Kid Guitars
Posts Tagged ‘guitar’
We just got done buying our daughter Carrie a new beginner acoustic guitar as I mentioned in an earlier post when our older son mentioned that he had worn out his bass guitar and needed a new one. It seems like we have spent quite a lot of money on him. When he was Carrie’s age we did spend time looking at some really fun electric guitars for children. We started him on a giraffe shaped kids electric guitar at the age of six but my how the times have changed!
Because we just bought Carrie a new childrens acoustic guitar our older son will just have to wait and so will his aspirations of playing in the big time! After all he can still use the guitar he has right now. I think it is important as parents to not reinforce the idea to our children that life will serve their every need on a silver platter. I want to please my kids but there have to be boundaries too. Stay tuned for the next chapter!
Last month we bought our son a kids electric guitar. He couldn’t be happier than a pig in mud! As I mentioned in an earlier post, all of our children love music and do play instruments, our daughter plays the piano and the flute and our older son plays the drums but now says that he too wants to play guitar but not electric guitar. He wants to play acoustic guitar like his buddy Tad. So I guess now we will go guitar shopping yet again.
I think we will look at some discount acoustic guitars as I saw some online and they seem to be quite affordable and very good quality. Our oldest son has been a really good student and will be graduating high school this year. He will be going off to college next year and we want to reward him. He and Tad hope to go to the same local college and play amateur guitar together in a trio with another friend of their’s. I know this will make our son so happy and he will learn to play guitar quickly as he appears to really have some musical ability. This is really very exciting for the whole family!
It is sometimes quite fascinating to look at how sound is created and maintained in a guitar. In a plugged-in electric guitar instrument, sound is created when the strings are strummed or plucked and the vibration from the movement is picked up by a magnetic device called the pick-up. The sound is amplified with the use of an amplifier which is connected to the guitar via a guitar cable. Electric guitars have two or three pick-ups that come with a pick-up switch that can be controlled to determine which pickup is active and many discount electric guitars are purchased today for the eager beginner. The sound can be further manipulated and modified by turning the volume and tone dials (or knobs) of the guitar, the tuning knobs, as well as knobs of the amplifier. Most electric guitars have three knobs or dials for controlling the volume, treble and bass tones which are produced by the built-in electronics of the guitar
Basically, a pickup is made of a long copper wire that is wound or coiled around one or more magnets. When electricity passes through the copper wire, the magnet/s in the middle of the coil detects the movement or vibrations of the metal strings. Electrical impulses travel through the wire inside the pickup due to these vibrations, and when attached to the amplifier, the impulses create the sound heard from the amplifier. Today, modern single coil pickups produce less noise than their early counterparts. The tremolo bar allows the player to quickly and easily alter the pitch of the strings, lowering or making the sound higher as the strings are being played. It is usually placed just below the saddle of the guitar. The tuners are found at the headstock of the guitar and are used to tighten and loosen the strings. The standard tuning for electric guitar is EBGDAE but other types of tuning such as Drop-D are used depending on the preference of the guitarist and the kind of music played.
My daughter has been wanting to play the drums like her older brother and sneaks in his room to play them any chance she gets. This of course doesn’t always meet with approval from her brother. Our daughter says that we have to get her a drum set like her brother’s for her upcoming sixth birthday. I think we will get her some childrens drums instead of an adult sized drum set. I know this will make someone very happy as she has a birthday coming up on the 12th of April.
Her very gracious brother may even be willing to give his sister a few pointers. I think we can get some children’s DVD’s to help with some instruction. When I was my daughter’s age I fell in love with the guitar and have pretty much been playing both acoustic and electric guitar ever since so I do understand her passion! I am looking forward to April 12th just as much as she is!
My kids just LOVE their aunt Betty who has spoiled them rotten ever since they were babies. Aunt Betty spoiled me too but her doting has increased incrementally since I was a little girl. This makes me happy but I just hope that they don’t develop any sort of sense of self entitlement. Aunt Betty knows that our middle son Adam has a birthday coming up next month. Adam of course was not a bit shy to inform his beloved aunt Betty that he wants a really cool electric guitar for his birthday just like his friend Eddie has! Aunt Betty is more than pleased to do this but doesn’t have a clue where to get this guitar.
My husband says that because Adam is only eight we really need to get him a childrens guitar. My husband says that he has been spending his lunch breaks researching childrens guitars online. He says that he has bookmarked some sites for me to look at and will order one that Aunt Betty can get for Adam’s birthday. I think Adam will be really pleased, (especially since the guitar will have come from Aunt Betty). I must admit that it is quite fun to live vicariously through my children!
