How I Learned to Play the Guitar at 11 Years Old

Despite its popularity, the guitar poses some of the most difficult challenges for young children out of all the instruments. For starters, it has six strings that vary in size, an average weight of 6 to 12 oz and to play even the simplest chords, children must use multiple muscles and techniques. However, it continues to attract children due to the 'rock-star' associations and range of shapes, sizes and colours. 

That's often where the interest ends. Due to a lack of accessible teaching methods within schools and private tuition, for many, the time spent learning the guitar is short lived. That's why at SMASH HIT we believe in teaching in a way that keeps children engaged in the instrument. The first way to do this is by making it relevant. Why should they learn the guitar? Where have they seen a guitar in the first place? By connecting these associations, you can form a stronger bond between interest and passion. 

For me, I first picked up a guitar when I was eleven years old. For years my Dad begged me to follow in his footsteps and learn the instrument. He believed that it was a necessary skill that he could pass onto me that I would not only enjoy but also gain so much from. However, no matter how many cheap guitars he would buy me, whether they were acoustic, electric or something else entirely, I was never interested. He tried different colours, shapes, sizes and sounds but it was never enough. For me, the guitar wasn't a cool instrument because my Dad played it, and for many children, this way of thinking is the same... sorry parents!

However, what I did respond to was my Dad's passion for the instrument. He knew I was looking for something that made me different, something that made me stand out in the crowd with a skill that I could harness. In a school full of football fanatics, music was never discussed, until one day I saw someone in the opposite class take their white semi-acoustic guitar out of its case in the lunch hall. Suddenly, it was cool! Everyone wanted to see it, everyone wanted to touch it and most of all, everyone wanted to hear what it sounded like. 

All of a sudden, the guitar had an association that was relevant to me. It dawned on me that after all this time, my Dad was right. It was cool and unique to be the child that played an instrument. From that moment on, I never looked back. Whilst my school didn't have any music tuition, I formed a band and learnt from my peers and via the internet. By doing it this way, I was able to choose what I learnt and I kept it within my interests. Learning riffs from My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Kings of Leon and even writing my own songs from early on. However, a more traditional path would have meant that I'd be learning scales, music theory and Smoke on the Water... a song most young children have never heard of!

The point is that music needs to be accessible to each individual child. It needs to include their interests, harness their individualities and show them that being a ‘rock-star’ is down to as little as four chords, and that’s why the guitar is as popular today as it ever was. Below is the link to the ‘four chord song’ which will show you just how simple it can be: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ

However, like I mentioned at the start, the guitar is also a very complicated instrument, with six different weighted strings that have their notes in different places and make completely different sounds. At the start of a child’s journey on the guitar at SMASH HIT, they will focus on the low E string on the guitar and learn individual notes. From here, they will move to power chords, double stops and open chords. Below is a diagram of where all of the individual notes can be found on the guitar. See if yourself or your child can fill in the blanks:

Each week, your child will have learnt a new note, technique or even rhythm on the guitar, and whilst it will take a while for that to fully compute in their minds, by familiarising them with where the notes can be found and constantly engaging in conversations that will spark their interests and contribute towards their associations, they won’t fall into the trap of saying, “the guitar is too heavy,” or “it’s too hard,” as they will be learning the instrument for themselves. The quicker a child has ownership of their interests and education, that quicker it is a part of their daily lives. 

So, what are you waiting for? Think about where your child has seen a guitar before, maybe it was at a music festival, in a film or they asked about a guitar solo on the radio. Engage in a conversation around these associations and encourage them to lead the way. As music continues to fall away from a school's everyday curriculum, it’s important that children still seen the benefit it has on them, on the people around them and on our culture. As by having lessons through SMASH HIT, they will soon be a part of that and they will have their very own songs out in the world for others to be inspired by.

Written by Oscar Wenman-Hyde (Company Director)