The GMTP is a grass roots, music teacher-lead enterprise aimed at extending guitar teacher professionalism. Fundamental
to our notion of guitar master teacher is the view that guitar teachers better professionalize their teaching when engaging with a
variety of teaching methodologies and pedagogies; as well as expanding their knowledge of playing the instrument through exploring
significant differences and areas of crossover between teaching approaches embedded in our culture and those rooted in other music traditions in the world.
The GMTP initiative stems from the observation that several music teachers held an ambivalent consideration as
regards to the role of specialized teacher training. As a matter of fact, while teacher training occupies a vital
corner of the world of education across disparate disciplines, numerous instrumental music teachers start and continue
teaching without having received training in how to teach, asserting that no or little knowledge beyond the pure mechanics
of playing the instrument is needed for teaching.
Owing to this, the GMTP aims to purposefully interrupt the limiting notion that performing knowledge does not require to
be supported by educational training. Furthermore, the program seeks to blur the boundaries between this misleading split
between performing skills and educational knowledge. And it aims to contrasts such a dichotomy between teaching knowledge
and performing skills through supporting the view that the former situates the latter in the wider perspective required to
teach to play an instrument. By extension, we take the stand that teacher training is essential to acquire the knowledge
and experience necessary to launch and maintain a successful teaching career.
At the same time, however, we also recognize that teacher training courses specialized in instrumental teaching are rarely
at the forefront of any type of music course at college or university. Instead, teacher training courses are commonly at
disposal through independent enterprises whose methodologies spearheaded and inspired new ways of teaching music. However,
the primary objectives of such methodologies often fall outside the objectives and concerns of contemporary guitar players
as these methodologies are mostly designed with a specific age, a specific instrument, or specific music culture in mind.
As a result, some forms of teaching, or the stylistic breadth relevant to our scope, flies under the radar of widespread
private organisations as well as recognized institutions.
To this end, the GMTP is not a methodology in a strict sense, nor it stands in competition with any current methodology.
On the contrary, it acknowledges the deep value and effectiveness embedded in each methodology. Yet, parallel to this,
we submit that because major music methodologies tend to reflect the outlook and experience of a single educator, often
associated with a specific music culture and time, we a broader discussion that takes into account multiple perspectives
is fundamental in order to acquire the breadth of knowledge that guitar teacher of our time would most benefit of.
Because of this, the GMTP attempts to promote appreciation towards several recognizes European methodologies while
supplementing them with teaching practises from other cultures, as well as presenting the outcomes of academic disciplines
and approaches.
The typology of guitar teachers addressed by the GMTP include those who represent the private music teaching sector:
a sector widely recognised as the depository of the highest specialized knowledge in music teaching across cultures,
worldwide. However, although teachers in the private sector are driven by teaching trajectories that differs from the role
held in public education, too often guitar teachers who operate in this sector don’t fully appreciate the value of their
own specialized role, perceiving it subordinated to that of the generic classroom music teacher.
The lack of a teacher training program designed for the private teacher described above undermines the career of the
private music teacher on multiple counts. Firstly, music private teachers (unlike the classroom teacher) are more often
unqualified, and their status is degraded for not having undergone and completed extensive teacher training. Secondly, the
lack of a comprehensive road map to career development and qualification presents disadvantages to music teachers as they
embark on a highly specialized and competitive profession on their own – and without the required teaching expertise and
professional management to support their ambition for a long-term career. In this scenario, private guitar teachers can
withdraw into self-doubting or professional fossilization, ultimately putting in danger their social, financial, and
personal well-being.
To avoid this, the GMTP encourages guitar teachers to take matters into their own hands and attend a course designed to
advance them on their career. In response, the program is conceived to provide answers to the demands and expectations of
aspiring teachers who seek a professional guitar teacher training built around the skills they need in order to create a
significant and longstanding impact on their career and to stand out in today’s competitive and rapidly evolving profession.
In many respects, we believe that joining the program will represent the turning point for a teacher. For transitioning
from being an untrained teacher to becoming the best teacher one can be, engaging with a broad range of knowledge on education
and engaging with experts in the profession will produce the building blocks that elevates a teacher effectiveness to the
highest standards. An interest in teaching, after all, is fundamental; but alone is not enough for advancing one’s career
and avoid the pitfall and risks of trial and error.
To achieve this, at the hearth of the GMTP lies the vision to support teachers in their need to acquire the skills that
distinguish a guitar teacher from a master guitar teacher. While the former may possess expertise in curricular content
and have developed intuitive teaching skills, the latter are also capable of understanding the rationale behind the content
they teach, analysing, warranting, and arguing their teaching insights and decisions methodologically – presenting sound
evidence. Consequently, our vision envisages private guitar teachers who, as reflexive practitioners, are informed by the
research literature along with being able to position their practical enquiry and intuitive teaching craft in the knowledge base.
Finally, one of our cores aims behind the program is to bring together teaching experts and academics who represent the
creative force within the private music teaching sector, and who can ignite challenging discussions, enabling the participants
to transcend their boundaries. In fact, all members of the GMTP team are musicians and professional teachers, who hold a
Diploma or Degree from a recognised academic institution and are committing to elevate the standards of their profession.