All About Guitars
Your Child and Guitar Lessons
Some parents who feel that they want to give their child every opportunity in life will think about enlisting their offspring in a course of guitar or piano lessons at an early age. This article will look at some of the questions raised on the subject of a child’s guitar lessons. Firstly there is the burning question of whether a parent’s wishes of a “good education” for their child should totally overrule the child’s natural predisposition towards play.
Giving a child guitar lessons is a great way to introduce him to the joys of music. At the same time it is a bonding experience for the family because a child does not learn the guitar in isolation. The main thing that should be guiding you and your child towards guitar lessons is your child’s enthusiasm. There are generations of adults who wince when they think of their enforced piano lessons under the eye of a grim and unforgiving teacher.
As for the question of what at what age a child can learn the guitar, many people think that three- or four-years-old is around the time to start. This fits in with the Suzuki method which has been a successful piano teaching method for many years. At what age a child SHOULD begin learning guitar is up to your gut feeling on the issue. Maybe you would even like to try teaching your child yourself. In that case start them off on simple songs or nursery rhymes perhaps focusing on the D G and A7 chords. You will need to be meticulous about keeping your child’s guitar in tune.
For a very young child guitar lessons will involve games and activities designed to help with ear training and physical coordination. The younger the child is the more the parent will need to be involved in guitar practice time. If you feel that you are unwilling or not confident of your abilities in this area then leave the guitar lessons till your child is around seven years old.
No matter how enlightened we feel that we are as parents our own preferences and prejudices will come into play when we think about a choice of instrument for our children. If you wanted to have guitar lessons when you were a child but never got the chance, then it is natural for you to want to see your child take guitar lessons. If you think that maybe you are imposing your own needs onto your child then have another think about what your child wants (if anything) in music lessons.
If your child expresses interest in a the guitar of his own volition, fine. Maybe that is your decision made for you, but you will probably find that there are opportunities in your town to take your child to check out some musical instruments close up. If you have a local brass band or symphony orchestra then take your child to recitals. Let your child take a look at guitars in a music store. If he expresses interest in electric guitars or steel string acoustics you will need to explain that he should start off on a nylon string acoustic till the tips of his fingers get toughened up.
Ricky Sharples
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Chords And Strings: Basic Guitar Lessons To Get You Started
Playing a Guitar is one of the most interesting talents that have continued to amaze and entertain people through the years. Guitar playing gained popularity through the ages, especially with the advent of 80′s and 90′s prominent rock bands like Guns ‘n’ Roses, Bon Jovi and Scorpion, equipped with their mind-blowing solos that will surely make you want to be able to master a guitar in a way those great guitarists do. In essence, playing the guitar is quite tedious, but can definitely be really rewarding for those who have the passion and eagerness to learn it. We can never be sure how we are going to play, until we try out some fundamental guitar lessons.
The most basic requirement in guitar playing is to have sufficient knowledge of guitar chords. Guitar chords are fundamental basics to learn because they serve as foundations for advanced guitar lessons. To start with learning about guitar chords, we need to familiarize ourselves with the meaning of a chord first. It is essentially a synchronization of two or more notes, played at the same time. It forms the rhythm or harmony of the music to be played, which is why it is very important to learn the chords by heart. With guitar chords, guitar playing becomes very flexible because you can either use them as a rhythm player or use them as a base for your solo performance. There are many different types of guitar chords, each having its own distinct sound that forms the melody of a song. To mention just some of them, we know major chords (which produce open, determined sounds), minor chords (which produce sadder, more mellow tunes), seventh chords (which include an added tone to make them feel unfinished until you make a transition into the next chord). All of these divisions of guitar chords give the guitar player “distinctive flavors” which are very important for wholesome playing. They make songs pleasing or powerful – and not only Santana can create those splendid melodies, even you can begin exploring these guitar pleasures once you get familiar with the basics of guitar playing. Remember, with the basic knowledge of guitar chords, you can definitely start playing songs.
But of course, even a simple chord cannot be played without a prior knowledge to what appropriate strings should be pressed. Learning the names of strings (which is basically the notes they produce) is just as important as learning the chords. Facing up front, you can see that there are six open (meaning, not yet pressed) strings. These strings differ in pitch and thickness. Obviously, the thickest string produces the lowest note, represented by lower E, while the thinnest string produces the highest note, represented by higher E or e. In order to facilitate the memorization of these notes, there is an accompanying mnemonic to help you out. You can try this: Every Boy Goes Down And Eat, with “Every” as the first and highest note string and “Eat” as the lowest and sixth string. This is very important since most guitarists need to know where to find these notes in order to read their music.
