Christopher Davis

Maybe I’m alone in this, but whenever I read about online culture or business (ala Wikinomics) I feel like I’m reading an old guy’s musings on how the internet works.

Maybe I’m too close to it being as I’m apparently part of the net generation (so trendily referred to as the Net Gen). The “challenging innovations” that business today faces seem elementary and normal to me. Freedom of intellectual property and mass collaboration seem like a way of life. I don’t have to rationalize or attempt to explain the “why” behind contributions to online communities because I understand it: discussion is king. While the altruistic motivations of contributing to the greater good are often cited as the reason behind contributing in books, I’ve never thought about that. I think people just like to talk.

The best part about reading online culture books is when the authors discuss new social tools (blogging, social media), but can’t seem to find time to use those tools themselves. Want to see a guy who practices everything he preaches? Seth Godin.

Here’s the thing about taking lessons for any instrument: the teacher works for you.

That is, if you’re not getting what you need, you’re entitled to (1) find a new teacher or (2) work with your current teacher to improve the situation.

I strongly encourage you to choose the second option. As a teacher, I have one big concern: get my students to love guitar. That’s it. Everything else comes from that.

A lot of times doing the one big thing is easy (who doesn’t want to learn guitar?). It’s not so easy to get the finer details, and if what I do isn’t working I want to know.

Tell it to me straight…

So, students everywhere, please communicate with your teacher! If you’re not getting what you need or want out of lessons let them know.

Really great teachers will take the criticism in stride and improve their lessons. The bad ones will tell you to forget about it.

Never be afraid of speaking up, remember that the student pays the teacher — the teacher works for the student.