Guitar is fun, here’s how If you guitar or piano or singing is not fun then why do it? When guitar becomes fun then your child will not be looking at their phone as much or playing games. It’s a battle for their attention these days. In the very first lesson I give the student a choice of 2 famous songs, riffs and they get to choose one to play. It’s on one string and uses one finger. So they are playing something right away. Then the next lesson I get them playing to a backing track which is like

Best choice: Acoustic or Electric So your child wants to play guitar. Now you have to buy them a guitar so they can practice between lessons. The first consideration is how much do you want to spend. Thiis will determine what tp buy. There are entry level guitars that are under $150. I recommend an electric guitar because the strings are smaller, easier on the hands. The body is much more comfortable and you can get your favorite color. Acoustic guitars are much harder to play in the beginning. I see kids with beginner guitar lessons make much better progress

Here’s the evidence The same skills your child needs to do well in school are the same skills to play Piano. In school, most studies are using memorization. Studying piano definitely builds this skill. It’s okay to read sheet music, there’s still a lot to remember with that and in real time. But when a student can play a piece of music from memory it really makes a difference and builds great confidence. There was a piano in a hospital and nobody was playing so my 11 year old daughter started playing and people reacted and applauded. If she didn’t

The healing power of music lessons To say music lessons is better than medicine is a big statement. Why can I say that?  First of all, the mental, physical and artisitic rewards are life changing. I see the coginitive abillities of ages 5 to 80 year olds having to think through, to work through the motor skills on guitar, pian or voice (which I consider  an instrument too, that you carry with you all he time}. I see how kids, the longer they do music lessons will getting a  healthy confidence. And their  teacher should always be building a genuine

What makes piano easy to learn on as a beginner? The fact that you are sitting above the piano keys looking straight down at them,  with an aerial view. The simple way to start is to number the fingers 1-5 and line them up on the keys and then you play by the numbers.  It’s that simple.  From 5 year olds to an 80 year old who never played music can play right away with this method of learning.It’s fun and it’s easy and you can play right away. Later we’ll learn to read sheet music. Play first, read later. 

Isn’t music theory taught in college and is too complex for my kid? Yes and no, it depends how it is shown and explained by the teacher. My teachers in the beginning taught me the ideas but did not give me a way to use it or play it. If  it’s just head knowledge it doesn’t make sense until it’s used on piano, guitar or with the voice and put into songs. Learn, know and do I found the best way to learn music theory is one idea at a time. For an example I will show and explain the