Just imagine how much fun playing a guitar is. Learning to play the guitar can actually be as easy as reaching high notes in singing. Deep within everyone there is a talent that only needs to be unleashed and cultivated, the only hard part is putting your efforts in to find it and show it. That is, starting from scratch, just like playfully plucking the strings of your guitar until you hear a very beautiful melody coming out of it.
Will Griffin
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Online Guitar Community for the Digital Guitarists
The Guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments and the online Guitar community probably the most popular of its kind. There are thousands of guitarists connected via online communities sharing guitar tabs, tips and stories and there are many of websites dedicated to sharing guitar music, tablature and even guitar lessons.
Guitar lessons online can be a great alternative to learning the best guitar tricks, and it saves you the effort in finding a teacher around your community for days. What’s better is that you can take your lessons at your convenient time. There are a variety of guitar lessons online that can be suited to your needs as a beginner. They come with different features that will teach you some worthwhile guitar skills. Online guitar lessons can provide all the same benefits as traditional guitar lessons at a fraction of the price you would expect to pay a professional guitar teacher.
One of the most difficult days for a beginning guitar player can be trying to find the high-quality guitar lessons sites while avoiding the ones that are simply a waste of time. You could spend literally weeks of your life trying to find the online guitar lessons site that is right for you.
We have scoured the Internet to find you the best freeware, shareware, and buy ware products available for you – the digital guitarists. There are many things you can do while you’re here. Feel free to browse our collection of guitar tablature. Tighten your chops by browsing our large collection of free guitar lessons (with audio and video). Look up a scale or chord chart in our free online chord and scale finder. Find an alternate tuning in our tunings section. Or take part in one of many guitar discussions taking place right now!
The attitudes and working habits of the Aggressive Student can be learned by anyone. If you are not used to working with this intensity, it will take some time and a lot of your effort to change. If you want to be the best you can be, you have no choice.
The mission of guitarists.net is to provide guitar players and those who want to play guitar with the most effective and engaging instruction, so they can pass the point of no return in their understanding of and satisfaction with playing guitar.
Claude Johnson
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/online-guitar-community-for-the-digital-guitarists-676260.html
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Being a Good Guitar Teacher and the Two Common Styles of Teaching
To me there are two main styles of teaching the guitar,
- Notation, via a tuitional book
- By method of favourite song
Learning By Notation:
This is a common way a lot of classical teachers teach. This method involves teaching the fundamentals of music and notation first. Here is a shortlist,
- guitar parts
- sitting or standing
- pick holding
- finger numbering
- music staff
- note naming
- bars
- note values
- time signatures
- sight reading notation for all six strings
- playing sight read notation on all six strings
- playing notation songs to a fluent stage
This method in the end is a great way of learning the guitar but from my experience is best suited for children under the age of 12 or adults that realise the importance of reading sheet music and rhythm lines. Either way I find it only holds the attention of the average student for 10 to 15 lessons before they want to learn popular or favourite songs.
A lot of new students that come to my lessons who have played before will always say “I can play quite well but I don’t know anything about music or notation”. It seems to be a known fact that you don’t really have to be strong in notation or music theory to play the guitar. Because of this the guitar is a popular instrument to learn, and for the fact of video clips and the rock band image. I find that a student learning violin, cello, trumpet or any other classical instrument will be more focused on lessons and practise because they are aware of the regiment that comes with that instrument. Because of this rebel behaviour that comes with the guitar a lot of teachers use the method of learning via favourite song. This way the student stays more interested in the lesson program.
Learning by Method of Favourite Song:
This is the most popular method of teaching by far, both for the student and teachers. A lot of teachers I know use this method; the main reason for this is because it gets results fast across a broad range of students. When a new lesson starts I will explain the two methods of learning and usually give them a choice on which path they would like to follow, in most cases they will leave the decision up to me.
Choosing the right method for the student:
Age is a main factor for teaching method selection. I usually find that primary school children don’t have a lot of peer group influences when it comes to music. They like what they like and this usually stems from their parents choices of music. Therefore they are easily influenced when it comes to a song they play on the guitar and happily practise what they are given. Children usually have to be taught a little slower and step by step, not missing a thing on the way as they will get confused. Also try to create some games they can play in lessons, things like:
- guessing chord shapes
- timing them to see how fast they can change from one chord to the next
- memory card game using diagrams, photos, TAB, notation of the same chords or notes
- Staff note guessing game
I have found a few games on the internet and software learning tools that are useful.
