Teaching My Grandson Guitar

[Dr. Ron]

Last month, my 11 y/o grandson asked me to teach him to play the guitar. He has played some clarinet at school; but, no significant musical background. He has seen me play over the last few years and has become interested. I have given him three lessons to date. I took lessons at the same age for 2 years and hated them. I am trying to do this right. He seems motivated, picking up the guitar daily for at least 5-10 minutes. I have discussed practicing more; but, I am not emphasizing it at this time (as I grit my teeth).
I am currently teaching him simple open chords which are a bit of a challenge for him; but, his is improving.
We are also working on a simple song which should help keep his interest up. I am also exposing him to a bit of timing and basic theory. Since I am seriously years older than he is, it is a challenge trying to find music which he knows that we can actually play. But things are beginning to define themselves and I am having a great time.
Anybody else have a story or advice from your experiences?

 

[Bob630]

Last month, my 11 y/o grandson asked me to teach him to play the guitar. He has played some clarinet at school; but, no significant musical background. He has seen me play over the last few years and has become interested. I have given him three lessons to date. I took lessons at the same age for 2 years and hated them. I am trying to do this right. He seems motivated, picking up the guitar daily for at least 5-10 minutes. I have discussed practicing more; but, I am not emphasizing it at this time (as I grit my teeth).
I am currently teaching him simple open chords which are a bit of a challenge for him; but, his is improving.
We are also working on a simple song which should help keep his interest up. I am also exposing him to a bit of timing and basic theory. Since I am seriously years older than he is, it is a challenge trying to find music which he knows that we can actually play. But things are beginning to define themselves and I am having a great time.
Anybody else have a story or advice from your experiences?

Would he take an interest BBG? Also Hal Leonard has a couple of books with cd’s Easy Pop Melodies and Easy Pop Rhythms. The cd’s are play along.

 

[Randy S]

No advice Ron- my first grandchild (also a boy) is on the way so I have no experience to draw from.

What a cool thing though. He will remember the time you two spent together doing this for the rest of his life whether he ends being a serious guitar player or not.

 

[Dr. Ron]

Would he take an interest BBG? Also Hal Leonard has a couple of books with cd’s Easy Pop Melodies and Easy Pop Rhythms. The cd’s are play along.

Hey Bob, I am not sure what kind of music he likes at this point. Believe me, if he shows any hint of an interest for blues or classic rock, (I throw new licks at him on a regular basis!), BBG will be in the cards.

 

[jmin]

Can’t imagine what it must feel like to teach a grandchild! What a rush!
The only advice I can give is from the 11 year old’s perspective (I haven’t matured much in the last 50!).
As far as the “what” music he might like, I remember my older brother’s friend - my guitar “mentor” - playing things HE liked to play, and they definitely caught my ear. It ranged from “Blues in E”, to “Girl from Ipanema,” to “Misty.” He made them all sound really good!
I guess I’m saying that if you play stuff you really like playing, it’ll be a great start (for both of you!)...and don’t forget to include all the grandfatherly life lessons that relate to guitar playing!

 

[JohnHurley]

Watch on youtube together Jimi playing the star spangled banner at Woodstock then show him the notes?

Griff sent that out not long ago the melody for it.

Have fun together whatever you do!

I guess part of it depends on what motivates him and if he can be tricked. Well I would show you "this" but I dunno I think it may be too hard for you and then a little story about how it was too hard for you?

 

[Kommetjie]

Find out what his favorite riff-based song is and figure out the riff and play it over the changes, my buddy's older brother showed me how to play the Guitar Boogie Shuffle riff many moons ago, been hooked ever since.

 

[steve o]

Wow, that’s so cool! I don’t have any guitar specific tips but I would think it would be like teaching young kids anything. Keep the actual time of learning relatively short and make it fun. Give encouragement for even small accomplishments and make it fun. If he does a little practicing on his own and you see any improvement, point out how cool it is he practiced/improved on his own. And most of all, make it FUN!!!

