KatDilan Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 We live in a rural area with no music teachers easily accessible to us, but I and my children would like to learn to play the guitar. Does anyone have a recommendation for an excellent self-teaching program? I have never played an instrument and have no musical background. So I will be learning from scratch myself and teaching the munchkins. Please help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 I recommend Mel Bay's books (like this one). Assumes no prior guitar knowledge and is VERY easy to use and understand. Have fun :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirstin Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 For young beginners I really enjoy the Alfred's Kid's Guitar Course Books 1 and 2 (combined) , with Computer CD Roms (included)....and there is also a corresponding DVD to demonstrate each lesson for about 20 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 You might want to check out this http://littlekidsrock.org/what-we-do.html I was an LKR teacher before I left the PS system, and their curriculum really does a good job of getting kids playing quickly and making it a lot of fun. It looks like a lot of the materials are available online, and it might be worth it to e-mail them, let them know you're a homeschooler, and see if they'd let you make a donation and get the teaching guide (which includes the student materials). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 My father was teaching himself guitar with a video course. It was a few years ago so I don't remember the name. I'm sure if you google video courses for guitar study many will pop up. Videos are nice because you can see proper hand position and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shifra Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 (edited) Particularly if you are self-teaching, I think that you probably need a DVD. It took us a long time to even learn how to tune the guitar. Try to get the music store personnel to teach you how to tune the guitar. We recently bought a clip on tuner, which makes tuning so much easier. Try to get a really good guitar. My daughter has been using the Yamaha JR-1 which is a pretty good 3/4 size steel string guitar. Bad guitars don't hold the tuning very well. Progressive Guitar Method for Young Beginners Book 1 has a DVD that might be helpful. Rainbow Resource carries it. Mel Bay has a Children's Guitar Method that you can get a DVD to accompany the book. If you have girls, the Girls Guitar Method is very similar to the Alfred Kids Guitar that Kirstin mentioned. It's just more "girl" oriented, which may be motivating. The Girls Guitar Method also has a DVD available. Edited May 29, 2011 by Shifra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatDilan Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 I will be looking into them over this weekend! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadsandLilysMom Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 My husband wants to learn to play the guitar as well. When I was researching the options I came across this instrument. I haven't tried one, but they look interesting and they said they are a great into to the guitar. http://www.strumstick.com/html_pages/ss_catalog.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 (edited) For young beginners I really enjoy the Alfred's Kid's Guitar Course Books 1 and 2 (combined) , with Computer CD Roms (included)....and there is also a corresponding DVD to demonstrate each lesson for about 20 bucks. I liked the looks of this package when I was working out our plans for next year and this is what we will be getting also. It seems easy to implement even though I have had three years of classical guitar and more than that in music theory. It was many moons ago though so I will need to reteach myself also ;). You could also add the package of flash cards but they are not necessary. I am also looking at getting Alfred's - Music Made Easy: Guitar (CD-Rom), just to make our lessons more visual and interactive :). Edited May 30, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnL Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 :bigear: My son has been begging for a guitar for months. I will be looking into these. My only instrument is my voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 :bigear:My son has been begging for a guitar for months. I will be looking into these. My only instrument is my voice. For a guitar, I am looking at a Classical Yamaha but need to check size (1/2 or 3/4). Adrian's grandfather wants to get that for him though. We already own a full size acoustic but the steel strings are not recommended for young learners and I would prefer we get one more appropriate for his size anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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