yungsters and bass

[KRYPLRbass]

Hello friends, My son just turned 7. He is really in to music. I bought him a jr size acustic 6 string guitar cause he wanted to learn to play and who better to teach than his musician father. But he only touched the thing a couple of time. I know that if he is just not in to it he ain't pursue it. But should I try and find a jr size bass to see if that make spark more intrest. Thoughts?

[Muzoid]

You can try....

Best advice for any child is start them on a bit of Piano, but that's your call. 7 is a great age for it...my daughter is also 7 and loves the piano, as well loves her 'full size' electric bass

Jay Turser makes nice mini-basses, you could give that a whirl.

[baba]

The physical act of fretting a note makes the guitar difficult instrument for a youngster. I've watched several <8 year old kids try to learn guitar and they lose interest quick. There is no immediate satisfaction of hearing a clear ringing note, much less a lick or line or song.

The piano is the polar opposite. If I hit a key and my 5 year old hits a key it sounds the SAME. No practice involved making the sound. With that out of the way they can immediately start learning music.

Get him a keyboard or piano.

[JoZac21]

I started on guitar when I was 7... started bass when I was 11... part of me wishes I would have learned piano, but what I actually asked for initially was a sax...

I think the best advise is to talk to him... find out if he actually wants to play music at all, or if there's an instrument he really wants to play, and has no interest in the guitar. I asked for a sax and my parents bought me a guitar. Why? Because that's what they wanted me to play... they just happened to luck out in that I was in love with music, and would have practiced the kazoo for 6 hours a day if that was what they got me.

Talk to him. Found out what he wants. Maybe he has no interest in playing an instrument... and I'll admit, if I were a father and my child had no interest in music, it would be agony... but I'd have to just except that. Maybe he just has an eye on a different instrument... just hope it isn't the drums .

[JTE]

I taught guitar and bass full-time from '77-'88, and still do on occasion. I'd never start any one younger than 9 or 10 on guitar or bass. The tips of the fingers are still growing, there's a lot of possibilities for hurting the arms, hands, tendons, etc, and even a small guitar is generally going to be difficult for them to physically master. My suggestion is get a baritone ukelele, tune it like the first four strings of a guitar (D G B E) and show them a few one-finger chords that way. And let them play with it. If they're interested they'll ask for more, if they're not, let it go.

And if you (and they) are seriously wanting to learn to play any instrument, getting some rudimentary keyboard lessons will be more useful than trying to teach them bass and/or guitar yourself. It'll make learning any other instrument later a lot easier and makes theory much more visible and accessible too.

John

[baba]

I agree with the post above about talking to him to see what HE wants to play first. Despite the piano being an easier intro to music, here's my history of music:

2nd grade class had the music teacher stop by and see who wanted to sign up for what (if any) instrument. I wanted to sign up for guitar. I was told no guitar, but viola was close. I signed up, hated it, and quit. It wasn't until I was 14(!) that I finally got a guitar (or any instrument) in my hand and went crazy learning it. I really regret not having the opportunity to start an instrument I was destined for in 2nd grade instead of at 14 years old.

[Stumbo]

I suggest looking into some age appropriate local music education classes put on by the city or other organizations (YMCA).

Fun for the kids and allows the parents to work with the kids.

IMO, getting the kids to sing is probably most important. Whatever instrument they pickup later will be enhanced by having vocal ability.

[Against Will]

I took piano lessons when I was 8 and ending when I was about 11 or so and while I didn't always like going to lessons, I liked learning songs and being able to play them. It also gave me a grounding in musical theory, not much, but the idea of fifths, thirds, octaves, keys, etc. were familiar ideas.

Around 12, I wanted to learn how to play guitar, I had a lot of trouble with it because my hands were still pretty small and I was learning on my dad's old spanish guitar. I got frustrated and quit and didn't pick up another instrument (except trumpet, which I hated) until bass when I was 16. And I didn't even try guitar again until about a year ago (I'm 26 now, so 14years since I last tried to learn).

If it were my kid, I would start them out on piano, its not glamorous but its easy and can still be fun.

[fdeck]

Piano and violin have the advantages of trained teachers, a repertoire that's designed for teaching, and (in the case of violin), kid sized instruments. I took cello lessons as a kid, and it prepared me to pick up electric bass by myself in middle school.

Just my observation: Younger kids like melodies, and they seem to like classical music. It might be harder for a kid to "get" an instrument that is mainly about accompaniment and supporting a band.

I suppose one idea for electric bass would be to check out the Suzuki method books for the upright bass. After all, I learned electric bass by working through my cello books.

[chaseman]

I think the violin or piano is a good starting place. I'm 16, but I started the violin when I was 7, before picking up the viola age 9. My sister played the piano from age 8, and we both enjoyed singing. I certainly agree that learning instruments like guitar or bass are better done a bit later on. I still play the viola alongside my bass, and it got me into the theory side of the bass more than I expected. (Learning the violin is also quite handy for playing fretless bass.)