How young can a child start with guitar lessons?

[budeb]

I have a six year old boy who is interested in guitar lessons. I am not sure it this is a good instrument to start with.

 

Can you tell me if we would need to buy a smaller instrument? What have been your experiences.

 

Thanks,

Deb

[zaichiki]

My kids don't play the guitar, but they have friends that do. Suzuki teachers/schools will start kids on guitar at 6 (or younger) with no problems.

 

Here's a link to check out for info:

http://www.suzukinewton.org/faqs/index.html

[Pat in MI]

Guitar lessons at the music store near us start at age 8.

Blessings,

Pat

[irizarry4]

As a musician, and music teacher, this is my advice. Regardless of the instrument, it is key to find a suitable teacher. This is for the same reasons that all of us are homeschooling our children. I, for example, as a music teacher, am very patient and take well to teaching young children. My husband's teaching style, on the other hand... I wouldn't let anyone under the age of 13 near him. :D

 

With the exception of the piano, where as soon as you press the key, the note readily comes out in tune, all other instruments require a steep learning and patience curve at the beginning. They involve learning to hold the instrument in the correct position, then proper placement of fingers, breath control (for wind instruments).

 

This often tests the patience of young students (and adults alike) because they feel like after so many lessons they still have not learned anything. Also, because arms and fingers get tired.

 

So, I would say, make sure you find a teacher who has experience and has been successful with this age group. That way you avoid having your child be frustrated with music.

 

My 2 cents.

[3byzaz]

My oldest was 7 and a half. He has been taking lessons for 4 years now and is a great player--it is his passion in life and he has never wavered. My middle one and the oldest started piano at 8 and 10. My youngest is dying for drum lessons--yippee--now - he is 6. The older two are trying to give him some basics in piano and guitar also. I will probably have him start piano with our teacher in the fall when he will be closer to 7. He doesn't have the consistent desire to practice right now.

[petepie2]

I agree with the previous post about finding a teacher who has experience with younger kids. You would most definitely need a smaller guitar.

 

I take guitar lessons myself. My teacher has a 6 year old who he said is doing "okay" on the guitar. He said other teachers in our area start taking them at age 10.

 

In my opinion, i think it is ideal for a child to start on piano just to get a good foundation in reading and visualizing music. I took piano as a child and even though I don't play anymore, my knowledge of the piano has greatly helped me in understanding and figuring out chords on the guitar. Also, as the previous post said, there is a steeper learning curve for instruments other than piano. Guitar can be "painful", literally, to learn, especially in the beginning. If you don't push the strings down hard enough it sounds terrible and if you do push them down hard enough it starts to "hurt" in a very short time (when you're first starting out, that is....)

 

Good luck with everything!

[Penelope]

My oldest has been wanting to learn guitar for a while; however, I know he does not yet have the patience to learn tuning and all of that, and so we are waiting a year until he matures a bit, and starting piano lessons in the meantime. He is interested in many instruments, though, so he is okay with the plan. If he had his heart set on guitar only, I might try it. Someone who plays told me 7 is the very earliest they would consider lessons, but I wasn't aware there was Suzuki for guitar.

[KAM]

Our experience: my 6 yo really wanted to learn, he got a good guitar for Christmas and I bought a book so we could learn at home but it failed miserably. It really does hurt your fingers to hold down the string hard enough to get the notes right and he just wasn't ready to tough it out. We got him a 3/4 size (I think) guitar. I think I am going to start him on piano in the fall and try guitar when he's a little more mature.