What you recon a good age is to start learning the guitar
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Posted on Dec 10, 2008 05:28 am
JDOD
Brother Number One
Member Since: Jan 22, 2008
My nephew wants to learn, he's only six. We were going to get him a 3/4 size squire but decided against it as his attention span is still a bit all over the shop. Was going to wait till he was eight.
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pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Dec 10, 2008 09:29 am I'd say it really depends on the kid.
He may be into it, then not for awhile, then pick it up again.
I'd say, if there's a guitar in the house, that he can play with, then he'll get to it on his own.
I'm not a big fan of forced practice. I think if they want to learn, they will. Provided there's instruments to learn on.
Dec 10, 2008 09:34 am I tried guitar around 8 or so, it was too much work, I then picked it up again around the same time I discovered girls...funny how those worked together like that. :-)
Everyone always says to start with piano first, not sure if I agree in practice, but in theory it seems logical...get a good musical foundation first.
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Dec 10, 2008 04:06 pm It does vary from kid to kid. Determination, motivation, focus, attention span all come into play.
Heck, Randy Rhoads started playing at age 4 or 6 or something like that. But I sat down with a 4-5 year old kid last week and it was impossible to reign him in and actually teach him anything. He was way more interested in just banging around and had no interest in even trying to fret a note or anything.
If its a calm, attentive kid (which may be an imaginary creature if you ask me), then you could get good results if you keep the lessons short and concise.
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Dec 10, 2008 04:31 pm Yup, depends on the kid. I hold the chords while my 2yo strums, she seems to enjoy that. Me and the wife both play and that seems to help also as she wants to do everything mom and dad do. As of now I am quite happy with the fact that she yells "BOOM BOOM DRUMS" in a pretty solid time while hitting the floor tom and snare :)
I also bought a cheap keyboard off of craigslist that I let her pound on. We ask her to play a song when family is over and she is more than happy to pound the keys.
I think lessons may be too much for a young child, but just getting a couple chords learned will give them a big headstart if they decide to go with it. I am not at that stage of course, but hope to as soon as she will listen.
Make it fun is all I am trying to do as I am not a fan of forced practice either.
Dec 10, 2008 08:44 pm I gave my granddaughter a 3/4 size Squire last year when she was 5. I did nothing but show her how to plug it in and make sounds. She just had fun with it. She just recently turned 6 and has inquired about getting help starting a band with her friends. :-) Well I guess my point is I just let her have fun with it, and now she is deciding on her own to wants to learn more.
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Dec 11, 2008 12:23 pm She wants to form a band at six, that is so full of awesome I can't even begin :) Good luck to her!!
BeerHunterwww.TheLondonProject.caMember
Since: Feb 07, 2005
Dec 11, 2008 12:30 pm I took lessons when I was nine and quit because I had no interests in only learning scales. If the teacher had been focused more on having fun than on learning theory i probably would have stuck with it. I guess what I'm saying is that I was old enough to learn at 9 but the teacher would have made the difference in me sticking with it.
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Dec 11, 2008 12:49 pm Exactly, my teacher (I only took a few lessons) had me work a certain thing for exercise, but then also asked what I would like to learn from my own personal tastes. I picked a Metallica song (fade to black) and he actually took the time to learn it and show me.
He also showed me the blues scale and then we played Johnny B Good (standard blues) while trading off and on for soloing. That was just pure fun right there.
I loved that big jolly Hawaiian.
Dec 11, 2008 05:28 pm Yeah CptTripps, I thought it was pretty awesome. And I don't think the fact that she doesn't really know how to play yet matters to her. If I remember correctly when she was 4, they were in a dance program at a high school, and she decided at the age of 4 that she needed a place with a bigger audience after the show was over......whew. But I say just let it be fun at that age.
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
Dec 11, 2008 06:38 pm i think at a young age like this you have to kinda make them practice, like homework, otherwise they aint likley to do it off their own back.
i guess then though, you run the risk of them going against it as they get older abit.
but hey, then as they get older again, it becomes cool all of a sudden and they have a big head start which they'll congratulate you for.
"ah my plan for world domination is coming together at last"(pushes fingers together)
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Dec 11, 2008 09:06 pm I started piano lessons at age 4, which I think was too early. but having a mother and grandmother and several aunts who played kept it a little interesting. By 7 I was more into playing it how I saw it, now how it was written. The nuns called me un-teachable so the church organist took over. She allowed the improvised playing, only if I could play the lessons exact from the book first. That worked wonders for me.
