Pedagogical rules

 

Dan Smith, in the article "Dan Smith Might Teach You Guitar," is a NYer known for his marketing (there are 60 versions of the promo flyer in the photo).  He's taught many famous celebs.   NYT article.  He has a list of pedagogical rules:

He has stipulations about whom he’ll teach and how, pedagogical rules he said he had come up with after thousands of lessons.

Students must see him at least one hour a week, as a sign of their commitment. And they should not go to him with the idea that his lessons are all about learning to pick and strum or play solos like a guitar hero.

He does not teach his friends.

He does not take on students under 21. “Everybody pays as they go,” he said, “because I want everybody to think about it every time they have a guitar lesson: ‘I’m paying for this. What am I bringing to the table?’ The person who’s doing it needs to pay for it, because that’s what makes it real for them.”

There are yet more stipulations: Mr. Smith does not offer gift certificates; he does not teach people who have signed up for lessons at someone else’s behest, like singers or actors whose managers want them to learn guitar; and he does not take notes for his students or permit them to take notes.

“It doesn’t work,” he said. “I’ve tested everything that I know for a fact. That’s another thing that separates me from other teachers: I’ve done the research.”