This article is as much for guitar students as it is for guitar tutors, and will hopefully shed light upon an observation I have made in the process of teaching guitar.
Recently I was approached about guitar lessons for a 7 year old boy who was very excited to start learning guitar. At first I was apprehensive because it is quite challenging to teach a 7 year old how to play guitar, and in my 3 years of being a guitar teacher in Brighton, I had only done it once before. Children can often be very shy at this age and it can be hard to communicate with them enough for them to effectively learn the right amount each lesson.
At the end of the first lesson I was really impressed with how well he did. His father asked me about the amount of time the lessons should be for a boy of his age, and I told him that 30 minuites should be perfect. When I next arrived, his father wanted to know if I would be happy to teach him what I had taught his son, so we started to do back-to- back lessons where his son would do the first 30 minutes one-to-one with me, then his father would do 30 minutes one-to-one with me. The result the following week was amazing! His Dad had been having so much fun practicing guitar, and was able to spend time with his son practicing together and showing his son how to do anything he was not quite able to grasp on his own.
I think part of why this approach works so well is that a parent understands their child better than you could ever understand them. If you can all share the knowledge, then the parent can communicate and relate to their child in a way which motivates them best.
It was the first time I had ever done this type of approach to teaching guitar, but it has really stuck with me as a great way to get parents and their children to bond doing something they both think is fun, exciting and educational.
In time, I hope to set up a group in Brighton for parents to learn guitar with their children, meet other parents who are also taking part in this activity and eventually to run an evening class where all the parents and children can perform.
So if you are a parent considering learning guitar yourself, or a guitar tutor looking for inspiration, then I hope this slightly different approach to teaching guitar has inspired you. Lets keep guitar fun!
Hi, just read this little article about teaching dad and son together. I have been teaching a dad and son together now for about 5-6 months. I am finding it very challenging because the kid (who is 8) does not really seem motivated to practice and because they don’t live together the dad isn’t around much to practice with him. I find that we have not made much progress in terms of finding things they can play together. The whole reason the dad signed up for lessons was in order to “bond” with his kid, but the dad is progressing on his own, more or less, and I spend the lesson time trying to get the kid to play simple melodies or chords . I just need some ideas on what to give them to play together – easy tab duets or something.