I have never seen a kid more happy in my life to receive a guitar as a gift. We got him a kids electric guitar for his birthday last month after months of cajoling from him claiming that this would be the perfect gift. We had given him the good news last month that we would get him an electric guitar for his birthday and told him that he could help pick it out. I must admit that it was fun looking at all the different kinds of kids electric guitars. Very surprisingly we found one that we all agreed on and that doesn’t usually happen!
So now he plays and plays and plays. I am glad about this except that the noise can be a bit much at times. We just recently got a ¾ guitar case so we can protect this precious guitar. There also seem to be quite an array of guitar cases for kids. We are glad to see our son so happy and know that he will feel even more a part of the family as his brother plays the drums and his sister plays the piano and the flute. Who knows, maybe we will even start our own family band!
All my kids love music. My son plays bass guitar and has grand illusions of playing in the big time with a few of his buddies. We want to encourage him to follow his dreams as long as he keeps up with his studies and keeps the rest of his life in perspective. Our daughter sings in the choir and seems to really enjoy playing the clarinet. Now our little seven year old daughter says she wants to play guitar. My husband thinks it would be good to start our daughter Carrie on a beginner acoustic guitar.
So now we begin the search for beginner acoustic guitars. We do have some time however to look because Carrie’s birthday isn’t until April. I think Carrie will be very pleased. I know she wants to follow in the family tradition. She will join the Children’s Choir at church next year and now she can add guitar to her repertoire. She will also be so excited to “jam’ with her older brother who she very much looks up to. Happy Birthday Carrie!
The Importance Of Learning Proper Strumming Techniques
There are many beginner electric guitars available today for the eager musician. However many beginner guitarists are overly enthusiastic and don’t take time to learn proper technique making it harder to correct later on in their career. It is extremely important to acquire good strumming habits. For instance, a lot of beginners will strum every single string of a chord with every stroke. Doing this for an entire song can become quite bland, particularly if the guitar is one of the focal instruments in the song. Quite often many guitarists try to replace the rhythmic ideas with a basic strumming pattern. Even in strumming-oriented songs, the up and down strokes may have nothing to do with rhythm, but merely effect. Being able to switch between up and down strums seamlessly, in rhythm, regardless of the pattern should be a goal to focus on. Using strumming patterns as a substitute for learning proper rhythm is something that can potentially end up becoming a huge problem when songs with more complex or unusual timing comes up.
Learning to control strokes to the point of hitting only a couple of strings each time and swapping between the bass and treble strings can be much more interesting to listen to in many cases. That is not to say hitting every string is bad, but it is something to do sparingly. This creates a dynamic to the song that makes hitting all the strings in the chord a very noticeable thing that draws the listeners attention, rather than base line of the song. Learning to play amateur guitar can be a fun important especially if you learn proper technique from the start.
Letting Your Child Experience The Joy Of Guitar Playing!
If your child expresses an interest in learning to play guitar and asks for lessons than chances are they will follow through and will want to practice what they learn. Age is not always the absolute deciding factor to determine a person’s interest in wanting to learn. A lot of parents are the ones deciding upon lessons. So, if your child is the one who has the interest, that’s a good start. Most children under the age of six don’t yet have the aptitude necessary to learn to play childrens guitar. There can always be exceptions but not usually. You can spend some time with your child yourself and call it music appreciation. Dance and play with them to music. They will develop coordination and appreciation for music. And one added benefit, they get to spend time with you. Today there are many different types of kids guitars available. You can even by amplifiers and guitar cases for kids for the complete package.
If you need to have your child supervised and you want it to be on the theme of music, guitar lessons might be a choice you want to make. If you want your child to just have some fun and do something interesting, you may well feel that it is worth the investment. If you are looking at seriously getting a head start on your child’s musical development getting them to learn proper technique from the start may be essential.
My five year old wants to be a rocker in the worst way! It all started several months ago when she spent time with her aunt and uncle while my wife and I were away on a business trip. Alana just loves her older cousin Jake who is a bass guitarist in a local band. Her aunt, my sister says that Alana followed him around and finally Jake relented allowing his young cousin to play his “precious” guitar while he supervised making sure she didn’t touch something she wasn’t supposed to. That did it, Alana was sold. She says that all she wants for her sixth birthday is a new electric guitar, “Ok no problem” I told her.
As a former musician myself I understand the allure playing an instrument can have at a young age. I played drums for years in a very popular band in our area and am still very close with some of my old bandmates today. I think that it would be totally cute to get Alana a childrens electric guitar for her sixth birthday. I think I can convince my wife that this would be a good plan. I think it’s great and I know I will have a very happy daughter on my hands quite soon!