At what age can a child learn to play guitar?
Children are best suited to learning the guitar between the ages of five and eleven
Before the age of five I find that most children "play with" a guitar rather than learn to play it in any meaningful sense and when I teach guitar groups in a school setting I insist on the youngest groups being made up of children who are at least five years old
What is the best age for a child to start learning guitar?
Children aged 3-4 years old (too young)
Children aged under four years old are probably too young to effectively start playing guitar
Children aged 5-8 years old (a great age to start)
This is a great age to start playing guitar and the trick or challenge for a guitar teacher with students of this age is to disguise the lessons as just plain fun!
Children aged 9-11 years old (more developed and receptive)
The guitar lessons should still be fun but at around this age kids are starting to mature a little I find that they are more willing and able to take on board the concept of practice leading to the development of improved skills and capabilities
Do children need to learn the guitar early?
When teaching kids to play guitar it is worth bearing in mind that traditionally most pop and rock guitar players did not first pick up the instrument until their teenaged years but nowadays some kids are taking to the guitar at an earlier stage than may have previously been the case
Its not a competition to see who can start to play the guitar at the youngest age Teaching guitar is about helping a child (or an adult for that matter) to become truly engaged in an activity that does not involve starring at a screen and being distracted for the benefit of advertisers
A child of eight or nine years old can be like a sponge, soaking up (well presented) knowledge and experience on the guitar before the teenaged angst kicks in
In the early stages of playing guitar kids need to learn to move smoothly between guitar chords that are both easy to play and are useful
The best eight guitar chords for children to learn
If you look at the graphic at the top of the page you can see the first four chords (G Em C and D) that any beginner (not just a child) should learn to play first
The other four chords that a child should learn are A, Am, Dm and Em and this website features series of early stages guitar lessons with free downloadable PDF lesson plans designed to allow children to accomplish that objective
Teaching children the best guitar chords
Follow the links below to find out more about teaching kids how to play guitar
Kid's guitar lesson 1
The first kids guitar lesson will have a child moving smoothly between the chords of G and Em
Kid's guitar lesson 2
The second lesson introduces the chords of C and D and then combines all four chords into a single progression along to a child friendly backing track
Kid's guitar lesson 3
The third lesson features a chord that they already know (G) and a new one (A) but what kids will really remember (and love) about this lesson is that it introduces them to playing Rock Guitar!
The backing track does all of the "heavy lifting" here allowing any child to release their inner "Rock God" and they love it!
Kid's guitar lesson 4
Following on from the last lesson its time for kids to get a little funky!
This fourth session introduces the final three chords for a beginner to learn (Am Dm and E) and kids are given the opportunity to play along to a backing track with a relaxed "funky groove"
Kid's guitar lesson 5
The fifth children's guitar lesson is a recap and planning session that allows both the teacher and the student to see how far they have come in a short space of time as well as to fill in any gaps and make plans for future progress
The fifth lesson also has material relating to a series of certificates that are part of the download that can be awarded to kids as they rack up the achievements
All of the early stages lessons have backing tracks and free downloadable guitar lesson plans to accompany them
Follow the links below for an overview on how to teach children to play guitar or to see details (incliuding a free downloadable PDF lesson plan) of a great first kid's guitar lesson'
If you like the idea of children doing something better with their lives than poking smartphones then the idea of helping them to a position where "creative flow" is a regularly occuring state then encouraging and enabling them to learn to play any musical instrument (not just guitar) seems like a no brainer
What's in the download?
You can download over 450 PDF's and more than 35 backing tracks to make your guitar teaching easier, more organised and stress free
Follow the link below to see a full list of whats in the download
The Deluxe Package:
Download everything that you see on this website for just $25.00
There are over 450 PDF documents and 35+ backing tracks and the chord charts etc to go with them in the teachwombat guitar teacher's download
Much cleverer people than me who understand way more than me about how this "internet marketing" malarkey works tell me in no uncertain terms that I am "doing the internet wrong"
They say (probably quite correctly) that I should split the resources into several $25.00 packages, each covering a different area of guitar teaching (beginners, advanced, jazz, children's resources etc)
They say that rather than just selling a one off download for a frankly rediculously low price I should have guitar teachers enrol in a "club" with monthly payments and newsletters with "tips of the week" and loads of other ways to part people from their hard earned money
The truth is it makes me queasy and I dont want to do it I'd much rather just sell a one off download of the stuff that you need to teach guitar than spend forever (or until you cancel the subscription) chasing you around cyberspace dreaming up new ways to get your cash into my pocket
Tour the site to take a look at the resources that I use (and sell!) for teaching younger and older students alike or have a look at the first of a series of guitar lessons suitable for kids of around eight years old. There are loads of free resources that you can download and use (even if you decide not to purchase the paid for materials)
The Deluxe Package:
Download all of the resources on this website for just $25.00
Only $25.00
Teaching Children Guitar With Your Phone
You can teach a child to play guitar by downloading the resources from this site to your mobile phone and streaming the backing tracks to a bluetooth speaker
Author and website owner Rob Hylton is a lifetime qualified guitar teacher and music educator with a background in teaching, performing, journalism and music education