Teaching Clients The Way I Learned Music
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-and-child-playing-guitars-7521069/
I remember scrolling through YouTube, looking for answers to a camera-related question. After a while, I started to understand why only some videos gain millions of views and engagement, while others—despite the huge reputation and track record of the photographer—barely get noticed.
They talk too much.
They share too much.
And they make me sleepy.
When I was a guitar teacher, my own guitar teacher—the one who inspired me to become a teacher like him—said something that I still practise to this day:
“Whatever you teach has to be relatable, relevant, and simple. It should grow your student’s interest and take them from ‘I don’t get it’ to ‘I can do this.”
To better explain this, let me share why my guitar teacher managed to keep my interest in music alive for so long—long enough for me to eventually become a full-time performer and teacher myself.
Simplified information that is fun
He used down-to-earth examples to teach me guitar, especially in areas where I didn’t have much patience.
For example:
Major chords: The root, third, and fifth notes of the major scale played together
Major chords: Happy
Once I understood that major chords were “happy chords” and how they could be used in songs, he would then circle back to explain the deeper theory—only after I had matured and was ready to absorb it.
In this case, he simplified a complex explanation into a single, relatable word. No questions asked—I understood immediately.
Breaking things down into bite-sized pieces
Instead of teaching me how to play a major scale across all six strings right away, he taught me how to play it on just one string.
Once I was comfortable, he turned on a backing track and let me experiment. This helped me understand how a major scale sounds in a musical context. It was relatable and exciting because it connected directly to what I wanted to do—play guitar solos and improvise.
After that, he slowly introduced two strings, then three, and so on.
By breaking the lesson down into short, fun, and applicable steps, learning never felt overwhelming.
This is something we should always remember when teaching our clients. Break topics into smaller chapters, show how they apply in real life, and slowly introduce more depth. This creates the “Oh, I see—let me try!” moment that builds confidence, interest, and trust.
Creating a sense of progress
Every lesson with my teacher felt like a win.
There was always something I could take away from each class—something relevant to my long-term goal of becoming a performer and teacher. That sense of progress kept me motivated and gave me confidence.
Hey, I can do this.
Summary
Sometimes, less is more—but we often forget that when educating our clients.
It’s understandable. When clients ask questions in an area we’re experts in, it feels like our moment to shine: “This is where I show them everything I know.” Unfortunately, that’s often when things start to fall apart.
Clients aren’t well-versed in our world—our industry, our brand, or what our product or service can truly do for them. By default, we tend to unload years of accumulated knowledge in one go. What feels helpful to us often feels overwhelming to them.
With a simple mindset shift—teaching as if we’re educating a room full of beginners and remembering that less is more—we become better communicators. We learn to explain more clearly, connect more deeply, and show clients how our product or service truly solves their problems.
Ironically, this also makes us better at what we do. We’re forced to revisit our fundamentals, explore them from a new perspective, and find clearer, more effective ways to teach—just like discovering our craft all over again.