Learning to play the Guitar

Jack wants to learn to play the Guitar- he is 11 next week (the only relevance really is that he wants a Guitar for his birthday ) and although he has had the opportunity to learn at school, is only now showing an interest. When he starts his new school in Sept, i'm sure he could learn there but if i can find somebody local before, then we'll go for that.

So , what i really want to know about is Guitars! I learnt a few instruments when i was younger and can read music but didn't learn the guitar- (although made it a new years resolution to learn). Will he need a certain size, what would be suitable? What about makes, how to tune it, everything really!

Any advice very much appreciated

Kieran got one for Christmas, we just bought a guitar, well my sister got it for us, you can get an ok one in Symths for around £30
He to can learn at school but not until next year, I have just heard of some where that does lessons for free now though x

At his age he would probably need a 3/4 size.

I would suggest learning on an accoustic - something like this would be great:
http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Ba ... atural/CDG

THe best thing to do would be go to a large independent music store and have him try some out, different ones have different weights and will fit in the arms differently. Tuning is something that will take a while to learn, at first I imagine he will need to get his teacher to do it, you can get various tools to help, but the best thing is a good ear.

[clothmama]

We just bought Josh a guitar, a 3/4 size one. Joel looked at reviews that said this particular one had good sound etc. He thinks that the 'toy' type are often no better than fire wood as they can be quite hard to play therefore have the potential to put kids off forever! Totally agree to go to a shop and try some out.

As far as lessons I'm not sure what to do either I can't really afford lessons at the moment and amazingly after wanting a guitar for the last 2 years now that he has one he has picked it up twice (in about a month!) . I'm hoping to find a teach yourself on the net to see how he gets on before forking out for lessons he may then not want to do. If anyone has seen / used anything like this please let me know!

J taught himself to play, I think at about 13 or so. I will ask him if there is a particularly good way of doing it. BIL is a music teacher, so will try and get some advice from him too.

I think the main thing they need is passion, and being able to learn the music they love rather than being told what to learn.

Thank all

As far as lessons I'm not sure what to do either I can't really afford lessons at the moment and amazingly after wanting a guitar for the last 2 years now that he has one he has picked it up twice (in about a month!) . I'm hoping to find a teach yourself on the net to see how he gets on before forking out for lessons he may then not want to do. If anyone has seen / used anything like this please let me know!

I'm the same as this! I had thought about maybe booking a handful of lessons for when we get him a guitar, but not sure whether that is sensible as i'm not sure really that it is something we could afford long term. I had planned to teach myself via the internet but wasn't sure if that was the best idea for a 11 year old? I think i'd love to learn together!

J taught himself to play, I think at about 13 or so. I will ask him if there is a particularly good way of doing it. BIL is a music teacher, so will try and get some advice from him too.

I think the main thing they need is passion, and being able to learn the music they love rather than being told what to learn.

Would be good to know the answer to this

Google Funky Punk, they are local to us, specialise in teaching children. Dan is lovely & has a few guitars he could let your lad use to begin with.

I must restart my lessons, I just struggle with finding time!

Definitely go for a 3/4 acoustic and not a cheap children's guitar - you get what you pay for, as the cheap ones sound tinny and totally rubbish. He needs to just keep playing around with it and getting a 'feel' for it. Like anything, he really needs to want to learn or it'll become a chore.

Google Funky Punk, they are local to us, specialise in teaching children. Dan is lovely & has a few guitars he could let your lad use to begin with.

I must restart my lessons, I just struggle with finding time!

Thanks for that- is really helpful to get a local recommendation