What Instrument Should a Child Learn First? Every child is different. Some learn to read first. Some are left-brained, some are right-brained. Some prefer to be behind the wheel of the car. Others prefer the keyboard. Some are particular about their preferred instruments. While music theory may not be a big concern to one young person, for another it might be an entirely different matter.
In many ways, your child will naturally gravitate towards what they’re most interested in. If your child finds success with guitar, you could find piano playing to be a natural next step. I personally think that a good balance of both instruments is important for a child to achieve.
When starting with the guitar, I may want next to play piano, if I can’t, I’ll find something else. A lot of kids, however, like the guitar. It gives them a chance to express themselves in a way that’s a little more subtle than words and it gives them a chance to have fun with music school San Jose. For them, the guitar is a really good first instrument.
Choosing the Right Instrument
In order to know which instrument your child should learn, you need to first look at your child. As with most things, the way your child learns to play an instrument will impact his or her approach to picking it up. If your child is interested in being a star, I would strongly suggest guitar or piano. Since there is more one-on-one time required with piano, they can develop more skills before being exposed to the structure and range of a band.
As I said earlier, if your child isn’t naturally inclined to learn an instrument, I would encourage them to find something else, either piano or drums. For children who are naturally inclined, I think this is a wonderful decision. It gives them a chance to develop an instrument of their own and have some fun while they’re at it.
Ultimately, you’ll want to be sure that your child can take ownership of the guitar. You should also have them buying a starter instrument.
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When you buy a guitar, make it so that they can begin to get a sense of what they are capable of as musicians. For my son, it was a Squier Stratocaster.
A few years ago, Squier was at the height of guitar popularity. Today, many other manufacturers make good guitars. It is important that you take your child’s personality into consideration when choosing the instrument, particularly if he or she isn’t naturally inclined to taking on a new instrument.
Even the most accomplished musicians have had challenges when it comes to learning new instruments. For example, your child may have a hard time using the bow or the fingerboard. If your child has a harder time with the guitar, buy a beginner model or an acoustic.
If important that they start simple so that they can practice and become comfortable with the instrument. You should do this before adding bass, rhythm, and lead guitar positions.
In the article, “Preparing Your Kids to Learn the Guitar,” a lot of good information is provided on what to look for when deciding upon a first guitar. In the end, you want to consider your child’s temperament and personality.
Setting Goals
In order to keep a guitar in the family, I recommend that you and your child set a goal. For me, that goal was to learn guitar while in college. It may also be to learn classical guitar and to play at Carnegie Hall. However, for your child, it might be to learn how to play “Free Bird” on guitar.
Just be sure to set a goal for yourself as well. After all, music is all about success. In order to achieve success, you have to set goals and work toward them. In the end, this will help your child achieve success in his or her own endeavors.
Discuss Your Goals
This is a good time to ask yourself and your child what kind of guitar your child would like to learn. Obviously, there are a few basic styles: acoustic, electric, bass, and acoustic.
Before you buy the guitar, take your child to buy one at a store like Guitar Center or Amazon. You can also ask if your guitar is made by Fender, Gibson, or another maker. You may want to be sure that it is made in the USA, if you want a better quality instrument.
Make sure that you and your child’s school is willing to work with you on the guitar goals. Ask for advice and support if you need it. I wish that I had done more research before buying my son’s guitar. I made a mistake, and it cost him more than it should have.
Practice Constantly
Once you have purchased a guitar, you’ll need to practice. I recommend setting aside 30 minutes each day. It may take a while to develop your skills.
Be sure to make time each day for your practice session. As time goes on, your child will develop more talent. He or she will also become frustrated if they’re practicing and have no one to practice with.
Problems with Not Playing Guitar
So far, you’ve heard a lot about what to do to get your child started. But what about when things go wrong?
For me, I had a couple of issues that I had to work through as a parent before my son was able to pick up a guitar. One problem was that I didn’t play guitar. In addition, he had already learned an instrument before. He played trumpet in band, but after a couple of years, his piano skills improved.
My son may have been able to pick up the guitar sooner if I played the guitar, too. But it’s really hard to watch your child struggle. To my chagrin, I had trouble changing my attitude. If I sat and played guitar, my son would whine, “Can’t you just play the piano for a while?”
To help with this, I made him a deal: I could play guitar for 5 minutes, and then we could work on piano. This worked well because he wanted to play guitar. In the beginning, I made a deal that he could only play for 10 minutes. Eventually, I decided that he could play guitar for as long as he wanted, as long as he stayed focused and continued practicing at least 10 minutes every day.
At times, he would ask for more guitar time. I would offer him an extra 5 minutes. If he played the guitar for 5 minutes, I would give him an additional 5 minutes. Eventually, he became quite good at guitar.
Start at The Basics with Your Child
If you are just starting to teach your child how to play guitar, I suggest that you begin with the basics: learning how to strum and how to move the strings.
It is also good to know what your child likes to play. If your child likes classical guitar, you’ll want to learn to play classical. As you get more into the basics of the guitar, your child can learn more of his or her own taste.
Your child may have a favorite singer, or a genre of music, such as country or pop. You can incorporate that music into the guitar lessons.
Your guitar playing will continue to improve with practice. Make sure that you stay with your child and help him or her to practice. Also, make sure that you teach your child how to read music. This will allow him or her to listen to and learn a song rather than just playing on a guitar.
When Your Child Begins to Play Guitar
So you have set goals and are working with your child to reach them. Have you ever wondered what your child sounds like when he or she plays a song on the guitar? Your child will need to practice at least 5 days a week and you will need to check to see that he or she is practicing.
This means that you should make sure to show your child how to practice. By the way, if you are just beginning to teach your child to play guitar, I hope that you’ll continue reading about How to Teach Your Child Piano .
Conclusion
Once you’ve worked through a few issues, your child can be enjoying playing guitar. Whether you play guitar or not, it is fun to get out and jam with your child and learn about music together.
I recommend getting a guitar and learning a few chords. If you have a guitar, you can learn some chords. It will take a while for your child to be able to play the songs that he or she enjoys.
My son started out only wanting to play guitar. But once he was interested in trying to play a song, he was hooked. As you teach your child guitar, be sure to get them involved in music lessons San Jose.
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