My 10 year old wants to play

[peetey]

Any sugestions on some really easy songs for him to start with?

Whenever he has a hard time sleeping I let him come down to the basement and hang out as I practise. One night I was working on "Wouldn't want to be like you" by Alan Parsons Project and I said to him, listen to intro. Dum dum dum...dum dum dum...dum dum dum. So I sat him to my right and he played the line with just his right hand, I would fret the strings, as I counted it out. His timing and rythm blew me away. This was the first time he ever touched a bass. So then we moved on to the rest of the song. I simplified it to basically playing quater notes on the root using the A and E string. So I would count it out and call the changes as he was played. It only took a couple of takes for him to get a good grasp of the rythm while changing strings. Again it blew me away so I called my wife to come downstairs and we put on a little show.

I just happen to have a Samik Corsair Mini (26") Greg Bennett. But I don't know if I can take my paws off of the thing! What a blast to play. And it sounds good too.

[ALiP BoB]

Green Day!

[peetey]

I was also thinking something like ZZ Top. Their music has a lot of straight 4/4 quarter notes on the root. Basically two or three cords. Simple enough, I think?

Yes he like's Green Day, Eminem, and all the heavy rock/metal stuff he hears on the wrestling channel. But he also likes "The oldies". He got an MP3 player for his birthday so I downloaded my complete music collection. Later did I realize that Frank Zappa's song F*** Yourself was on it!

[MPQW11]

Nirvana

[DocBop]

Blues is a great way to get someone started playing. It is simple so they can play along with CD real fast. It help developed a feel for time and chords changing in time. Many simple bass lines that are the hooks to the songs so they feel they are playing a song not just some exercise. Also helps the ear start hear I, IV, V changes. Helps get them into concepts of Feel and Groove. Blues can teach a lot of basic and they start having fun playing quickly creating a feel of confidence. Once they can play Blues well then any other style will come easy.

[dvs20]

george thorogood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[peetey]

AC DC just came to mind.

Any of you TB'ers out there have kids starting out? What are they learning to play?

Thanks for the help.

[Rattman]

Whoa! Thats WAY better than the original 10 year-old bassist: Danny Bonaduce, who had to be TOLD not to "strum a bass" by his band leader David Cassidy. Your kid obviously has a lot of potential without the Hollywood hype... way to go!

[IAmTheDood]

+1 on blues.

also ZZTop was pretty simple for me when I first started. I've been playing for about 6 months now. ZZTop LaGrange was one of the first songs I learned.

Cream - Sunshine of your Love was another.

[peetey]

Originally Posted by Rattman

Whoa! Thats WAY better than the original 10 year-old bassist: Danny Bonaduce, who had to be TOLD not to "strum a bass" by his band leader David Cassidy. Your kid obviously has a lot of potential without the Hollywood hype... way to go!

Now that you mention it, he kinda looks a little like a young Danny Partridge. Thick red mop and the freckles too. True.

[Andy V.]

I'd show him my cds and find out which styles he likes the most.
Then, with that in mind, I'd try to find some easy stuff in that genre.

Playing something you don't like is frustrating.

[Vandelay]

A few simple ones:
"Gloria" by Van Morrison
"Yellow" by Coldplay
"With or Without You" or "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2
"Creep" by Radiohead (the "clean" version, obviously)

By the way, I got my son a junior-sized electric guitar (an Ibanez Mikro) for his 10th birthday a couple of weeks ago:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--IBAGRGM21
We're having fun with it, it's really well-made.

[peetey]

Thanks for all the musical suggestions, a lot to choose from.

I was wondering if I can ask another question?

I don't want him to lose interest so I was wondering, should I just let him bang away for now, learn some songs, have fun, and save the music theory, fingering positions and technique for later?

[tkarter]

You might try teaching him Chord Triads and some fun playing some blues by using them. He can feel like he is playing a song and spend hours improving.

imho

tk

[Fontaine]

well just keep him out of mainstream and he'll be fine

[middy]

I would encourage him to keep learning theory and technique by hinting at the musical doors it will open for him, but don't discourage him from just banging around.

[peetey]

He tells me that he thinks it would be the coolest thing to play in a band with his buddies, at a high school variety/talent show.