According to many scientific studies, learning to play the guitar is beneficial for a child’s growth and development. Playing the guitar increases the size of the brain’s left hemisphere and can help children remember up to a fifth more information. Not only does it help mentally, but learning to play the guitar can teach your child discipline, social skills, and an ability to find themselves. In a competitive world, the guitar can set your kid on the fast track to success.
If you’re ready to reap these benefits and provide your child with the gift of a lifetime, check out these tips on how to start teaching your kid to play the guitar.
Picking the Right Guitar
The first step in learning how to play the guitar is to actually obtain a guitar. There are many different options to choose from so you will want to do your research. Acoustic guitars are generally the type of guitar you will want to buy for a beginner. You will want to make sure the guitar is also the best size for your kid. Here is a general guideline depending on your child’s age.
- Ages 4-6:30″ ¼ size
- Ages 6-9:34″ ½ size
- Ages 9-12: 36″ ¾ size
- Over 12: 40″ concert size
These are general guidelines and can change based on the height of your child. Therefore, you should take your kid with you to the store when selecting a guitar. It will help you pick the right one, and will also motivate them to learn.
Teach the Basics of the Guitar
Prior to learning any chords, children should learn the anatomy of the guitar. They should learn what strings are what, and be able to identify all the different parts of the instrument. After learning the guitar’s anatomy, you should teach him or her how to hold the guitar. It is important that a child becomes familiar with holding the guitar in order to establish a foundation for learning. This will make it easier when learning different chords.
Have Fun
A child’s number one goal in life is to have fun. If their fun meter runs low, they will quickly become bored of the guitar and toss it to the side. You should prevent boredom by making learning fun. Work with your child to pick songs to learn that are recognizable to them. You may want to look at theme songs from their favorite shows or tunes from their favorite artists. It will not only make learning fun, but recognizable songs will be easier for children to play.
Following these three steps can help you build the path to success for your child. They will learn to play the guitar and furthermore, develop skills that will last a lifetime.
If you’re trying to find sheet music for your budding musician, you can find a lot of great ideas at Virtual Sheet Music, Inc.
Sally Phillips is a professional freelance writer with many years experience across many different areas. She made the move to freelancing from a stressful corporate job and loves the work-life balance it offers her. When not at work, Sally enjoys reading, hiking, spending time with her family and travelling as much as possible.
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Picking the right guitar and teaching your kid to start with simple chords and songs, not to go out and practice some solo stuff before learning the chords. Often a mistake people make.
With all of the benefits that are associated to child development and musicality, it is amazing that everyone isn’t introducing their children to some type of instrument. Thanks for the article.
Hi Jessica, thank you for writing this. I’m about to gift my 13 year old his first guitar on his birthday two weeks from now. You mentioned preventing boredom by picking songs to learn that they know. I found this huge list of easy songs to play on guitar https://guitarunited.com/easy-guitar-songs-video-tutorials-chords/ that I can’t wait to show my kid soon. My only concern is most of the songs are classic, though there are some that are recent. Do you know any others that are also kid friendly? Thanks, looking forward to have fun with my son through music!
Hello! Thank you for stopping by! This was a guest post written by Sally Phillips. I think that list is a great list to get you started. I found this list at https://allaxess.com/lessons/25-easy-guitar-songs-kids-learn-2016/ that has a great list of songs I think your son would enjoy also.
Awesome! Thanks Jessica!