Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

[EvDog]

Hi All,

My 8 year old daughter expressed an interest in learning to play the guitar the other day, and I was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions on what I should do to help her learn.

I don't really have the necessary technical knowledge to teach her properly. Are there any good books or videos she could start with? Knowing her attention span, I don't know how long she'll keep at it. Plus a good review probably wouldn't hurt me either.

Thanks

[Ace]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

I would teach her a little bit about rhythym first. At that age they really don't seem as interested in actual notes as they are in rhythym. Teach her how to strum along with her favorite songs, and then work in simple open chord progressions to go with them. The most important thing for them to start from a technical playing standpoint is finger strength and dexterity. Let her pick the songs she wants to learn, and then when she gets comfortable with the guitar, then you can teach he scales and stuff. Make sure that you keep it fun, the last thing kids want is more schoolwork. Maybe you should try rewarding her for learning songs. The most important thing is to keep her interested. My little sister asked me to teach her guitar, so I lent her my black Stealth with the Belphegor sticker on it and taught her some Black Sabbath tunes. She liked it, but as soon as she went back to college she started learning stuff more her style from her friends.

[jgcable]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

I think she may be a little to young for guitar. Most 8 year olds cannot fret even a basic chord because their hands are too small. My experience in teaching has shown that a good age is around 11. Don't discourage her though. My son got his first guitar when he was 7. He is 13 now and is finally starting to play it. Piano and Violin are great instruments for youngsters. Especially violin because of the different sizes available from 1/16 to full scale.

[EvDog]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

Good suggestions guys !

I'm thinking about getting a basic book for her (and me) like the Guitar for Dummies I saw the other day. It started with the basics of holding and playing a guitar, then started on open chords and such. This way, if she loses interest, I'm not out much, plus I might learn something myself.

jgcable - I was thinking about her size being a problem. For being 8 yrs old, she's really tiny (4ft tall and 45 pounds.) My soloist seems almost as big a she is. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

I've got an Epi Les Paul, and it's neck is a lot more narrow than my Jacksons. I'll have her try that. If she is remains interested, her birthday is comming up in August, and she wants one of those Daisy Rock guitars...

[jjw]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

just buy her a small scale guitar,accoustic would be best as there are loads of them on the market aimed at the young age group

[BK]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

What about 'Speed Mechanics For Lead Guitar'? [img]graemlins/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Just kidding

The best thing might just let her fool around with the guitar, learn how the different strings sound etc

[taxistationary]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

First see if she expresses an interest in playin'. Explain to her the good things about it, and the bad things. What i would do is take her for private lessons. There, she could be started off on the right track.

[ May 05, 2003, 04:04 PM: Message edited by: john ]

[Suck my kiss]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

Don't push her too much. She musn't think that playing the guitar is "work".

[Newc]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

At 8 years old, most kids "want" everything, but once they get something, they find they didn't want it, they just wanted it to have it (kinda like guitar collectors [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] )

Anyhoo, I'd get her a Daisy Rock now, if they have one her size (neck width). Though I loathe Ibenhad, they do make a very nice mini-acoustic that sounds like a large one - local shop had one for $150 new.

Don't start her with technicality, start with fun. If she wants to play along to Britny and Backstreet, that's gonna be tough as there's usually no guitar worth mentioning, but if YOU come up with chords that go along with the music she listens to, then teach her how to play them, she'll have both fun and an education.

Technicality is second to being interesting. Who wants to play Pagannini's 24th Caprice with 256th notes but not enjoy playing it? No one with a personality.

When she gets a few years older ("the age of boys" - 12 and up) you can start her on technical stuff if she's still playing the guitar.
Do not force it on her no matter how good she is - if she doesn't like it, she'll resent it and you.

Newc

[Kamo]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

Well when i first started, i got used to handling the guitar first. Like standing and positioning properly, and fretting properly. Then I started getting into all that note connections, and music theory stuff. I couldn't play anything for a few months lol. But after i got used to just moving around, fretting without buzzing, and picking without making chirpy sounds, I went online, got some tablature for my favorite music, and i was on my way!

[EvDog]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

Wow! I appreciate all the input everyone.

I definately want to make it fun for her to play. That's why I've always been playing.

I learned pretty much by myself by getting tabs for the the music I was/am listening to, and listening to the music to see how it all goes together.

They have the Daisy Rock guitars at a local store here, so we could go there and try them out. I also found online the Squire Mini Strat - which is a 3/4 size Squire Strat for about half the price of the Daisy Rocks. I don't know which one would be the better quality. I'm sure one of the shops around here will have a 3/4 acoustic.

Thanks again !

[Ace]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

I've wanted an electric guitar since I was about 7 or 8 years old. I couldn't afford one until I was 19. I think of how much better I could have been had I started younger all the time, had my parents been able to afford a guitar for me. You are giving your daughter a great opportunity that I wish that I had.

[jjw]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

hard subject to teach young children mate,as they might not be that interested.
or they might?lol.....depends on their desire to learn,and their progression through the lessons [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
do you cram them with theory/scales/arps ect till they cant take no more and loose interest?
or teach them easy rock/pop/whatever songs and spare the rod for tec/scales?
you have to do both,always give something in the lesson(normaly at the end)that they will enjoy [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]
coz if they dont enjoy it they wont come back for more,you need to push them.but dont push them to far or they will give up.

normal stuff to start off with...names of the open strings..lol.....then open chords...fingerstyle/pick..pentatonic open postion scale.

hands are too small for barchords at this age(unless she has hands like ET)or you have the right size guitar for her.its easy mate teach her how you learnt

[Lev]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

you could always try Avril Lavigne stuff [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[the_drip]

Re: Suggestions for teaching my daughter to play ?

yeah, those daisy rock guitars are sizzlewweet!

I"m goinna get one too! Make sure you post pictures of it when she gets it! I"ll do the same.


edit: dude, I had an epiphany, get the guitar, and put it in Drop D tuning. That will make it alot easier for her to barre chords and stuff. For now. I think that'd make it much more enjoyable. That way when she's just strumming away at least it will sound decent.

[ May 06, 2003, 12:13 PM: Message edited by: the_drip ]