Musicians: Need Advice on Guitar

[SeaConquest]

Our charter has free weekly guitar classes, beginning in 3rd grade. My friends own a wonderful community music school, which runs homeschooling classes. Classes are $100/month for 30 minutes of weekly group theory + 30 minutes of private instruction in either piano, drums, uke, or guitar. The homeschool class (and the school generally) get great reviews.

 

My son would like to learn guitar. He is 6 and fairly small for his age. Everything I've read says that 8 is pretty much the youngest age for guitar.

 

Would you 1) Start now with the music school on either Uke or Piano and then switch to guitar when my son is older, or 2) Wait and just take the free guitar class in 3rd grade with the charter? If choice 1, which instrument would you choose and why?

[Pegs]

I don't see why a bright young kid wouldn't be able to play a smaller guitar. I'm curious to know what you've been reading, and what the arguments are for waiting.

[Starr]

Ds plays the guitar and the uke. He says start with the piano. :D

[SeaConquest]

I don't see why a bright young kid wouldn't be able to play a smaller guitar. I'm curious to know what you've been reading, and what the arguments are for waiting.

Just Googling about age for guitar, and the consensus seems to be age 8 at the earliest. But, I played the violin, so I'm clueless.

[mominco]

I agree with Pegs,My dd started guitar when she was fairly young at 7 1/2  and we had actually looked at some music schools at least 6 months before she got started and not one instructor we met with mentioned her age.She is and was petite.

We started her with a guitar from toys r us( First Act Discovery acoustic guitar )and the instructor changed strings.That guitar served her well for 3 years .

Can you talk to the instructor or your friend and ask for a trial lesson? 

[Arcadia]

A six year old can learn guitar. Here a 4 year old could start Suzuki guitar lessons.

 

If it is choice one, I would go for piano first. Just because I like to pick instruments that are not as similar.

Another reason is that ukulele has four strings and guitar has six strings. So chords has to be relearned anyway.

 

Link is to student performance page of a local to me Suzuki guitar school so you can see examples of kids around your son's age playing

http://www.longay.com/performancevideo.html

[FarmingMomma]

You can get a half-sized guitar, that's what my small just-turned 8 year old DS plays.  If you'd rather wait on guitar, I'd start with piano.  If I could start over again, I'd have started my DD on a couple of years of piano before starting her on the guitar.  

[SeaConquest]

I agree with Pegs,My dd started guitar when she was fairly young at 7 1/2 and we had actually looked at some music schools at least 6 months before she got started and not one instructor we met with mentioned her age.She is and was petite.

We started her with a guitar from toys r us( First Act Discovery acoustic guitar )and the instructor changed strings.That guitar served her well for 3 years .

Can you talk to the instructor or your friend and ask for a trial lesson?

I can definitely talk to my friend. I just assumed the guitar classes were for older kids (based on my apparently ill-advised Googling). :)

[Tsuga]

I went through this whole thing about 8 months ago with my five year old.

 

My daughter wanted to play the trumpet. Then the guitar. I could not find an experienced teacher to take her. Music schools would take her. I find it somewhat disconcerting that private teachers all said, "I am concerned about the child's muscle and bone development on that instrument," and the music schools all said, "Whatever age you want is fine."

 

Guitar is difficult. Violin is also difficult, but the hand position and the many sizes of violin are less stressful and require a bit less strength and coordination. You aren't playing chords on the violin (generally) so that complication is out of the mix. I can't find the post in which I was advised this, perhaps it was not here, but I think it was. There is a qualitative difference between the intelligence required to follow the linear system of the piano, and the matrix system of the guitar, in which you need to use the E and G strings differently to play a chord or to play a scale.

 

At 7.5 I could see someone taking a child for individual lessons, but for a group, you really can't be remediating one child who isn't there developmentally.

 

My thought is, start with piano if he is eager to learn. It's a linear system of notes so easier to learn to read music. The guitar takes a lot more theoretical knowledge and spatial thinking to connect notes to the finger positions.

 

If he REALLY wants guitar, start with ukulele if you can find a teacher, then move to guitar. My kids both started on the recorder and switched to a second instrument reading music and their teachers both said they can tell they studied music. The practice in the woodwind wasn't lost.

 

[Donna]

My ds started guitar at 6yo. You can find a smaller size guitar for him to play. Taylor makes a lovely mini Taylor though a bit pricey to start with if you don't know if he will stick with it but other companies make fractional size guitars. There are Suzuki guitar programs that start children even younger than six.

 

My ds didn't want to learn another instrument and switch. He wanted to learn guitar and he did. Now, at 17, he also plays banjo, mandolin, and Irish bouzouki and is mainly self taught on all those. He performs all the time with his sister and loves it. 

[GoVanGogh]

DS started guitar at seven with a smaller guitar - electric.

My thoughts on why most sources say to wait until 8:

Most younger kids still have pudgy little baby fat hands that are unable to do the fingering that a guitar requires. Our first guitar instructor said hand size and finger length were the most important factors for when to start guitar.

