Members ifish Posted December 7, 2013 Members Share Posted December 7, 2013 My 6 y/o grandson wants a guitar for christmas. Since he won't get any instruction at home, I think he is still to young. Also most of the cheap guitars are crap. My wife want to get him one, my idea is to keep my eyes on Craiglist for a reasonable, hopfully 3/4 classical next year. I would love to hear about other experiences with children and starting age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members katopp Posted December 7, 2013 Members Share Posted December 7, 2013 Can't be too young. Get him a classical Nylon Strunz and let him have easy beginner lessons. Those 3/4 or 1/2 size guitars are consumeables anyway, he will grow out oft them physically soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted December 7, 2013 Members Share Posted December 7, 2013 A while back I saw a 13 year old boy playing what appeared to be a 3/4 size classical and playing it well. Frankly, I doubt your grandson knows what he wants at age 6 and I wouldn't spend much on a guitar that will end up on CraigsList. Keep your eyes open and give him one for his birthday if he still wants one by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tony Burns Posted December 8, 2013 Members Share Posted December 8, 2013 No reason to wait , Yamaha makes a 1/2 and a 3/4 size classical for around a hundred bucks -their not bad - and if your grandson gives it up , you will have a nice cheap travel guitar ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted December 8, 2013 Members Share Posted December 8, 2013 I wish I had started when I was 6.Would an inexpensive uke be a good choice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ifish Posted December 8, 2013 Author Members Share Posted December 8, 2013 Wow, thanks for all the imput. He has strumed mine, but its much to large for him. I found a Amigo 1/2 size on Craiglist locally for $85, I think i'll take a look at that. Those seem to sell for about $120 new as opposed to the new Lyon at Guitar Center for $50. Thats about the limit of what I could spend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Graeca Posted December 8, 2013 Members Share Posted December 8, 2013 ifish wrote: My 6 y/o grandson wants a guitar for christmas. Since he won't get any instruction at home, I think he is still to young. Also most of the cheap guitars are crap. My wife want to get him one, my idea is to keep my eyes on Craiglist for a reasonable, hopfully 3/4 classical next year. I would love to hear about other experiences with children and starting age. 6 is about as young as I'll teach, due to younger children rarely having hands large enough to be able to fret full chords, although I did give a 5-yo take lessons on mandolin, but those have a small enough fingerboard to fit her hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted December 8, 2013 Members Share Posted December 8, 2013 I got my daughter a ukulele when she was 3, but didn't pressure her into learning. She mostly ignored it until she was about 7 and then asked me to start giving her lessons. She just turned 8 and has a few chords down and can play a couple of tunes. Most importantly, I never have to force her to practice, because it's something that SHE chose to pursue. I use a wound 4th string on her uke to make it more like a guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neal Posted December 9, 2013 Members Share Posted December 9, 2013 The uke is an excellent way to get a child into music. 'Nuff said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted December 10, 2013 Members Share Posted December 10, 2013 One of my favourites so far: "Dad! Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is basically just the same as Ba Ba Black Sheep, listen..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted December 10, 2013 Members Share Posted December 10, 2013 ifish wrote: Wow, thanks for all the imput. He has strumed mine, but its much to large for him. I found a Amigo 1/2 size on Craiglist locally for $85, I think i'll take a look at that. Those seem to sell for about $120 new as opposed to the new Lyon at Guitar Center for $50. Thats about the limit of what I could spend. Just make sure the action is low enough that he won't be fighting it too much - whether a new guitar or particularly a used one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted December 10, 2013 Members Share Posted December 10, 2013 koiwoi wrote: One of my favourites so far: "Dad! Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is basically just the same as Ba Ba Black Sheep, listen..." And the alphabet song too. When my grand-daughter was five years old, I took her to my favorite mom & pop music shop. While there, she spied a wooden keg of kazoos that were priced at about $1.25 apiece. So, of course, I had to get one for her. On the way home she was playing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". She did it well, so I asked her to play me another song. She said she'd play me "The Alphabet Song". When she was finished I said, "Well, Katie, that was very nice, but it's the same song as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" She looked at me and asked, "How can they be the same song, Opa? They have two different names." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neal Posted December 10, 2013 Members Share Posted December 10, 2013 koiwoi wrote: One of my favourites so far: "Dad! Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is basically just the same as Ba Ba Black Sheep, listen..." Those are magic moments, for you for the obvious reasons, and for the kid, the seeds of understanding (that all music is basically the same. ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drmoniker Posted December 15, 2013 Members Share Posted December 15, 2013 My boys are 4 & 1.5, & they both "play". They have a toy 4 string that gets played a lot. They also use my shred neck as a guitar frequently. I'll let them do some strumming on the real guitars, but mostly hoping to keep them from breaking anything. I'm looking to get a travel guitar that will also give the older one a viable option to play around with now and learn on later if he wants. When they are real young, I think any music exposure helps. I plan to just let them play as they want until they demonstrate they have the interest and attention span for lessons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhino55 Posted December 16, 2013 Members Share Posted December 16, 2013 Gave my kid her guitar yesterday. She was pretty pumped. I showed her where to put her fingers for a G chord and she was off to the races. I didn't even have time to get her a pick. She was using her thumb, raking her fingers across the strings, and popping the body every now and then to give a percussive element. After school today, we'll add a C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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