Help with teaching!!!
 

I have 12 year old who wants to take guitar lessons from me, and after the first lesson, i reallized i don't really know where to start him at, should i start with chords, or single notes?
should i get him a book? if so, which one?
should I have him read music notes? Tab?

Should i give him a CD of Dave matthews songs and say "go learn these"? :)

any help would be appreciated.

-andy

I'm still new to guitar myself but have already inspired a few others to start playing. (If I can, they can). Anyway, as I'm not qualified to "teach" guitar, I more put them on the idea, and let them figgure it out mostly by themselves and then guide them where I can.

Anyway, I have found out that teaching them a few easy intro's like "I wish you were here" with Pink Floyd o.l. is a good idea, as they then are able to play something that's easy, but at the same time sounds cool.

I really don't know the best way to teach someone, but throw in a easy lick here and there, it really boost their motivation.

For the rest I'd like the answers to this thread as much as you.

I'm not a teacher, but as an adult student of guitar I'd recommend that you do a combination of things....i.e. a bit of theory and scales a few chords and some songs.

While I think the theory and basics are important, if the students doesn't feel like they're making progress or doing something they want to do then that's a negative!

I don't know how articulate/interested this student is but maybe find out what music he is interested in (are there songs he wants to play?) and then start with an easy one and work from there

So maybe spend half the time on theory and basics and stuff and the other half on songs...

That would be my recommendation.

..........

Mix theory, notation with some tunes they can easily learn(very basic) to keep their interest up. AND, assign some practice time on their own even if it's just 15-30 minutes EVERYDAY. Learning (disciplin)to practice regularly is the major hurtle for most kids. Give them specific things to learn but don't overwhelm them.
Keep it fun.

Guys,

Let me help a little here. I started playing and taking lessons a little over a year ago. I met Chip Evans (evan256 here on the forum) a couple of months ago. He is a pure pro!

My lessons went well the first year with my first teacher (or so I thought). I learned a lot of stuff but was getting board very quickly. Chip turned this around overnight.

Simply, I wish my first instructor had taught me this simple theory.

In the Key of G we are going to learn for chords.

The I, IV, V, and the VI (as a relative minor). This means the G is the I, the C is the IV, the D is the V, and the Em is the VI.

There are only about 200 songs you can then learn to play if you get this. You can then use the same basic song writing theory for other keys.

Let the kid sing his favorite song and then back himself up with the guitar. If you can't figure this out get with Chip (evan256). You are waisting time, energy, and possibly turning someone off. Learn the guitar as a backup to a little singing and you can play hundreds and hundreds of songs!

You can capture the essence of almost any song using this method. You will be amazed at how quick your little fellow becomes the next.....?

I'm gonna back up here a bit and suggest you teach him how to tune the guitar by ear so that it is in tune with it self.If he's not in tune, he's wasting his and your time.:)


...after that...you may want to teach him an alternate tuning,preferably an open chord tuning,to get some right hand rhythm,strumming foundation down.

...and of course like some other people mentioned.....explain to him(first thing) what the bridge,the nut,the saddle,the frets,ect,ect,are .... just getting him aquainted with the instrument,all it's parts and what their functions are.JMO.

For starters, what kind of guitar does he have? Electric or acoustic?

Start off with the foundations first, if your son practices, he can get them done and over with in 2-3 months. Now, its not going to be exciting, but the benefits will be huge. At the same time, try to apply the foundations to songs that he likes or songs that he may like. It keeps in interesting. After that, figure out what style he wants to concentrate on.

The easist way to do the foundations is to whip through at least the first 2 Mel Bay guitar books. I know they seem corny, but they are very good.