Teaching younger kids

[clemonsjw]

Without intending to, I have found myself suddenly teaching begging guitar to kids. (I was asked by thier parents, I didn't advertise) My first student quit after two months after not making much progress. I got to some thinking about what his frustrations might be. At first I dismissed it to the video-game generation where things come easy just by pressing a few buttons and I totally understand that learning guitar takes a fair amount for perseverence and is actually painful at first.

 

By the time I got another student (9 yr old), I thought I would try something different, in case the problem with the first was that kids just inherently don't have enough left hand strength. I have him tune down a full step and put a capo on the second fret, esentially creating a short scale instrument with a lower string tension. My thinking was that it would be easier for him to press down the strings. The other thing I did was to run a piece of cloth through the bottom three strings and just have him finger chords using the top three strings. My intention next is to just mute the bottom 2 and then finally use all six. It's been about three months and his progress seems to be pretty good.

 

Has anyone else tried anything like this? (successfully or not)

Are there any other tricks for starting children on guitar?

 

Thanks!

[Mr.Hanky]

Get them started with this classic, it is a must have for any beginner. Try to work in some simple exercises and chords too.

Sometimes showing them a simple melody, one they are familiar with, can do amazing things to keep them interested.
I had some kids think learning the theme from Jeapordy was the koolest thing ever, or the theme from The Munsters, Loony Tunes, Batman, Peter Gun, ect...

Funny how long a 30 minute lesson can last with an uninterested kid with short attention span huh?

Take little mental breaks during the lesson too, talk to them about schools, games ect, sometimes connecting with them on a personal level is the best thing you can do.

[Stackabones]

I use the Hal Leonard Complete Guitar Method for most of my students aged 8 to about 13, though older students can also use it (I've got one who's 70 and she loves it). It teaches music reading and tons of songs as well as getting into various styles and later into tab. The book has worked for me--it gives the student a framework and sets goals and shows progress. It also has CDs!

For kids under 10, I recommend a nylon-string guitar, usually 3/4-sized. Make it clear to the parents that they will be using a "classical" guitar not for classical (unless, of course, you teach classical), but to help them develop the strength and callouses for steel-string.

Also, I make sure they have a little notebook so that I can write down their "assignments." Funny how fast they forget what they're supposed to do. The notebook helps the parents figure out what their kid is to do at practice time.

While we're on the topic, I've got a five-almost-six year old that I've started teaching. He's small enough to need a 1/2-sized guitar. The Hal Leonard is too old for him. Some think it's too young an age to start--but don't kids that young learn violin? I've been thinking that ukulele might be the place to start for really young students.

[1001gear]

Agree. Friend of mine got that Esteban deal for his son. The kids 4' tall and really doesn't have the hands yet. I showed him some i iv m7 reggae which he liked but was barely able to grab. I was at a total loss to get him started without killing his enthusiasm.

[digiology2]

teach them how to read tabs and give them a few tab sites so they can learn whatever they want in their own time

[Stackabones]

Originally posted by digiology2 teach them how to read tabs and give them a few tab sites so they can learn whatever they want in their own time

 

 

Yes, you should teach them to read tabs and how to research tabs (though learning to read standard notation is better IMO), but I've had many instances where students don't understand what's going on in the tab. Plus, tabs are sometimes inaccurate. A guitar teacher can correct faulty tabs, help a student understand a particular tab, or apply what's in a tab for other contexts.

 

I tell my students that they can bring in tabs from the net or books, or they can have me transcribe the tune during the lesson time. If they bring in the tab, we can start playing. If they bring in the music, they can wait while I transcribe! Most of them just find the tab and ask me to help them figure out what's going on or what kind of effects are used, etc.

[clemonsjw]

thanks all! He's been practicing over the holidays and we were able to graduate to standard tuning and using all six strings, so I think it worked.

His parents already had the guitar - a full sized Ibanez PF dreadaught. I would have recommended something smaller, but he seems to do okay and its actually a really good guitar for 200 bucks, about as loud as my Gibson acoustic!

I was thinking about gitting a uke for my 4 year old daughter (she's a little small for her age). Has anyone started a 4 year old on uke? I don't want it to be a toy, but rather something she can actually strum some chords on. She's already an enthusiastic singer...

Jay C

[85bears]

Originally posted by digiology2 teach them how to read tabs and give them a few tab sites so they can learn whatever they want in their own time

 

 

This is correct. With kids, teach them what they want to learn, make it fun, try not to teach too much theory. A lot of kids like Green Day, I taught my 10 yo son to play Brainstew in about ten minutes. The smile on his face was incredible. Also taught him the Oompa-Loompa song, very easy and kind of funny to play for his friends.