Can a 4 year old child learn guitar is a question that continues to be asked by many parents. According to professional guitar players and enthusiasts, the answer is an absolute yes. In fact, some of the best guitar enthusiasts in the world started practicing at young ages. From children and teens to adults and seniors, anyone can learn to play guitar if it piques their interest.
How do you teach a child to play guitar?
While it may take years to master this popular instrument and play guitar, it all comes down to proper guidance and patience. There are guitar teachers that are self-taught but many have also studied professionally under the tutelage of music professors and leading musicians. A 4-year-old can be the next musical prodigy if he or she learns how to play guitar chords properly and have the proper guitar lessons. The child can also learn from books that demonstrate guitar techniques and the correct ways to create compositions and songs – but this only applies for older kids that are past the reading age. Most kids at that age have picturesque memories so it’s easier for them to process and retain vital information.
Get The Proper Guitar
It is important to get your child a child-sized guitar, which is easier to manage and hold during learning sessions. The child can learn new music but also practice on his or her own as needed. The goal is to let the youngster illuminate his or her musical horizons by letting their creativity and ingenuity flow. With so much going on in the world today, music remains the universal language that connects people of all ages across the world. Learning the guitar at age 4 may propel your child to pursue a career in music by taking classes or going to a music school as they get older. Take a look here for some excellent kids acoustic guitar selections.
Hand Size Matters
The size of the hand has a role to play too. Since a kid’s paws are highly likely to be smaller than a fully grown adult, you can imagine how difficult it could be for the kid to reach the neck of a guitar and stretch into the chords. In fact, even adults at times complain about the difficulty that there is to playing guitar chords. Young kids, therefore, have pretty much no chance.
Even though there are small-size guitars for kids, these guitars only have a smaller footprint overall. In other words, their sound holes or the bridge/saddle may not be mini enough and could still pose a challenge to the tiny, soft hands of your kid.
Guitar Teachers and Kids
While there are guitar teachers offering toddlers guitar lessons, the question is do these lessons truly have a positive influence on the kid’s learning progression. In other words, does the kid get a head-start when it comes to playing guitar? The answer is not really.
*Read more – Where to take guitar lessons – guitar lessons online vs. in person.
The minimum age kids should be to start learning guitar varies with the teacher and also the expectations of the child’s parents. The younger the kid, the more difficulties the teacher would have to overcome.
Teaching a four-year-old is unlike teaching a six-year-old. The differences there exists between the two in relation to their fine motor skills and brain development are major. Those additional two years provide kids a lot more control over a music instrument, particularly the guitar. This additional control leads to increased progress during lessons and it also means less frustration.
Even if the guitar instructor teaching a six-year-old is average-quality, the results would still be fairly decent. The kid would be able to pick up certain things during the learning and will have some level of self-motivation to learn and practice. With a four-year-old kid, however, the average-quality instructor would likely fail since the kid would be heavily relying on the skills and knowledge of the teacher.
For kids that are three or even four years or younger, there is no doubt guitar lessons do not have any impact on their future development. A kid that learns to play the guitar at age three would not have an upper hand over a kid that starts to learn at age 6 or later. Similar to kids learning to draw at a very young age, early guitar lessons have pretty much no impact on future learning.
If you are planning to give your young kid guitar lessons, you must acknowledge the fact that most guitar teachers do not possess the necessary knowledge and skills needed to offer quality lessons. They usually overestimate their teaching skills. Therefore, even if you come across a guitar teacher who claims to be good with young kids, keep your expectations low.
Exposing Young Kids to Music
Instead of making your kid sit through guitar lessons, there are other things you could do to increase your child’s exposure to music and help develop their musical curiosity in general. You could, for instance, get your young kid started with a toy guitar. This would help the child get accustomed to the idea or the shape and form of a guitar so that the transition to the real thing becomes easier when your kid is old enough. You can also expose your kid to music in general.
Some Guitar Teacher Techniques For Young Children
According to some leading guitar teachers, they have taught children the essentials of guitar playing and guitar l in several ways. These include hands-on training and tuition, along with books, instructional videos, and practices to create their own original compositions and scores. While some folks might think that kids at age 4 are too young to learn guitar, this could not be farther from the truth. Today’s children tend to learn fast with all the stimuli they are surrounded by daily. This includes social media, along with educational apps designed specifically for kids that want to learn about music, history, puzzles, games, and much more.
Teachers also recommend ukuleles for kids as starting instruments. These instruments are similar to guitars in terms of strings and chords. The piano is also similar to a guitar in note and composition learning. Therefore, if your child is already learning another instrument and wants to learn guitar too — the transition might be easier for him or her. When can a child learn to play guitar? There are even guitar and music camps year-round for young kids that want to learn instruments and enhance their playing skills by learning from teachers and seasoned players.
Guitar Camps For Kids
Guitar camps feature professional guitar instructors that teach kids how to play instruments. No matter the playing level of the child, he or she will learn the guitar basics and how to tune and play these instruments. They also learn how to play as part of a band, orchestra, or on their own for personal compositions and performances. Most camps, however, are for kids ages 10-16 so it might be hard to find one for a four-year-old. This is why private tuition in your home is a great place for kids to learn the same guitar chords and techniques being taught to older kids.
What is a good age to start learning guitar?
Can a 4 year old learn guitar is ultimately up to the parents? If their children show a great interest in music, parents should encourage them to receive formal training. So many kids that have learned music from qualified, certified instructors have moved on to play for school orchestras, bands, and even professionally. Many have also learned how to play banjos, violin, drums, percussion, keyboards, and so many stringed and non-stringed instruments.
There are even adults who want to learn to play the guitar but are not sure how. If your passion is learning guitar or another instrument, never let any obstacles hinder your dreams. Simply check the internet for local guitar teachers, musical schools, or even online courses and videos. This is a great way to visually learn the basics of guitar and how to tune, maintain, and even upgrade these popular instruments. Remember that practice is essential in getting better in any social or musical activity.