My Guitar Students in 1997 vs Today (and how it got so bad)

My Guitar Students in 1997 vs Today (and how it got so bad)
Let the "OK Boomer" comments rain down on me! haha. Seriously tho, after teaching guitar for close to 25 years now, I just had to tell my tale of how my students went from loving music to wondering what they loved in a relatively short time. But there is hope. Just watch. :)
Thanks!!!

[echobase]

My man makes a 14 and a half minute vid holding a guitar and doesn't play a single note. What a power move

[StSalem]

This is actually a bit heartbreaking... Listening to a record, while reading the lyrics and drowning in the album cover, is one of the best things in life.

[tttc]

what i dont understand about this video is that this guy looks, now, like he's in his 20s but he was apparently teaching guitar back in the 90s or whenever

[ericb.]

Mike: "So, what kind of music do you like?"
Kid: "Wait, I like music?"

[LlorracTN]

pretty crazy you've been teaching guitar since you were 5 years old

[AfferbeckBeats]

It's interesting how the internet caused music to become more disposable and less passionate for a lot of people, but for me it was the complete opposite. I was suddenly able to discover new music in new styles from all eras all over the world, look up the credits of musicians and see what else they played on, chat to people about music no one I knew in real life cared for or knew about. I pirated obscure music over P2P, and I still had dialup all through the 00s so it was a real committment to do that. If all I was ever able to do was listen to CDs I had bought of music I'd heard on the radio, I shudder to think what I'd be listening to now, and how much of a different person I'd be without having these musical journeys.

[danny]

Most depressing: Students whos parents want them to learn because it'll look good as an extra skill on their University application in a few years.

[atlantaguitar]

I think the disillusionment is the result of option anxiety. Music students in general want to pursue several lines of learning which is compounded by impatience for results. Their attention gets divided and it's not just relative to music. People of all ages want to express themselves but have difficulty selecting an appropriate medium. In reality, I've had students who just picked up guitar lessons by default but soon realized that they really weren't interested in guitar or instruments. They just wanted to talk over options and ideas on how to be creative which is legit. However, being ethical I didn't feel comfortable taking money for lessons that I was not giving. Some of the students were cool paying me to show them how to use DAWs, edit videos, setup websites so that was cool. Just know that when someone comes in and claims to be interested in lessons, it might be lessons on finding a creative direction. I just try to be patient with it.

[thraknik]

I'm a 30 year guitar teacher myself and this is exactly my experience, save for the YouTube presence. One thing I'll add, the way that kids engage with extracurricular activities has evolved since the 90s, to the point where they have zero social autonomy. They're safer now, but they have no time to experience the freedom that leads to a deeper appreciation of rock-n-roll rebelliousness. I actually think this has had as big or greater impact on the way they listen than the evolution of tech.

[alexanderlyon]

Outstanding breakdown of the small technological changes that profoundly shaped the musical experience over time. Excellent video.

[jonk]

i can only imagine some kid coming and saying "Hey Mike, can you teach me the Lil Wayne guitar solo?"

[ColetivoLunar]

You basically described why I started buying records again. We are taking music for granted, and records make me fall in love with music again.

[Nisom]

I think a lot of kids love music, but listen to so many different kinds of music due to how accessible it is so when you ask them "what kind of music do you like", they don't know how to respond since it can't be narrowed down one or two genres.

[nojons_]

2000 kid here. On the one hand, im glad that i grew up nearly completely divorced from modern music, but on the other hand i'm pissed that my "only bands from the 60s and 70s are even worth listening to" mentality kept me from finding a lot of my current favorite bands a lot earlier. I'm also just completely hopeless when it comes to modern classic songs and artists from my own generation, and that is a little depressing.

[kingnick]

"It almost felt like music started becoming a little more disposable" man, that perfectly fits my sentiment regarding my music experience the last 15 years.

[MrTom]

You don’t look old enough to have been teaching for over 24 years 🤣

[lolthatshilarious]

Back in 2002 i was 14 and when I walked into my first guitar lesson I had a list of 3 songs I gave to my teacher that I wanted to learn. Fade to Black, Johnny B Goode, and freebird. We choose fade to black, and ill never forget watching him play it like it was nothing, it was effortless. I was in awe. I'm 33 now and still play, but for whatever reason, to this day I've never even looked up a tab for freebird and never learned it.

[oliviasm]

i’m 15 and have loved music all my life. seeing all these comments about how sad it is that record stores aren’t around anymore makes me nostalgic for something i never experienced!

[Cybey]

I like how when he said "here are the basics" he instinctively pulled a G Major shape

[omgheshreds]

i dont know how people dont listen to complete albums these days. when i like a sog on spotify most of the time i would look the album up and listen to all songs.