Another reason - playing a guitar can hurt. If using an accoustic, the thicker body of the guitar can bite into the arm. The strings also take some getting used to. If a child isn't dedicated, they may not want to play through until their finger tips toughen up.

[wintermom]

My 9 and 12 yo boys have been playing classical guitar for a couple years, though they started with piano lessons. The nylons strings with classical guitars are easier on the fingers than acoustic guitars. My ds' teacher gives guitar lessons to very young children (from as young as age 4). The ability to focus during the lesson seems to the limiting factor for some of the little guys.  There are a variety of guitar sizes available.

 

I would talk directly with the guitar teachers at the school and find out more details. They may be willing to take your son, or at least try things out and see how they go. 

[hepatica]

All three of mine started Suzuki classical guitar at age 3 or 4, but they had super skilled teachers and great sounding small guitars. There's no reason a young child can't learn guitar, but I would make sure it is classical guitar. I wouldn't start a child with a tiny hand trying to learn chords - that's probably why the consensus for traditional guitar is age 8. Kids that start classical guitar can easily transition to learn other styles when they are older and bigger. 

 

Suzuki guitar is fabulous, if you have that as an option. The tiny guitar is way more pleasant to listen to than the tiny violins, and because it is a fretted instrument, you don't have the awful intonation problem. If you don't have a classical guitar teacher, then I would try piano.

[SeaConquest]

Thank you all for your sage advice. He really is wanting to play guitar, so I will explore that option further. I appreciate your input.

[J-rap]

My daughter began piano around 7 and guitar around 10.  By then, her hands were big enough to do what they needed to do, and she had some music background (with piano) to get her going.  That said, if your son is really interested, I don't see why he shouldn't give it a try.  I would NOT buy an expensive guitar now.  My daughter started with a cheap, bright red JC Penney guitar, which was slightly warped and could never be tuned perfectly as a result, but it was fine for that first year or two.  :)

 

One thing though, I'd listen very carefully to what music teachers say about muscle/bone development.  My daughter started with a community ed class in guitar (so not much personal attention), then once/week lessons with someone who was a great musician but didn't seem to pay attention to posture when my daughter played.  My daughter played all the time, and grew about 8 inches during the years between 10 and 16!  She finally realized -- far too late -- that she was holding her guitar wrong, with too much emphasis on one side of her back as she played, and over the years it really did a number on her back.  She is still working to correct those over-developed muscles on the one side, which caused her spine to slightly curve.  If she had been made very aware of this when she first started, I think she would have avoided a lot of chronic pain issues that she now has.

[displace]

I'm not a guitar expert but maybe look into chord buddy or chord buddy jr. It's a chord contraption that goes over the neck and when a button is pressed you have a chord - voila! The guitar from them for the jr sounds nice.

 

I got one because of a fine motor problem and it's quite ingenious. The music is able to be played easily and when the child is older or has longer fingers or whatever, chords can be taught.

[Plink]

We started DS on a baritone Uke.  It is tuned the same as a guitar (other ukuleles are not), and the size is much more comfortable for little kids than even the smallest guitar. 

[OneStepAtATime]

I'm not a guitar expert but maybe look into chord buddy or chord buddy jr. It's a chord contraption that goes over the neck and when a button is pressed you have a chord - voila! The guitar from them for the jr sounds nice.

 

I got one because of a fine motor problem and it's quite ingenious. The music is able to be played easily and when the child is older or has longer fingers or whatever, chords can be taught.

I loved Chord Buddy but I didnt know there was a Junior version. Cool.

[displace]

I loved Chord Buddy but I didnt know there was a Junior version. Cool.

It's not removable but otherwise I think the same :)

[5wolfcubs]

We started DS on a baritone Uke. It is tuned the same as a guitar (other ukuleles are not), and the size is much more comfortable for little kids than even the smallest guitar.

I have a friend who did this also, with great success!

[5wolfcubs]

As a side note, April is International Guitar Month!

[displace]

As a side note, April is International Guitar Month!

 

This will actually inspire me to get ours out!  Ha :)

[5wolfcubs]

This will actually inspire me to get ours out!  Ha :)

 

We made a cake to celebrate.  No guitars were harmed with me attempting to play...

[displace]

We made a cake to celebrate. No guitars were harmed with me attempting to play...

Omg! How cool!

[Shifra]

My daughter started guitar at the end of first grade (she was 7 years old). She did classical guitar using the Childbloom method, which at the begining stages is similar to Suzuki guitar (we didn't have Suzuki guitar in Dallas, where we were living at the time). I agree that if a child that young is taking guitar, they need to be taking it using a classical method, as their hands are not long enough to play more than one note at a time. By the way, we bought a 3/4 size guitar for my daughter, a Yamaha JR1, which has since been replaced by the Yamaha JR2 3/4 size guitar. Yamaha is not the best guitars available, but they are consistently of good quality at a reasonable price.