The ideal age for children to start learning the guitar is between 7 to 8 years as only then do children develop the required motor skills to learn strumming and form chords on the instrument.
When they are younger they do not have the physical maturity to play the guitar as they have smaller hands and chubbier fingers.
Benefits of Learning Guitar at an Early Age
Learning the guitar at an early age benefits your child in many ways.
It Makes Your Child More Disciplined
Learning to play the guitar is not as easy as it looks. It requires a lot of patience and discipline especially to learn finger placement when learning chords, fingerpicking with preciseness, to get the rhythm of strumming and master the coordination of using both your hands.
If you can get your kid to practice for only 20 minutes every day on the guitar, you will be teaching him or her valuable lessons in dedication, discipline and also time-management.
It Boosts Your Child’s Confidence
Guitar playing is a sought after skill and your child will feel more confident acquiring it. However, to play it well your child will need to practice it often. And the more he or she practices the instrument the more confident he or she will become at playing it. As children practice, they will also receive feedback, alter their style of playing accordingly and make improvements.
This confidence will not just be limited to guitar playing but will expand to other spheres of life too. Your child will take this confidence with him or her into learning another new instrument or perhaps a new sport.
It Encourages Your Child to Become More Creative
During initial guitar lessons your child will be taught the fundamentals of playing the guitar like the mechanics of the instrument, structure of the song and technical details of music. Once your child has mastered the guitar, he or she will be able to confidently write his or her own melodies, songs and chord progressions.
As he or she develops from being just a beginner to an accomplished guitarist, you will witness your child expand his or her repertoire as a player and maybe even becoming a songwriter, writing lyrics for songs they create.
It Develops an Appreciation of Music in Your Child
A vital part of playing the guitar is actually listening to music featuring the guitar. So when your child is learning a specific song, it is suggested by experts that he or she listens often to the original version of it in order to master the mechanics of how it is being played.
Moreover, since the guitar can be played in varied styles like strumming or fingerpicking, it is featured in different music genres. These range from jazz and classical to country, blues and rock. This exposure gives your child an appreciation of all kinds of music and not just improves their knowledge of music but also their understanding of it.
It Helps Your Child Become More Social
Although guitar playing is a solo activity, your child can grow his or her social skills using it to join the school band or even begin a rock group with friends.
It Enhances Your Child’s Academic Performance
Learning to play the guitar inculcates discipline and a routine in your child’s life. He or she can apply the same to their scholastic activities. Additionally, learning a musical instrument like the guitar has been scientifically proven to improve concentration and memory and also comprehension skills.
This is especially true for kids who have learnt to read sheet music and musical notes. Learning music can also improve your child’s maths skills as it enables children to think critically and develop problem-solving skills
It Improves Your Child’s Coordination and Multitasking Skills
In order to play the guitar, your child’s brain must work quickly and effectively. The reason being that he or she will have to use one hand to form chords on the fretboard; the other to strum the guitar strings; use their eyes and ears to read and listen to music and maybe even their voice to sing.
As a result of such practice sessions, kids not just improve their hand-eye coordination but also their multitasking skills.
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