Progrock
10 posts
Jul 22, 2008
2:16 PM
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What do you guys teach children? I have a book called guitar for little pickers. It seems to work pretty well. I've been trying to think of ways to make it more fun. It comes with a cd and I was thinking of having them listen to it and sing it before they play. I figure they would have the actualy tune in there head. I want them to be able to play it on there own without the book. Right now they look at the book and pretty much play it like a robot. If you take away the book they are lost. I figure if they sing it they would have the tune in there head. What do you guys do?
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Al
13 posts
Jul 26, 2008
1:18 AM
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Wow, I admire you. The youngest student that I have ever had was 10, and usually the tough thing is the attention span hurdles. He turned out to be a pretty good player by 13 years old. His dad came with him to every lesson which was good, because I had two sets of ears listening at the time.
Last Edited by on Nov 05, 2008 10:18 AM
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ChrisDowning
18 posts
Sep 10, 2008
9:13 AM
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Well I start with simple songs that can be played on just a few strings - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Aura Lee style songs. This gets them playing quite a few songs in a couple of weeks. As we now run up to Christmas it's easy as there are so many simple christmas carols that the children know and love to play. Thsee are a big hit with the parents as well. I always joke with the children that they should start early on getting paid to play and ask for 50c a song - it's partly a joke, but they love the idea of playing for profit and turning their aunts and uncles into a ticket buying audience.
Just stick with the top ten carols and play them in single string melodies from TAB. They'll eat up this stuff in no time and be playing confidently by Christmas.
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ChrisDowning
19 posts
Sep 10, 2008
9:17 AM
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P.S. Al - I've got 14 students under 10. A couple of my students started when they were 8 or 9 and are still with me 6 years on. I must be a rotten teacher as by now they should be rock stars and keeping me as the old retainer and guitar coach!
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Al
17 posts
Sep 20, 2008
10:16 AM
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Ha. Chris, I seriously doubt that you're a rotten teacher. People that stick with you for that long should be looked at as a compliment. I'm sure that you're an excellent teacher, otherwise they wouldn't keep coming back.
Last Edited by on Sep 20, 2008 10:16 AM
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ChrisDowning
27 posts
Nov 25, 2008
12:36 PM
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BTW guys this time of year is great for young students - 7-12 year olds - with all the carols and Christmas songs that are so easy to TAB out as single line melodies. Just get someone to play the most simple chord set you can devise (no more than three chords) and you've got a stonkingly impressive act for Christmas school performance.
Try Steve Kaufman's Christmas book for a load of simple TAB melodies. But quite honestly if you have a few minutes you can just write these out yourself in BIG TAB. email me for my big TAB blank templates if your stuck for a page to use. coach@chrisdowning.co.uk
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