, n.d.)
Whilst this is a general plan of the lesson, it may not always be applicable depending on what is being worked on and also whether the student is retaining the information presented to them. In this case, it may be necessary to spend more time on one of the stages or abandon the plan as a whole to more appropriately accommodate for the student as not everyone progresses at the same rate.
Lesson Conclusion
In the closing minutes of the lesson, it is essential that we summarise what has been taught throughout the lesson in order to ensure that the student has retained the information and that it is correct. This is because I don’t want them to go away and practise something that is slightly wrong in the event that they have misunderstood the lesson as that is how bad and incorrect habits are formed, which would be difficult to break in a later lesson. Even with this, it is still possible for the student to make a mistake, therefore I would give the student a handout which includes any information such as scales, chord charts, etc, for the student to refer back to. This works effectively thanks to the students already knowing basic music theory, so they would be able to understand information given to them without further guidance. See fig. 2
Along with this, I also gave the student some ideas of some further practise other than running the scale that they had learned. This allows them to apply what they learned whilst at home once they fully understand the lesson as there is only so much practise someone can do on the same thing before it becomes boring and inefficient. This practise I suggested is also a creative application of the lesson, which is beneficial as everything we had discussed was purely technical which can become stale fairly quickly. Whilst what I suggested may go past the students current ability, it is useful to allow them to experiment with the basic concept of it so that they can become more comfortable with the instrument and its different applications. See fig. 3
Reflection on lessons
In reflection to the lessons, I found that they were easy to teach and follow through with all the information that I had planned due to the way the stages of accelerated learning lead into each other, as they progress through from learning the topic into applying it in more advanced areas. It being easy to teach positively influenced how the lesson was taught as I spent less time thinking about what to say which meant more material was covered and more time could be spent helping the student understand something that they struggled with.
I believe that I adapted fairly well during lessons in accordance with what the student wanted to do, rather than just following on with what I thought was best. For example, in this video, the student originally talked of knowing chords and being interested in following up on those skills, however they changed their mind and I diverted the lesson appropriately. Despite this, I found that I sometimes take too much time making decisions or coming up with alternative ideas to explain a lesson point, and whilst I did always eventually come out with something, the time it took for me to come to a conclusion negatively impacts the lesson, by causing the student to become bored and wasting their time when they could be doing more learning. This could be improved with more preparation by coming up with alternative examples prior to the lesson.
Some students progressed much faster than others, which led me to the end of my initial plan fairly quickly, which resulted in me scrambling to find something to say or teach for the remainder of the lesson. This confirms that I need to have ideas of what to teach that extend further than my initial plan in the case that a student excels in that area. This would also give me another lesson that I could teach instead of the first plan in the event that a student is not interested in it, which would make my lessons more efficient.
Another issue that arose was regarding students who did not know what they wanted to learn, and came into the lesson expecting me to guide them completely. Whilst this was fine in the context of my lessons, it emphasises the point that regardless of wether or not the student has something in mind to learn, I must always have a detailed plan to come back to so that both mine and the students time is not wasted.
Despite this, I found that when students applied what they had learned in different manners without being instructed, I could follow on from it and go into detail on what they had done. This is because when this happens, students often don’t exactly know what they have done or why it works, so I find that elaborating on it is helpful and often necessary.
Assessment
Whilst my students performed fairly well throughout our lessons, some had issues initially learning the material which stunted the progression of the lesson and would have severely limited what we cold have done if it had not been worked on. Whilst this is not a major issue as it is important that the student is comfortable with what they are learning, it slows down their progression and causes the lessons to become less efficient. In an attempt to encourage accelerated learning, I implemented a call and response tactic in which we alternated playing sections of the scale so that they could follow along step by step. I also split the scale into different sections; eg: separate strings / octaves, in order to make it seem less intimidating and to allow for the student to understand it step by step, rather than making them learn something that may seem overwhelming. This all worked to get the fundamentals of the lesson down so that we could continue with the lesson plan.
Conclusion
Overall, my lessons were quite informative and educational towards my students and catered towards what they wanted to learn. They taught the students new ideas of the guitar which they had not encountered before whilst still giving them the freedom to explore the instrument themselves, allowing for their confidence to grow and their familiarity of the instrument to rise dramatically compared to if I micro-managed every aspect of their learning. Throughout this portfolio, I have grown as a teacher through developing my understanding of newer players, how they react to new material and also by being put into sudden positions that had not been planned, which developed my spontaneity and ability to adapt to new situations.
Bibliography
Bristol Live. (2025). Childhood music lessons more frightening than horror movies, research reveals. [online] Available at: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/frightening-childhood-music-lessons-tendendo-10606541 [Accessed 3 May 2026].
C2C Organizational Development (C2C-OD). (2017). The Four Phases of Accelerated Learning. [online] Available at: https://c2cod.wordpress.com/2017/03/30/the-four-phases-of-accelerated-learning/ [Accessed 3 May 2026].
www.youtube.com. (n.d.). John Mayer on Diving Deep into Music Theory. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S8ABP5zLlZ4 [Accessed 5 May 2026].
Guitarscale.org. (2026). C Major guitar scale. [online] Available at: https://www.guitarscale.org/c-major.html [Accessed 5 May 2026].
Appendix
Fig. 1:
Fig. 2: (Guitarscale.org, 2026)
Fig. 3:
