Guitar or Piano Lesson?

Hello, D.-
It's great to hear that your son is interested in music lessons! I have several ideas for you to think about.

First of all, if this is your son's first experience with music lessons, you may want to lean toward encouraging guitar if that is what he is most interested in. Sometimes when children are asked to playing an instrument that they aren't excited about, it can become a difficult experience for the whole family. Even worse, one early bad experience may lead to discouragement and leave a bad impression of music in general. This is definitely a worst-case scenario, but it is something I've seen happen to some children.

I have recently begun teaching myself to play the guitar, so I am familiar with the tender fingertips that turn to callused skin after playing for a while. He should not develop blisters, however. The type of guitar and strings used will make a difference, and you can consult a more experienced guitarist at a place like Music Makers, Heart of Texas Music, or Strait Music to make the best choice. The key will also be to ease into playing by limiting his practice time at the beginning. When I first started, I kept my practices short --stopping when my fingers began to hurt...about 5 minutes at the beginning! As I continued to practice, my calluses developed and my playing time has increased. I have found that it helps to practice a little each day-not only to improve my skills, but to keep my fingers tough. If too much time passes, they become more tender. If your son is really excited about guitar, he will not be bothered by the sore fingers and calluses--they are something he can show off! - A right of passage to being a guitarist!

Finally, all this said, I think piano is a wonderful beginning instrument. Basic music theory, note systems, etc. are based on the keyboard instrument. The knowledge acquired from playing piano is transferrable and makes learning to play other instruments easier. The piano, however, is slightly less portable than a guitar. :-)

I hope this has been helpful! I didn't intend for my response to be so long!

Best Regards as you begin this adventure!

How wonderful he is interested in music -- children who are involved in music do so much better with math in school. I would recommend starting him on piano -- my boys both started piano at 5/6 years - we did Suzuki and loved it. It gave them a wonderful foundation in memorization, reading music, theory and then they picked up other instruments so easily. They collectively can play the trombone, trumpet, tuba, and guitars and drums. They love sitting at the piano even now and relax playing --they are now 23 and 26. If a child is determined and has a desire to accomplish something - I don't think sore fingers will stop them. but if they know beforehand that it will be only temporary until they build up calluses then they can persevere past that. But definitely piano if you can.

My husband teaches both piano and guitar (as well as drums) to beginning and intermediate students. He's at Austin Strings Academy on 183 near Anderson Mill Road on Mondays. If you'd like to contact him, you can email him at ____@____.com'd be happy to talk to you about your little one, and give you knowledgable advice on both instruments.

Hi D.,
I to have a son who loves music and wanted to take Gutiar lessons. So we researched and found a great teacher who was really hard to get into but was willing to take him. Most Gutair teachers that we found didn't take kids until they were age 10. We soon found out why. Our son's arms would get tired and he couldn't reach the strings to play the notes. He got very discouraged and gave up to where it began to become a fight to get him to practice and then the teacher became frustrated with him. It turned into a bad cycle. He did learn a few notes and likes to play jingle bells. But we took him out and decided that when he's 10 if he's still interested we will put him in. I took piano as a kid for 8 years and I was able to read the notes to teach him a few notes myself. I think if he's willing to take piano I would put him in that for a while to learn the notes and when he gets a little older switch him to gutair. Piano is the foundation of most music so it's a great one to learn and then transfer to another instrument that he really likes. I taught my boys the star wars theme song on piano and now they think it's pretty cool.
Good luck I too think music is so important and helps kids so much.