Learning guitar

[beefytee]

After my wife put our son in violin lessons last year and him showing little desire to practice or play it, this year he wanted to learn guitar.

Until he proves to us that he is interested, I am the one teaching him. I've never had any formal lessons and can't really play much but have picked up quite a bit. I'm sure I have lots of bad habits.

Anyways, I gave him his first lesson last night and his is really excited. So it looks like I'm going to have to put in a good effort for this.

Anyone have any recommendations for books or online resources for doing this?

Also he is eight and can seem to handle our full size guitar, but with him being serious, we might want to buy him a smaller guitar that he can handle easier. So any recommendations here would be appreciated as well.

[TheBYUGuy]

Winner! CUF's 20,000th thread!

I tried to teach piano to both my wife and my firstborn. He wanted to learn and could already play some stuff that he figured out (Star Wars' Imperial March, for example), but he didn't really take very well to me trying to teach him. We found a good teacher in the area and he has really done well with that. It's easier for me to chime in now with various things he can work on.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you have a hard time teaching your kid for whatever reason, you might try an outside teacher to see if that works better.

[Shaka]

Is he learning on electric or acoustic?

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[Sleeping in EQ]

I had a book that divided up guitar skills between left hand and right hand. It was great.

A good teacher (which is not the same thing as a good player), is invaluable, though. There are techniques that took me years to learn because I didn't have a teacher.

Beware of the student guitar. Epiphone used to make some decent ones (maybe it still does), but many Jr. size guitars play badly. They frequently come with fret buzzes, junk tuning keys, slippery bridges, cheap wood, and so on. Even great guitar players can sound pretty bad on most student guitars.

A good used guitar might do the trick if it isn't too big for your son. Stay away from jumbo frets (although they are fine when he's bigger), and take along someone who knows guitars.

Are you thinking of going electric? Acoustic? What's the plan?

[beefytee]

Is he learning on electric or acoustic?

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acoustic.

[Shaka]

Correct me if I am wrong but I think Taylor makes a 3/4 size guitar that would be perfect. Even if the kid's guitar playing ambitions went away dad could make good use of it.

Teach chord based stuff (open chords first) and a scale or two. Make him play each scale using alternate picking. This developed the right hand. He should increase the speed when he becomes more proficient at playing the scale. I recommend starting with the major and pentatonic scales.

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[old_gregg]

just teach him hammer ons and pull offs. strumming is for wussies.

[YOUTUBE]0jgrCKhxE1s[/YOUTUBE]

[dabrockster]

I use youtube a lot for songs I want to learn. I am self teaching..

Recently I took a YMCA Guitar class.. That was fun.. Here is one I learned recently...

[YOUTUBE]GGELLkjnNwQ[/YOUTUBE]

[UtahDan]

I use youtube a lot for songs I want to learn. I am self teaching..

Recently I took a YMCA Guitar class.. That was fun.. Here is one I learned recently...

Me too. There is a ton of good instruction on youtube.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Correct me if I am wrong but I think Taylor makes a 3/4 size guitar that would be perfect. Even if the kid's guitar playing ambitions went away dad could make good use of it.


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I don't know if it is Taylor, but I got HFN Jr. a 3/4 size guitar at Guitar Center on sale for right around $100. He and I are now about 4 months into lessons, with varying degrees of success.

Good luck.

[Uncle Ted]

That gTar thing looks cool...

http://www.incidentgtar.com

[Pelado]

My wife mentioned that she was thinking of buying an inexpensive acoustic guitar for our 12-year-old to play around with. He's had some instruction at school on the violin, but no other formal musical instrument training. I'm not too worried about lessons, especially since there are so many resources on YouTube and the like.

Suggestions, guidance? Better for him to start with acoustic? Are there youth sizes we should consider? Any particular new inexpensive guitars that would be suitable, or would we be better off with something used? If we do opt for lessons, how often is typical/enough?



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[Shaka]

If you're buying new you need to spend $300 and get a Yamaha FG730s. It's a student level guitar that really plays well and will take him as far as he wants to go. There are very few guitars for less that are decent enough for a student. Most cheap guitars actually hinder progress rather than enhance it.

[falafel]

Have him check out the Yousician app.

[San Juan Sun]

My wife mentioned that she was thinking of buying an inexpensive acoustic guitar for our 12-year-old to play around with. He's had some instruction at school on the violin, but no other formal musical instrument training. I'm not too worried about lessons, especially since there are so many resources on YouTube and the like.

Suggestions, guidance? Better for him to start with acoustic? Are there youth sizes we should consider? Any particular new inexpensive guitars that would be suitable, or would we be better off with something used? If we do opt for lessons, how often is typical/enough?



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My 13 year old started to play last year. He had a very similar background to your son, as he plays viola. We ended up buying each of these (long story):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RW0GT6..._t2_B000MUKINM

https://www.amazon.com/Fender-Armstr...=p_89%3AFender

I am not a musician, so my opinion is uneducated, but both sound great. Over the last year he has gravitated towards the Fender as his favorite.

Yesterday morning, he learned to play the intro to Thunderstruck. He finds tons of songs on the Internet and learns to play them. Pretty cool seeing him get better and better. On the other hand, he thinks he discovered Metallica.

Two things have been vital: an excellent teacher and regular practice. Luckily he loves to play, so he does it on his own without parental nagging. His teacher gives him "homework" which really helps. His teacher is in a really cool bluegrass band, but has a history of playing all kinds of music. As a nonmusician, it's really cool for me to get a peek into that world.