 

[MikeS]

I have no advice (no grandchildren), but I think it's really great that you have something that you can teach him that can stay with him for ever.

 

[tommytubetone]

That’s cool! If nothing else, you’ll have planted a seed that sprouts later in life. Look at most of us.

 

[Tayport]

No advice either Ron except well done. I wish that I had a family member that had guitar skills and would have encouraged me when I was young. Started in my fifties, love it, but it is a challenge!

 

[MarkRobbins]

That's a great bonding opportunity for you. I was plenty excited when my granddaughter bought a guitar, thinking she could bring it to my house on the days she's here every week, and I could help her out. Unfortunately, her interest only lasted for a couple of days.

 

[Many Moons]

Even if he doesn't carry on learning the guitar, (which I hope he will of course) you are creating precious memories. Well done.

 

[Elio]

I still have fond memories of my Italian grandfather teaching me to play mandolin at that age. One thing that I wish I had done with my kids was to spend more time with them listening to my music. While they eventually develop their own tastes, having that exposure would have given them a lot more varied exposure early on. My middle son seems to have gotten it on his own. He is in his 20's but his playlist has everything from electronic dance music to vintage Beatles and country music.

With that said, maybe listen to some of your music with him and find something he likes that you can work on. If he comes up dry, listen to some of his music that he likes and find a song that is doable on guitar.

 

[OG_Blues]

What type of guitar is he learning on? Depending on his physical size at age 11, be sure that the scale length and neck size is not a hindrance to learning and developing good mechanics. Finding appropriate music that he likes and is not too difficult to learn to actually play in a fairly short period of time may be difficult.
I bought my oldest grandson (now going on 9 years old) a guitar a couple years ago - a Strat Mini that I did some work on and is a very playable guitar now. Unfortunately, he is just not interested or ready at this point to learn.
Even if he was, the type of songs that he likes and relates to are not good "guitar tunes" and would be difficult to teach him to play.
Also, his attention span seems very short, although he is obviously quite intelligent.
I am hoping that the time will come when he develops an interest and we can spend time together doing that.
His younger brother, at 18 months old, demonstrates an extremely high interest in music and also shows signs of high aptitude. He can detect / find / feel a beat in just about anything. It doesn't have to be music. It can be the dishwasher, or the roofers nailing shingles on the roof, or just about anything - he immediately starts dancing, waving his arms to the beat, bending his knees, nodding his head, swaying to the beat, etc. It is absolutely hilarious to watch, and of course I have lots of movies of this behavior. Before he could walk, he would "knee dance" all over the floor when his favorite song / video was on the TV - "Crazy Frog" by Axel F. He also loves "Party 'Til We Die", which he will actually sing along with - "ohee ohee ohee oh,"
"ohee ohee I"
"ohee ohee ohee oh,"
"party 'til we die"
Hilarious coming out of a baby.

 

[Dr. Ron]

OG...I am letting him use the Guild 3/4 size acoustic I began lessons with many years ago. He had an $80 Toys-R-Us special we gave him for Christmas a few years ago; but, I thought a guitar with better action and tone would make him sound better....and it has. I am throwing 3 chord songs ranging from "Mary Had A Little Lamb" to "Bad Moon Rising". I'll report in about a month as to how he is progressing. He basically hasn't communicated any type of favorite music he listens to. When he was a toddler, he liked Beyonce which doesn't help me a bit!

 

[luckylarry]

Well done Ron. I have been giving lessons to a young lady (age 12). As summer was coming I tried to set her up fr the summer and the future. i did very basic reading rhythm (she likes that a lot), a song she picked out, counting out loud and kept every thing down to at the most 8 notes for now. No triplets. That seems to have worked. I will know in the fall. LOL BTW, she is so involved in sports, school, church that practice can get set aside. I can always tell when she has practiced and when she doesn't