Music For Kiddos Podcast
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Did you know that guitar is the instrument that is most requested to learn by kids? It probably comes to no surprise to you if you are a music therapist or music educator who teaches adaptive music lessons. The guitar is versatile, fun, and kids cannot wait to play and accompany themselves signing their favorite songs, that is, if we are successful in teaching them how to play the guitar.
The problem is that there is no consistent, child-centered guitar method out there that helps kids go from 0 to playing the chords of their favorite songs in a fun, developmentally appropriate manner.
I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend Jenna Hardy Pedersen, who is an experienced educator and guitar teacher, on the Music For Kiddos Podcast to talk about some of her tips to successfully teach kids the guitar. We also talk about our newest professional development course and success-based guitar curriculum for kids called Guitar For Kids.
During our conversation, Jenna tells us a little bit about her why of creating Guitar For Kids and said “I would look for different approaches for teaching the guitar and I never found anything. I could pick all of these different piano methods off of a music store shelf and chances are, they were pretty incredible… So many different options and it just, there's no such thing for guitar, which is just shocking.”
Two tips for teaching kids the guitar:
Have children start learning the guitar using a 3/4 or 1/2 size classical guitar.
Teach them chords right from the beginning. That way, the kids are actually playing sounds from the songs they're used to hearing on the radio as opposed to focusing only on reading notes and playing just one pitch at a time.
But how do we teach kids chords when their hands might be too little? Start with mini chords that use the first three or four strings of the guitar. They’ll be playing songs just like they hear on the radio when they start.
Jenna share more of her tips on how to teach kids the guitar on episode 19 of the Music For Kiddos Podcast. Tune in to learn some developmentally appropriate strategies and to hear more about our curriculum, Guitar For Kids!
Curious about Guitar For Kids? Here’s a little preview of what you’'ll find inside the curriculum and course!
We have partnered with West Music to offer free shipping on orders above $59.95 to Music For Kiddos Podcast’s listeners. Check out their incredible instruments and their incredible offerings at WestMusic.com or you can place your order at their customer service hotline at (800) 397-9378.
The code for free shipping is KIDDOS24. Make sure to check them out!
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