Guitar lessons were only a few at age 12. And like BH my teacher sucked in a big way. Classical was what my mother wanted me to learn. I took just enough of that to get a very small grip.
But yes, piano lessons first really helped me in the long run.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Dec 12, 2008 12:35 am I think first and foremost a person has too want to be able to play an instrument whether they know they want to or not. I've known people who were pushed to learn music that as soon as they were old enough to have a choice never touched it again, and others who were glad they were pushed into it and yet others who chose on their own to learn.
I was kind of both, I was pushed into learning to sing (in the church choir) when I was about 8 and to play a brass instrument, but guitar was a choice. The first guitar I was given when I was around 9 I pretty much destroyed, it wasn't until I was around 12 that I really wanted to learn to play a guitar and boy did it take some begging to get that next guitar LOL. I do wish I had taken lessons when I was young, but I did learn to read music, from the singing and trombone and had I not had that early exposure I might never have known how much I really liked making music and would never have learned any of it.
Dan
Dec 12, 2008 09:21 am Dan has a good point. I think that it's good to get kids exposed to the structure of actually "learning" music at an early age.
Everything you learn as a kid becomes infinitely easier later on in life as a result of your early absorption.
Besides: If he never picks up a guitar again in his life, he'll at least have the experience to say, "I tried it, but didn't like it".
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Dec 12, 2008 12:36 pm I started off playing piano in 3rd grade I think, so I was 8. I took lessons for 3 years, and then dropped them in 6th grade to start playing trumpet. I just kinda got into a rut, and felt like it was the same stuff over and over. And I think the teacher was getting a little old and senile as well. So I got bored with that, and instead picked up the trumpet and joined the band. Pretty much because my older brother played trumpet through highschool, so I had some inspiration going for me there. Played trumpet pretty much for 7 years, but I also got back into playing piano and got my first midi-capable synth my senior year. That's what got me into messing with midi and cakewalk homestudio.
I kinda hit a brick wall once I started college cause I went into computer science. And didn't really even touch the trumpet for 4 years. Kept playing on my keyboard though, developed some bad habits, which later got ironed out because I took some applied lessons at UNF for a year as an elective. Tried to do the music major bit later on, but by that time I was burnt out from everything else. I had poor attendance in theory and choir, and everything kinda went downhill from there. And I just kinda got it in my head that I wasn't really into performance and would rather write...and they didn't have a composition curriculum at the time. Though I did take some composition courses on the side in the guise of independant study, and I felt those experiences were invaluable. Just 3 or 4 of us sitting in with the resident composition guru. Almost like a master class in a way.
I tell ya, I think I'll always regret that I didn't start out straightaway as a music major. And ended up "listening to the parents" and going for something more practical. Although I'm truly glad I have the computer stuff to fall back on cause the music side didn't work out for me.
Anyway, in my opinion, I think somewhere between ages 5 and 6 or so would be good to start getting a child interested in music...whenever they first start going to school, ya know? Schooling kinda helps with learning the discipline needed to keep up with practicing.
Well, that's my 2 cents.
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Dec 12, 2008 01:39 pm My youngest is very determined to make music her thing through-out school. She started out on Alto sax, then took flute the next year, and now is on trumpet. She plays and writes her own material on my synth/keyboard, and is always staying involved with anything band related at school.
She's almost 13. My son has been playing guitar and keyboard for a few years. He's 14.
This seems like a good range for them to start getting interested, though I don't know how determined they'll stay. My daughter will stay with it, i'm pretty sure. While my son may loaf and fiddle. He quit band after the first year, so no academic learning for him. Just my random tutelage.
They do seem to enjoy it though, and always are up for a basement jam-a-long. Daughter on keys, son on guitar, and me on whatever else.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Dec 12, 2008 09:39 pm Ya, I never pushed the kids into anything as far as learning music. Just gave them all the options if they wanted. Tuna has an ear for what sound belongs were and how it should sound, but he has no desire to actually play. He can mix well though and also has a knack for the DJ and remix thing.
Ray on the other hand always would mess about with the drums, so I figured he would eventually fall toward that. But he just started guitar lesson's and it was his choice, not mine. So I of course will supply him with what he needs. He is lucky to have a great teacher who is willing to let him steer his own path a little bit. So for me getting him a good guitar and now purchasing that Valve Jr really sparked him to practice every day and work at it. I do not push him to practice though at all.
He will come in and ask for help when he gets stuck, and even goes as far as asking how I would play a certain piece.
I draw the line though and tell him to play it the way his teacher is showing him for now. Learning other technique will come later after he gets the basic's down.
