My 13 year old grandson wants to learn to play.He was over tonight. I gave him my six string that I had detuned. Called up a tuner on the internet and proceeded to teach him to to it. He did extremely well hearing the difference. I believe he will have a very good ear.
What next? How do I proceed? Start with chords or picking out Yankee Doodle or other songs? Teach him the notes? I want to move him on while he has the interest.
I am 58 and as stated he 13 so I have no clue to what to teach him in his era of music.While I read music and know the notes, I play mostly by ear.
Teaching someone to play guitar. Where to start?
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millponddave
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I can't think of a better place to start than TG. There is lots of stuff to get him going on the free side. I don't think that you can go wrong there.
Dave
Dave
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familyman4
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I agree with Dave, there are numerous places on the TG site to get him started. Look under the "tips & techniques" header and you will find a ton of great information for a beginner.
Good luck....
Bart
Good luck....
Bart
Thanks Dave, but we live in a very rural area and he doesn't have internet access at home. Wish they did. I would pay for a membership for him if they had internet. I will review the beginer lessons to coach him.
I was surprised with his ability to hear the tone difference in the tuning exercise.
I have short stubby fingers. When I placed my hand against his, I was amazed at how much longer his figures were compared to mine. He maybe a natural if I can develope his ear.
I was surprised with his ability to hear the tone difference in the tuning exercise.
I have short stubby fingers. When I placed my hand against his, I was amazed at how much longer his figures were compared to mine. He maybe a natural if I can develope his ear.
Hi Marshel, at this age they are not very patient. I think it is important that he finds a goal, a song he would like to achieve. There are a lot of beginner's songs on the site in the Target program that he can follow. He might be more interested by the music he hears on the radio which might be more electric guitar and hoping to impress his friends. This is where you might help him focus on the song choices available from the site so that he could use Neil's teaching (level 1-2-3 or so). He will learn some chords , rhythm, etc..that he will be able to use on other songs that are cool for him (he might find some cool ones on the site too).. At the same time he should look at the Acoustic Genius in the Target program where Neil will give him guidelines from ground up.
Have fun
Marc
Have fun
Marc
My nephew visited me when he was about 12. I taught him the low-E bass lines to "Smoke on the Water" and "I'm a Man," and that was enough to hook him. Now he's nearly 30 and is a pretty good player - better than me in some ways. I think that if they can pick up a guitar and play something right from the get-go that sounds like a song, that gives them the confidence and desire to really start learning.
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Hydroman52
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Hi Marshel,
I agree with unclewalt. When I was first starting out, I just wanted to play something as quick as possible that sounded like the music that I was listening to at the time. Once I could do that, I settled in to learn more difficult stuff. You may want him to make a list of songs that he would like to learn how to play and then pick the easiest one from the list (the one with the fewest chords and no barre chords) on which to concentrate. If you’re lucky, it may already be a lesson here. If not, let us know. We’ll make sure it gets in the recommend a lesson and with a bunch of votes.
Like others have said, there are lots of free beginner’s lessons here on TG that will help immensely. If he doesn’t have Internet, he may have to visit you more often to watch them. Or, if he can get to a library, they usually have computers that a person can use to access a site like TG. I know that the librarian in my little town would be thrilled to know that someone was benefiting from taking guitar lessons on the computers there.
Here are a couple of other suggestions that might help keep him from getting discouraged:
1. Make sure the guitar is easy to play. If it has a decent set-up, then the strings should be easier to fret. If strings are set high, it can be quite painful on the fingertips while starting out. That’s a bit tough to overcome.
2. Get him an electronic tuner. Tuners are cheap nowadays. You can pick up a Snark clip-on tuner for under $15 (shipped) from Amazon.com. Makes a great birthday gift. It’s easier on everybody’s ears if the guitar is in tune and will sound better to him when he plays along with a recording or other musicians.
3. Get him a set of new strings and show him how to clean and restring the guitar. To me, nothing sounds better than a new set of stings on an old guitar. Also makes an inexpensive gift. You can usually pick up cheap Martin strings for under $4 US per set from most of the on-line stores. You’ve just got to look around. Once he gets this figured out, he will always be able to feed and care for his guitar properly.
4. Give him follow-up calls. If he is doing this all on his own, it would probably help him stay interested if you talk with him occasionally so that he can share his triumphs with someone who has similar interests.
Well, that’s some random thoughts that I would have benefited from when I was getting started many years ago as a young teenager.
Hope this helps,
Hydroman52
I agree with unclewalt. When I was first starting out, I just wanted to play something as quick as possible that sounded like the music that I was listening to at the time. Once I could do that, I settled in to learn more difficult stuff. You may want him to make a list of songs that he would like to learn how to play and then pick the easiest one from the list (the one with the fewest chords and no barre chords) on which to concentrate. If you’re lucky, it may already be a lesson here. If not, let us know. We’ll make sure it gets in the recommend a lesson and with a bunch of votes.
Like others have said, there are lots of free beginner’s lessons here on TG that will help immensely. If he doesn’t have Internet, he may have to visit you more often to watch them. Or, if he can get to a library, they usually have computers that a person can use to access a site like TG. I know that the librarian in my little town would be thrilled to know that someone was benefiting from taking guitar lessons on the computers there.
Here are a couple of other suggestions that might help keep him from getting discouraged:
1. Make sure the guitar is easy to play. If it has a decent set-up, then the strings should be easier to fret. If strings are set high, it can be quite painful on the fingertips while starting out. That’s a bit tough to overcome.
2. Get him an electronic tuner. Tuners are cheap nowadays. You can pick up a Snark clip-on tuner for under $15 (shipped) from Amazon.com. Makes a great birthday gift. It’s easier on everybody’s ears if the guitar is in tune and will sound better to him when he plays along with a recording or other musicians.
3. Get him a set of new strings and show him how to clean and restring the guitar. To me, nothing sounds better than a new set of stings on an old guitar. Also makes an inexpensive gift. You can usually pick up cheap Martin strings for under $4 US per set from most of the on-line stores. You’ve just got to look around. Once he gets this figured out, he will always be able to feed and care for his guitar properly.
4. Give him follow-up calls. If he is doing this all on his own, it would probably help him stay interested if you talk with him occasionally so that he can share his triumphs with someone who has similar interests.
Well, that’s some random thoughts that I would have benefited from when I was getting started many years ago as a young teenager.
Hope this helps,
Hydroman52
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Hydroman52
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Almost forgot, I see you are a TARGET member, so you can access the lessons and other exclusive stuff. Be sure to have him watch a Fly-on-the-Wall video. It would probably be a great help for him to eavesdrop on a few one-on-one sessions to see what that's all about. It can be very encouraging to see others work through things that pose difficulties for them.
Hydroman52
Hydroman52
A lot of good advice and its mostly been said. I have helped a few kids get started and I've always felt it important they choose a song they know and like, get them to select a few for you to decide looking for the easiest. I've also ensured they have enough technical knowledge to tune the thing. I used to run adult classes at work and its not actually much different, but adults may already have knowledge to build on. Kids are easily distracted and move on, so don't get disheartened if they lose interest. They may. be like a lot of us here and come back later in life