Advice about lessons for my 10 year old

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tonyoci

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My 10 year old wants to play guitar. He's your typical Californian 10 year old, not very motivated, doesn't do his homework etc.

I suspect that the traditional learning will not work for him (scales, read music, play something in about 6 months :) ).

I am thinking I should suggest to the teacher to teach him a few power chords, where the notes are on the fretboard, one or two lead lines etc ? Letting him progress to reading music if he sticks at it.

I am not very experienced with this stuff, partly because I quit playing at age 10 cause I didn't want to learn scales and learn to read music.

Any thoughts on this. Please keep in mind this is a 10 year old not a 15 year old which I think makes a huge difference.

Tony
 
I would say (if you haven't already bought him one) start him off on electric.

Unless he really wants to play acoustic, that is.

Electric is much easier on the fingers, and he won't get as discouraged. Plus, it also helps if that's what he really wants to play.

In my opinion, it's much easier to make the transition from electric to acoustic later on (it just requires a little more finger strength) than it is to start from acoustic right away.
 
Thanks, he has an electric which he bangs around on. I was asking more about whether it makes sense to ask the teacher to stay away from reading music, scales etc. at this age.

Tony
 
I reckon the best thing to do would be to try and hunt out some recommendations for good teachers in your area that have experience with teaching kids.

Although your suggestions sound sensible (and you know your son better than anyone) a good teacher should be able to tailor the way they teach to the needs of the client anyway.

What i'm saying in a roundabout way is that you'll probably just have to leave the learning methods to the teacher. If you find someone good they'll know better than you the best methods that will make a good player of your son while retaining his interest.

Good luck anyway and I hope you have the next Clapton on your hands :D
 
I am a full-time guitar teacher and performer. IMO, your son is barely old enough to start lessons. His success will depend on his ability to study the instrument with maturity or he will burn out on guitar and possibly music.

Lots of my students that are his age are not ready. They have little experience listening to varities of music (or any music) and almost no self motivation. Occasionally students that young are able to learn from a teacher but it usually depends on two things; a deep, nearly obsessional, desire to play and supportive parents who help provide motivated practice schedules.

If that is not your son then convince him to wait. Teach him what you know, buy him CDs, guitar books or magizines, and expose him to as much music as possible.
 
JoeNovice said:
I am a full-time guitar teacher and performer. IMO, your son is barely old enough to start lessons. His success will depend on his ability to study the instrument with maturity or he will burn out on guitar and possibly music.

Lots of my students that are his age are not ready. They have little experience listening to varities of music (or any music) and almost no self motivation. Occasionally students that young are able to learn from a teacher but it usually depends on two things; a deep, nearly obsessional, desire to play and supportive parents who help provide motivated practice schedules.

If that is not your son then convince him to wait. Teach him what you know, buy him CDs, guitar books or magizines, and expose him to as much music as possible.
Click to expand...

You really summed things up for me, thanks.

I am concerned that he is too young but he does really want to do it. He's formed a "band" with his friends (what a noise they make) and they meet up once or twice a week. I tried to give him some stuff to work on but I'm really not qualified. I suspect that 3 or 4 lessons will reveal a lot. I think if all he learns at this age is how to hold the guitar and move his fingers it might be enough.

Tony
 
I'd say just let him lock himself in his bedroom with a stack of cds, his guitar, and lots of tab. He's obviously motivated to play if he's jamming with his buddies. He'll probably learn much more independently than with a teacher. When I was 12, I took lessons for 4 or 5 months. It was generally a big waste of time - I learned so much more from poring over books and sheet music.

He lives in the internet age. There's a plethora of information at his fingertips. Just give him the freedom & flexibility to learn at his own pace - if he wants to learn, he will.




