Is your child old enough for guitar lessons?

Kids who show a strong interest in music can sometimes begin as early as the age of 4.  By age 8, most are ready.  Children benefit greatly from the input of a teacher to maintain progress.  Without guidance and structure, few children make real progress at learning an instrument.  Even the most hard-working and amazing children rely on the support of their parents and teachers to be able to practice consistently.

Before you enroll your child in guitar lessons, you need to be able to answer a few questions.

Is my child ready?

You know your child better than anyone.  Will he or she stick to practicing the instrument or resist you?  Is the child’s interest in music strong, shallow, or not there at all?

Am I ready?

Even the most gifted child musicians in history did not generally have much of their own motivation.  Abstract thinking skills take time to develop.  These include goal setting, honoring commitments, and being able to practice even when one is not really in the mood.  While some children do show more motivation than others, the common thread is that all of them seem to need help sustaining it.  For your child to succeed in music, you need to be ready.  That means giving structure and sometimes authority, but not excessively.

Enforce practice

Before you commit to enroll your child in lessons or buy an instrument, you need to get their commitment to practice daily.  Then it becomes your responsibility to enforce the commitment.  When you enforce the rule of practice, you are helping a child to honor their commitment.  And one of the most valuable skills learned in the study of music is the importance of thinking long-term and honoring commitments.

How will this benefit my child?

Learning music is by far one of the most productive activities for the developing mind.  You should also ask yourself what benefit you expect it to have.  Do you hope this will teach your child self-discipline, or make friends, or earn scholarships to college?  You owe it to your child to have realistic and fair expectations.

Is this for you or them?

Do you believe music lessons will benefit your child’s development, or do you hope to fulfill your own dreams or missed opportunities by using your child as a proxy?  As your child matures, he or she will inherit not only the benefit of your support, but also the expectations and hopes you may unknowingly project.  You owe it to them to provide them with the support and patience to learn new talents, but we should spare them from our own hopes and expectations.

How much time should they spend practicing?

Daily consistency is better than infrequent but long practice sessions.  It is the habit of practicing daily that promises results over time and builds our character.  Just remember that every child is different, and expectations vary too.

With the right guitar lessons and encouragement your child will learn guitar easily.  Just remember, forcing your child to do something they don’t want to can not only lead to bad playing and infrequent practice, but it can also lead to resentment.

If your child is ready to learn the guitar, call the David Joel Guitar Studio today and get started!

Phone: (215) 831-8640

Email: