Teaching a child to play guitar
Posted on August 2, 2007
Filed Under Beginning Guitar |
(This response was given to a question regarding how to begin teaching a your child - 8 years old - guitar. - JDM)
Ellyn,
The first thing you want to do is get in tune. If you have some kind of reference point (i.e. a piano, keyboard, a pitch pipe or an electronic tuner) that would be very helpful.
The strings of the guitar can be called by name (the name of the note the string is tuned to) or number (1 through 6 counting from the thinnest to the thickest).
The thinnest string (1st string) is tuned to E. The 2nd string is tuned to B. The 3rd string (this is the first wrapped string) is tuned to G. 4th string to D. 5th to A. 6th to E (two octaves lower than the 1st string).
There are two basic approaches to learning the guitar. The approach used by most instructional books for beginners is to have the student learn the natural notes found in the first 3 frets of the 1st string (high E) and play a melody with those notes. Next they learn the natural notes in the first three fret of the second string. They follow this pattern until they know all the natural notes on all six strings. As the students hand strength and coordination increase they will be able to learn to play chords after playing individual notes for a period of time.
I have most often used the Hal Leonard Level 1 book for teaching young students. It costs $9.95 and comes with a play-along CD.
The other approach begins with strumming and basic chords. Once the student know 3 chords well enough to change from chord to chord. Then they can begin playing simple songs.
For an eight year old, I would recommend finding a good teacher in your area who uses a method that requires note reading. Learning to read music is very similar to learning a language. Because of the way the brain develops children are able to assimilate this information more readily than adults. Much of what your daughter already knows from her previous musical experiences will carry over (i.e. time values of notes, the concept of music written on a staff, pitch - how high or low a note sounds - etc.)
There are also a number of topics on “Instruction” page of www.playtheguitar.com that you may find helpful.
Wishing you and your daughter many wonderful years of musical enjoyment,
John
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4 Responses to “Teaching a child to play guitar”
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please help me!!! i just got a guitar for my birthday and i dont know how to play it.. i tried looking the cords and everything up but i just dont get it.. please help!!
<p>I am 11 my mom wants me to start with an acoustic but I want an electric wich one chould I start with.</p>
What kind of music do you enjoy? Buy the kind of guitar that is used to make that kind of music. Electrics are a little easier to play because of lighter gauge strings and lower action (action is the distance between the string and the neck). Lower action means the string is easier to press down.
Hi.
My daughter is 13 years old who want to play the electric guitar. However, she is left handed. Do she needs a left handed guitar to start? How do I find a beginner set for left handers?
Thanks
Using this website I have learned the basics of guitar.I have learned keys and notes and it has made my parents very glad.I can’t wait to tell all my friends.