I'd recommend picking up some earplugs for yourself.
 
the problem with the internet i find/found is that you can do everything in a very messy way. rather than following steps "a, b, c, d, e" its very easy to miss boring bits out, or simply not realise that you're missing out on anything at all. not particularly useful if you want solid musicianship. at some point, most people need a bit of a kick up the backside when it comes to music, and they Rarely give themselves it, and they won't listen to their parents/friends/whatever... it needs a teacher to do it. i've had about a billion of them from my trombone and piano teachers, and i have to say i needed them, and it made me a better musician for it.

obviously, there are all sorts of exceptions to this, but they are fewer and far between, and i'd have to say are often 'one-trick' musicians - people who can only do one style or whatever. not necessarily a problem, but if its confidence in every style in any situation, then i think a teacher is what you need.

Andy
 
I think the best way to start with is to get him a few method books for beginngers and see how he takes to those. It will be cheaper than lessons and will give him plenty to work on.

I also teach a boy that's 10 years old, and it's kind of like pulling teeth. He rarely practices, he's never prepared, and any time I talk about ANYTHING that involves the slightest bit of teaching music (very basic stuff, mind you, like rhythms, etc.), his eyes glaze over and he's off to la-la land.

Personally, I started off with books when I was younger, and then moved on to lessons for a little bit. I think it was a great way to go.
 
Keep it simple...

My first lessons were at age 13 with an instructor that went straight to Mel Bay. Needless to say, I was discouraged and gave it up for a while.

I went back to take lessons again and was hooked up with a guy who was in a band. He could listen to any song and disect it into tab in minutes, solo included. Basically I would bring my guitar and a tape and we would work that song out.

We practiced scales and such in between, but learning covers at a young age was allot of fun. As a result I took lessons from him for 2 years and still play 20 years later.
 
I started at 10 years old as a Californian boy. :)

My first guitar was a 50s Fender Duo Sonic. They aren't that expensive and are nice because they are shorter scale.

My second guitar was a 66 Fender Mustang. The scale was slightly larger but still not full scale. This was about a $450 guitar at the time. I still love that guitar though my dad now owns it.

By the time I was 14 or 15 I had saved enough for my own guitar and got an ESP. By that time I played well enough to play with a band and write songs and what not.

He probably won't want to learn "house of the rising sun" and "marry had a little lamb"... he will probably want to learn songs he listens to. Finding a good teacher is hard. I had a teacher who wanted to teach me the fundamentals, but all I wanted to know how to play was Metallica and Pantera songs.

Now that I'm older, I want to learn the fundamentals that I've been avoiding for the past 13 years. If had been forced to learn the fundamentals, I probably would have given up.

Keep it fun for him. Let him learn what he wants to learn. Try to match him up with other kids of a similar age who listen to similar music and try to get them jamming.
 
With a 10-yr-old, it's almost impossible to tell if he wants guitar lessons because he's into music or just because he likes being able to say that he's "in a band." Just about every boy that age wants to be a rock star, but not very many of them want to be musicians.

That said, he still deserves the chance. Your job is to do it in a way that won't turn him off to the idea of taking it up again later if it's not his thing right now. So I agree with the guys in the forum who suggest that you show him some of what you know (that he can understand, that is), get him some instructional books, and then sit back and watch how well he takes to it. If he loses interest, you haven't lost much. But if he starts practicing and showing signs of self-discipline, especially when he thinks you're not looking, then you should probably invest pretty quickly in a teacher.

How you find a good teacher, though, is a mystery to me. If anybody out there has any good suggestions, please share.
 
Thanks for all the advice.

I have the same opinion but was kind of looking from the other direction. Firstly I don't think books will work (10 year olds like mine don't read anything unless they have to), a DVD might work ?

My thought was to give him a month of lessons to see if he takes to it then cancel and reconsider (or wait) if he doesn't.

It's really not practical for me to show him, I'm not well trained at all + it can often lead to arguments that effect the rest of our happy lives.

