What To Do If My Child Is Interested In The Guitar

I am often asked by parents of young children (about 2-3 years old) what they should do as parents if their child is showing interest in music and the guitar. Here are some quick tips!

Find An Awesome Guitar Teacher

Notice I said to find “An Awesome Guitar Teacher” and not “An Awesome Guitarist”. I know plenty of amazing guitarists, but they don’t all make great teachers – which is so much more important for young students. Additionally, any decent music school should have a structured curriculum, student encouragement system, progress reports, qualifications in music & teaching and preferably experience teaching young students (we have all of these things here at UGA!).

Make Sure They’re Ready!

A young child’s ability to effectively attend a guitar lesson largely depends on their ability to concentrate. Sure, they should be interested too, but if they can’t sit down and work on something for about ten minutes, then they may not be ready to start tuition – and that’s ok! If this happens, then…(read below!)

Feed their interest!

One of the most important thing for any student is motivation and interest. If this is maintained, then there is almost always success on any instrument, regardless of when they start formal tuition. Some great general tips are to always be playing music in the car when driving them places, play music at home in the background, invite a relative (or friend) to play an instrument for them at the next family gathering, take them to a concert or show of some sort (even if it’s just The Wiggles!), show them cool guitar playing on YouTube, buy them music related presents such as a toddler’s toy guitar, iTunes vouchers, Katy Perry T-Shirts etc. The list really is endless, but the bottom line is to keep encouraging and exposing them to a wide range of music. This is actually something that should be done whether they start tuition or not.

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