- Guitropolis: www.guitropolis.com (software using games and lesson plans to learn from)
- Music Theory Net (www.musictheory.net this site is mainly for music theory but has a couple of trainers that are helpful)
Because children under the age of 12 are a blank page, it gives you more flexibility with teaching notation and some music theory rather than rushing them into playing popular songs right away. The age limit is not a set rule but more of a guide line.
Some younger students mainly want to learn the guitar just for the image. The guitar, drums & singing are probably the most popular instruments to learn simply for the fact that kids are bombarded by music video clips, idol type shows and movies showing the rock & pop lifestyle. If we compare a student learning the clarinet or cello to someone learning the guitar, there is a large attitude difference. Someone learning a classical instrument will usually understand the regimented learning process involved with learning these types of instruments.
Overall learning should be about FUN with the instrument so keep the lessons at a balanced level of structure vs. songs
More Lessons & Articles: www.guitartutoronline.com
Danny Poole
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Trackbacks
Being a Good Guitar Teacher and the Two Common Styles of Teaching
To me there are two main styles of teaching the guitar,
- Notation, via a tuitional book
- By method of favourite song
Learning By Notation:
This is a common way a lot of classical teachers teach. This method involves teaching the fundamentals of music and notation first. Here is a shortlist,
- guitar parts
- sitting or standing
- pick holding
- finger numbering
- music staff
- note naming
- bars
- note values
- time signatures
- sight reading notation for all six strings
- playing sight read notation on all six strings
- playing notation songs to a fluent stage
This method in the end is a great way of learning the guitar but from my experience is best suited for children under the age of 12 or adults that realise the importance of reading sheet music and rhythm lines. Either way I find it only holds the attention of the average student for 10 to 15 lessons before they want to learn popular or favourite songs.
A lot of new students that come to my lessons who have played before will always say “I can play quite well but I don’t know anything about music or notation”. It seems to be a known fact that you don’t really have to be strong in notation or music theory to play the guitar. Because of this the guitar is a popular instrument to learn, and for the fact of video clips and the rock band image. I find that a student learning violin, cello, trumpet or any other classical instrument will be more focused on lessons and practise because they are aware of the regiment that comes with that instrument. Because of this rebel behaviour that comes with the guitar a lot of teachers use the method of learning via favourite song. This way the student stays more interested in the lesson program.
Learning by Method of Favourite Song:
This is the most popular method of teaching by far, both for the student and teachers. A lot of teachers I know use this method; the main reason for this is because it gets results fast across a broad range of students. When a new lesson starts I will explain the two methods of learning and usually give them a choice on which path they would like to follow, in most cases they will leave the decision up to me.
Choosing the right method for the student:
Age is a main factor for teaching method selection. I usually find that primary school children don’t have a lot of peer group influences when it comes to music. They like what they like and this usually stems from their parents choices of music. Therefore they are easily influenced when it comes to a song they play on the guitar and happily practise what they are given. Children usually have to be taught a little slower and step by step, not missing a thing on the way as they will get confused. Also try to create some games they can play in lessons, things like:
- guessing chord shapes
- timing them to see how fast they can change from one chord to the next
- memory card game using diagrams, photos, TAB, notation of the same chords or notes
- Staff note guessing game
I have found a few games on the internet and software learning tools that are useful.
- Guitropolis: www.guitropolis.com (software using games and lesson plans to learn from)
- Music Theory Net (www.musictheory.net this site is mainly for music theory but has a couple of trainers that are helpful)
Because children under the age of 12 are a blank page, it gives you more flexibility with teaching notation and some music theory rather than rushing them into playing popular songs right away. The age limit is not a set rule but more of a guide line.
Some younger students mainly want to learn the guitar just for the image. The guitar, drums & singing are probably the most popular instruments to learn simply for the fact that kids are bombarded by music video clips, idol type shows and movies showing the rock & pop lifestyle. If we compare a student learning the clarinet or cello to someone learning the guitar, there is a large attitude difference. Someone learning a classical instrument will usually understand the regimented learning process involved with learning these types of instruments.
Overall learning should be about FUN with the instrument so keep the lessons at a balanced level of structure vs. songs
More Lessons & Articles: www.guitartutoronline.com
Danny Poole
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