Tony
 
I started playing around 10 yrs old and learnt the basics, open chords and strumming etc and that was fine for a while until I wanted to play songs that I liked.
At the time there wasn't the teaching aids that we have available today so I became very disheartened when I couldn't figure out why I didn't sound like Angus Young from AC/DC. I gave up for a couple of years until I gained a renewed vigour and met a guitar instructor/player whom I idolized.

The methods that he used to teach me was to run through a small amount of theory that was relative to playing songs that I liked and wanted to play.
The point of interest to me was getting taught those little licks and riffs that I could learn to play from the songs that I liked.

When I could go home and actually play something on guitar from my favourite songs it induced me somewhat to pay a little interest to the theory behind it.

In my opinion and experience I think the interest has to be stimulated constantly and at 10 yrs old too much theory will not do this. The fun has to be kept in the whole learning and practice scheduling and eventually if the interest is kept alive the theory side of things will eventually become somewhat of an interest as he progresses and decides to keep playing.

For me having an instructor who played in a band gave me something real to look up to and aim for. I think if your son has a instructor who he sees as being a teacher (as in school teacher, theory, pay attention) it will become a chore.
KEEPING THE INTEREST ALIVE IS THE KEY!
 
If there's a music store or studio near you that has a "coached rock band" program for kids you should check it out. They're everywhere. IMO nothing motivates one to learn guitar more than having something practical to DO with their playing. If he gets that real world motivation he'll be halfway there. Next step might be an inexpensive standalone digital multitrack and maybe a private teacher to coach him. I'm a teacher, and believe me, it's ALL motivation and desire, in any musical style. If the desire's there, a student is easy to teach.

Tim
 
I agree with everyone who said to let him learn on his own. I, myself, am a self-taught guitar player, but a teacher-taught sax player. Which do I play more often? Guitar. I found that the satisfaction that I got from actually teaching myself how to play is infinitely greater than having a teacher show me how to play. I enjoy playing both instruments, yes, but I feel better when I play guitar. This also has to do with the fact that the music I listen to most, rock, is guitar-oriented. At age 10, I think you should just let him play what he wants and let him teach himself, or have his teacher show him how to play songs that he wants to learn. When I was 10, I was taking sax lessons and the guy bored me to death with all this jazz theory. Now I love jazz, but my attention span back then was less than 10 seconds. If he continues to show interest in guitar, by all means, give him lessons that teach him music and theory.
 
I started when I was 10. My teacher would spend half the lesson teaching me theory and notes from a book, and half the lesson tabbing out and teaching me to play whatever songs I wanted to off of a mix tape I made for that week. On my very first lesson I was learning how to play simple sheet music based on my low e string and also how to read and play tab from Nirvana. It was very helpful in keeping me interested and motivated. However, don't force any of it on the kid; anything forced will make him resent it. If he chooses to drop it after a month of lessons, like you mentioned, fine, there's probably a good chance he'll pick it up later.

Also, I quit taking lessons after a year, and wasn't really sparked into learning more about guitar until I joined a few bands. It's probably not a good idea to get him into a band prematurely, but it can definately provide that extra motivation to push his skill.
 
I used to teach guitar to a ten year old. I tried to make things fun by taking things very slowly and teaching him songs that he wanted to learn. All he really wanted to do tho was learn how to make cool noises like pick slides and feed back....

If your son is the latter then avoid the lessons for now...

But hey, people start off their kids playing piano at the age of 5, why should guitar be any different?
 
hhmm. i think some of these virtuoso piano playing 5/6 year olds are often pushed into learning, and probably don't get much choice when it comes to how much they practise or what they learn. reminds me of this trombone kid i've seen. nine years old and playing at a post grade 8 standard. now to me, no matter how much he loves that instrument, at some point someone's pretty much forced him to learn all those scales and that lip flexibility stuff. not good for a kid that young in my opinion.

i say give him lessons if you think he'll be able to manage them, but make sure his teacher's keeping it fun for him.

Andy
 
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