#027: How to Create Engaging Guitar Learning Experiences for Kids with Dave Donoghue

In today’s episode, we sit down with Dave Donoghue as he shares about his background and his journey as a guitar teacher. Dave tells us some lessons he has learned along the way about how to create engaging, fun and effective guitar learning experiences for kids. We learn how to approach teaching kids and how to keep them interested and engaged throughout the lesson. We also discuss some of the struggles and problems that teachers encounter with younger students. He also talks about how immersion-based events in teaching can be very powerful in cultivating musical growth by exposing learners to different key concepts and musical styles. In this interview, Dave gives us several ideas that should help get you off on the right foot as a new teacher.

• Dave shares about his background and his guitar teaching journey.
• Some tips on how to create engaging, fun and effective guitar learning experiences for kids.
• Dave tells us about his guitar school and its primary focus.
• Advice for teachers who wants to approach teaching kids or struggling with teaching kids.
• Some problems and struggles that Dave encountered through the years of teaching a younger demographic.
• How to make lessons a lot simpler and easier for your students.
• What are some other ways to make lessons more fun, exciting and more interesting?
• Dave tells us about Guitaraco and the guitar camps he’s running.
• The power of immersion-based events in teaching.
• How do you incorporate mindfulness and body and movement into guitar?
• Dave tells us how he pivoted into content creation using TikTok and YouTube.
• Dave’s strategies in growing his social channels and online following.
• The importance of building an email list and how to use it.
• His process of creating content in YouTube.
• An average day look in Dave’s life.
• Three book recommendation to listeners.
• One final piece of wisdom for guitar teachers and guitar players.

Guest Links

• Dave Donoghue Website
• Dave Donoghue YouTube Channel

Guitar Teaching Resources Mentioned

• Free Guitar E-book Resources

Today’s Guest

Dave Donoghue is a guitar teacher who uses guitar as a means to help people express themselves happily to their fullest potential. A keen student of personal development, Dave infuses philosophies and life lessons into his guitar lessons. He balances his time between the online and offline worlds, teaching kids locally through his Guitaraco brand and then helping adults online through theschoolofguitar.com and the accompanying YouTube channel. Dave wanted to become a guitar teacher since the age of 15 and to get to share in the joy of someone’s guitar journey as “the guide on the side” is what keeps him coming back day after day, year after year.

Thank you for tuning in!

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