4 Ways to Make Guitar Practice Easy and Satisfying for Your Child
1. Put their guitar in the main living room or kitchen
You will dramatically increase your child’s chance of playing their songs at home if you reduce the amount of mental friction associated with picking up the guitar to play. What do I mean by this? Well, you want to make it SO EASY for your child to pick up the guitar and start playing immediately. If you keep your child’s guitar tucked away in their closet, wrapped up in their guitar bag, there are a heap of steps involved with getting out their guitar and playing it.
What I recommend is that you buy a cheap Guitar Stand for $20-$30 at Vivace Music put your child’s guitar on it, and situate it smack bang in the middle of the main living area or near the kitchen.
The guitar needs to be somewhere in which your child will see it multiple times a day and can pick it up and start playing within 15 seconds. Also, by putting the guitar in the living room where your family gathers, it will start to build that mental connection that they can use a guitar to connect with their friends and family.
Here are some extra tips on how to make playing guitar super easy for your child:
Make sure the guitar has the clip-on tuner attached to the headstock so they don’t have to go looking for their tuner if they want to tune up their guitar. If you or your child is unsure of how to tune up their guitar, check out this ‘How to Easily Tune Your Guitar’ article
Make sure there is a guitar pick on the guitar or they have a guitar pick holder attached to the guitar that is full of picks
Have a comfortable chair available. The best guitar-playing chairs don’t have armrests and are flat and stable (ideally no couches or desk chairs that recline)
Use a music stand to hold your child’s guitar sheet music at eye level
2. Do not put a lot of pressure on your child to practice guitar at home
It may seem counter-intuitive but it is very important that you don’t push your child too hard to practice at home.
Think back to when you were a child. Most parents that I speak to have had piano, guitar, or violin lessons in the past. They were forced to take lessons by their parents and were scolded if they didn’t practice ‘Ode To Joy’ 5 million times to a metronome. And in most cases, this resulted in a strong dislike for learning music and they concluded that music simply wasn’t for them. It really is such a shame that people were taught this way as it stopped a lot of young people to develop the timeless skill of playing a musical instrument and enjoying using that skill for the rest of their lives. This approach was wrong because it led to many people developing a negative connection with music.
It is super important that especially in the initial stages of guitar learning where students haven’t made a lot of progress yet, we encourage kids when they do play and let them develop a positive connection with music. Eventually, your child will see how much progress they’re making due to our special Guitar Method Book checklist and guitar strap system and they will want to play even more. We have now created a positive connection with music and they are more likely to keep playing for years to come.
3. Read the Level Up Guitar Lesson Notes after each lesson
After each guitar lesson, we send out an overview of what we covered in their guitar lesson. In this WhatsApp message, we also include simple actionable steps on what your child can play through during the week to get the most out of their lessons. One of the biggest barriers that we face when getting kids to play through their songs is that they don’t know how or what to practice. Firstly, at Level Up Guitar School, we teach your child how to practice while also giving them exact songs or exercises that they should play through during the week to ensure that they’re making consistent progress and having fun while they do it! So read the Lesson Notes and simply relay the specific notes to your child. They’ll know what to do!
4. Attend guitar lessons at Level Up Guitar School!
Sorry about the shameless plug but in our opinion, we do make learning guitar really fun for our students! Students learn guitar skills in an engaging, safe, and positive environment where they can make friends and build confidence. In addition to our regular Level Up Guitar lessons where students learn practical guitar skills in a super fun way, we also offer special classes and creative workshops for students to experiment and collaborate musically. Our main aim is to develop your child into a lifelong guitar player that uses music to connect with family, friends, and themselves for many years to come. If you want your child to develop a creative hobby that they can feel proud of, you can book a free trial guitar lesson here.
About the Author
Meet Alex Stroud, a popular guitar teacher based in Springwood, QLD. Known for his unique approach to teaching guitar, Alex is passionate about teaching kids & teens in a fun and engaging way using the power of competition and gamification in a safe and positive environment.