Learning language and music starts early

I have been teaching and working with children and adults for over 23 years and must admit I have been fascinated with the whole process of how we learn and succeed at music. I have always taken a research approach to my teaching as I feel it is the best way to improve results based on facts rather than assumptions. I also actively seek out new research done by credible people in the area of education. The following Youtube video is an example. The video discusses how new borns learn language from day one (or even earlier). Although not mentioned in the video my research has shown that learning music works in much the same way. Music really is just a language. In the video the presenter talks about how our brains in the first year of life do not discriminate different spoken sounds but gradually employ filters that allow us only to hear the sounds of the language/s we hear around us. This explains why it becomes increasingly difficult as we age to learn new languages. I believe music is the same. If a child is exposed to people playing real musical instruments in the home they become more attuned to them and therefore are more adept at learning music. There are of course exceptions to this but not as many as one might think. Mozart and Tommy Emmanuel are both examples of musicians who had musical parents. Take a look at this video if you have time and especially if you plan on being a parent.

Keeping the Guitar Fun for Kids

Learning guitar can become challenging for children but if it all gets too serious they may lose interest. It is therefore important to put the fun back into learning by finding some songs that will spark them up. My suggestions are as follows;

Progressive Guitar Supplementary Songbook.
This book is graded for the first 3 levels of the Junior G4 GUITAR METHOD and contains many well know melodies. They not exactly recent tunes but most are familiar. You can purchase from our G4 GUITAR SHOP on line and we will post directly to you.

Pull out the CD collection.
Try to look through your collection of songs and play them to your children to see which ones get their attention. You may be surprised. Some songs date well. The Beatles, ACDC, The Eagles, Queen, Led Zeppelin are still popular with many kids today.


Surf the Net.
Try surfing the net for guitar tab. Websites include;
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/
http://www.guitaretab.com/
http://www.911tabs.com/

Kind regards,

David Hart - Program Director

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