Advice on teaching your child

[Guitarbuddy]

I have been playing guitar off and on for years. My daughter who is 12 wants me to buy her a guitar and teach her. Any advice on a first guitar for her and what course might be good to purchase so i can start teaching her? She is learning piano in school and is musically inclined. Thanks for your help!

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Guitarbuddy

I have been playing guitar off and on for years. My daughter who is 12 wants me to buy her a guitar and teach her. Any advice on a first guitar for her and what course might be good to purchase so i can start teaching her? She is learning piano in school and is musically inclined. Thanks for your help!

Hi Guitarbuddy...

First of all, Hello and Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined...

As a teacher and a father, it really depends on the child and your ability to communicate well at that age, and the approach you take.

I taught three of our sons to play (the fourth plays the radio well). And I taught them what they wanted to play, not what I wanted to implement. I took a definite chords and strum and be able to read charts approach rather than a classical notes on the staff approach.

As they got older they diversified into individual styles and sought other instruction.

[Ryler]

Do you have a budget in mind? That would help to know. For body size and style, I like the Grand Concert for that age. Big enough but not too big. Very comfortable to play for most.

[s2y]

Do you have a guitar or guitars she could just use?

[Guitarbuddy]

I have no budget but could spend up to say $500 or slightly more. She wants her own guitar. What course would you recommend if you chose one?

[kats45]

I'd suggest an OM size guitar, no bigger. A Taylor GS Mini is in that price range. She should be able to handle this, and that way you won't have to purchase another guitar when she would grow out of a Yamaha JR1, for example.

Gibson's Learn and Master Guitar is pretty comprehensive. It does teach people to read music, so I don't know if that's something she's interested in. If at all possible, maybe by mixing learning chords with reading, I highly recommend learning to read music. But that's just me. Learn and Master has an active forum and live lessons on a regular basis.

http://www.learnandmaster.com/guitar/

www.justinguitar.com also has a beginner's package that can be purchased or she could learn strictly online. He does not teach music reading.

http://justinguitar.com/en/BC-000-BeginnersCourse.php

[Ryler]

One other question: Is this intended to be a surprise or can you take her to a store have her try some out? Is this for Christmas or do you have the time to shop for used guitars?

I'm thinking Blueridge, Guild GAD series, Yamaha. Lots of people like Seagull. I'm not a fan of the tone, but many are and it fits in your price range.

I would get myself to a well-stocked store (like Guitar Center, dare I say) for some experimenting with fit and tone. My local mom and pop have horrible inventories, else I would be touting that direction for service and well maintained gear.

[Landru]

You'd like to teach her but you don't know how . . . . .

Your first task as her teacher is to get her a teacher.

Great stuff - have a blast watching your daughter grow!!

[JohnW63]

How big is she, at 12 ? Can she get her arms around one of your guitars and reach the frets ? Is so, a full sized guitar, but maybe not a dreadnaught or a jumbo type body.

For a young person, I would think a guitar that plays and stays in tune and is easy to play, so it's easier on the finger tips, would be the place to start. It really doesn't matter if it's made of laminates or solid wood. If they don't want to put their fingers on it, they won't play it. Maybe even a nylon string guitar would be the place to start. That's what I started with.

If she is a smaller person still, Walden has a " Point 5 " or half size guitar called the CF550-P5

http://www.waldenguitars.com/CF550_P5.html

It goes for about $300 in most online places. You can go to their web site and see where the nearest dealer is. I have a local one.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Guitarbuddy

I have no budget but could spend up to say $500 or slightly more. She wants her own guitar. What course would you recommend if you chose one?

Hi Gb...

Voyage Air VAOM-04

[Fro]

I sent you a pm

[chadly]

As a middle school/high school band and choir teacher I can tell you there is a lot more to being able to teach young children music than knowing how to play. When parents ask me how they can help their son or daughter learn music I usually recommend they provide their child with a quiet place to practice and to always be encouraging. While there is a chance you may be capable of teaching your daughter to play there are other routes you may want to consider.

Something you may really enjoy is taking lessons together or back to back with the same teacher. This way you can encourage each other and grow musically together. This actually takes a lot of pressure off from you as well. You won't feel responsible for your daughters progress as you would if you were teaching her. YMMV.

Regards,
Chad

[Mtn Man]

It's possible (probable, even) that the best thing you can do for her is find her a good teacher.

I've been playing off and on for about 20 years. Four years ago, my son (then 8) got a Little Martin for Christmas, along with lessons at a local music school. I was able to sit in on all of his lessons. During the week, I would oversee his practices, play with him, and help interpret anything that he was confused about. Since I play, I was allowed to back him up at recitals instead of his teacher. When he discovered the world of flatpicking guitar contests, I continued to back him up at those. Here's a video of us playing together about seven months in, on a local TV station. He was 9 here: http://youtu.be/be0zSL6enRA?t=36s

He's now left the music school and is taking lessons from a National Flatpicking Champion that lives locally, but we only see him once or twice a month. The rest of the time Nick is basically self taught, with me filling the role of manager/trainer/motivator. I've more or less stopped playing with him altogether because I can no longer keep up, which is fine with me because I get more enjoyment out of listening to him play than playing myself. I just try to keep him focused and motivated, and offer whatever guidance I can. He goes to a weekly jam and plays long with cd's, youtube, and DVD's (currently working through Bryan Sutton's DVD), so he isn't missing the "playing with others" aspect that was such a big advantage for him early on. Your daughter's very lucky to have a dad she can jam with at home. Her timing will be sooooo much better because of that.

Anyway, this system of checks and balances has worked very well for us. Between his teacher, myself, and the internet, he has three very solid resources to draw from. Any one of those resources alone would eventually get stale, but together, there's no limit to how fast he can learn, or from who. Here's a video of him in his most recent contest, back in August: http://youtu.be/9wTYxKypOhM

My point is this - getting your daughter a teacher won't usurp your influence. You're still her dad, and you're the one she'll be looking to for answers and motivation six days a week. The teacher is just another resource, like a book or DVD, for you guys to use as you see fit. The important thing is to find a teacher who respects her goals, and your influence. Teachers with huge egos typically don't mix well with ultra-involved (and opinionated) parents.

[Glennwillow]

Hi GB,

Welcome to the forum.

The Taylor GS Mini seems like a good choice because of the 1 11/16" nut width and short 23 1/2" scale: http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/gs-mini However, the medium strings for a beginner seems like a bad idea to me, but maybe with the short scale this is not that much of a problem.

My wife learned on a small Gibson LG0 that had a 1 5/8" nut width and short 24.9" scale length. This is a small 00 size guitar, so it fit her small 5'-2" frame quite well. So a small guitar with a short scale and narrow nut width is the way to go.

The Taylor GS Mini is very similar in size to my wife's LG0 except for the medium strings, but again, maybe they aren't that hard to deal with because of the very short scale. I'd suggest trying one and seeing what it's like. I have never played one.

- Glenn

[chomper76]

I am in a similar position with my 10 year old son. The music store up the street has 6 week group lessons for kids 9-12. I signed him up for that to get his feet wet and plan on individual lessons after the group lessons have ended.