Get a 3/4 size guitar for him. There's a 3/4 size Squier strat for about $99. I wouldn't think of teaching him scales just yet. Teach him something fun to play, in other words, teach him where to put his fingers so he learns a simple song (melody part for now) at first. Teach him song after song, and all the while begin to introduct concepts.

This is the technique the Suzuki Method uses with great success. If you start out by teaching your 6 year old scales, you're setting yourself up for failure.

true that. start with something easy, power chords for instance or the old smoke on the water riff (one finger version) that will catch the interest, then maybe move to ironman. just keep it simple and expand on stuff as you go.

that $99 squier that dc mentioned is a decent guitar for younger smaller hands.

on ebay I found my guitar for ten bucks, nothing good. but it's good for beginning. with shipping it turned out to be about 60. I just suggest ebay for a cheep guitar to start on.

Mine showed an interest at 6 or earlier. (My grandson is showing the interest at 20 months!) Here's what happened:

Like you, I started off showing them what to do, on a 3/4 size guitar. They quickly lost interest. It wasn't until they were teenagers that they actually got the bug and started playing for real.

Yeah... Start him off slow and if he drops it, oh well. He'll get back to it when he's ready.

If it's a skill you want to encourage, then you have to at least provide a decent learning tool. My kid (age 10) wanted to play drums. My wife wanted to buy him a cheap drum set (like the ones at toys r us & walmart). I talked her and after explaining things a little we ended up spending around $500 on a low end acoustic set but still pretty nice and definately playable. My son has been playing drums now for about 10 month's and easily plays along with his favorite tunes and plays for me while I play guitar as well. I guarantee that he would have dropped it quickly if we had taken the cheap way out and purchased one of those other tiny drum sets. You can get a decent starter guitar for around $100. Less if you really look.

If your kid doesn't stay with it initally you should still keep the guitar. There is a really good chance that he will want to pick it up at a later time.

Lessons are definately a big plus but they have to be fun, especially for a 6 year old. And I think you should take notice of wether or not the kid is actually interested in music at this age.

Once you purchase the guitar you need to be prepared to constantly encourage, deal with alot of noise (headphones), and within a few years the perpetual need for more gear.

P.S. Choosing a decent amplifier is important too.

Part of my problem is that I don't play. I wouldn't know how to teach him a song. I saw the Squire a few places. Is that made by Fender? Anyone know anything about that Yamaha I mentioned? I also saw an Ibanez gig pack on Daddy's website for $99. Any opinions?

Woah! Don't play? That might make it a little harder. Though it's not impossible. Currently have a guitarist in the studio who's played and taken lessons since he was 6. He's 17 now and kicks ass.

Everyone is different and boys can be especially trying.

You might want to check with some local teachers and music stores. It's probable that they will give you a better view on what you need to do to get the kid started.

Good incentive for your boy is getting him a guitar he likes a lot! Obviously a pink guitar will probably never be touched, so it matters more to a child of that age that what they're playing on is cool more than it matters how it sounds. Electrics are far easier to play. Generally cheap guitars are difficult to play. This is even more apparent in acoustic guitars which are harder to play than electrics in the first place. So even a cheap electric will be easier to play than a cheap acoustic. Check with some local instructors as well. Talk to them. Tell them what you've got going on. The good ones will take some time with you, suggest a plan of action, suggest a starter guitar, etc.

Squire is Fender's low end brand. I bought one for my son when he was 13. It's still quite playable, though a bit funny feeling for most because it's a 3/4 size guitar.

I'm not much of an electric guy, so not sure on the Yamaha. Again, your best bet is to inquire locally.

Good Luck!

The Yamaha is an acoustic. Should I start him on electric? I thought it would be better to start him on acoustic, but I'm sure he'd stay more interested with an electric.

We have found a local place and were going to sign him up for lessons, probably still will, I just want to make sure he likes it before signing him up. As I mentioned originally, he gets frustrated easily. He wants me to sell our electronic battleship game because I beat him the other night! LOL.

So...electric or acoustic?

I'm an acoustic player and have been since the beginning. (Of TIME it feels like at this point!)

Personally, I feel the acoustic stengthens your fingers more, (because it requires more strength to start with,) requires more exactness in your playing, (as amplified sounds tend to cover small mistakes better,) and when you switch to electric it will be much easier. That being said, I'd start him on an electric. (If you finally go ahead and buy an amp for him to practice with, make sure it has a headphone output so you can save YOUR ears!)

The electric will be easier for him to play. Many players start electric and then go acoustic as it's far less frustrating to make the change once you know how to play some than to start with acoustic, (especially a youngster who doesn't have a lot of finger strength to start with.) Not that they change to acoustic permanently, but many of the players I know practice on acoustic because switching back to electric the playing is much easier.

A good instructor will start him learning some simple songs and intermix the scales and other technique he will need to learn.

Also, don't be afraid to change instructors! Make sure your son likes the one you choose, (they are HIS lessons after all,) and that the instructor is experienced with young kids. If, after a time, he appears to be slowing down or loosing interest, a change of instructor will usually provide some new incentive. There is no one instructor who knows it all, or can teach it all. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Lessons from different instructors will only expand his knowledge base. Might also be a good idea, at his age, to space lessons out a bit. Once every two weeks instead of every week.

Hope this all helps.

I am now looking at the Ibanez Mikro GRGM21 in red(his favorite color) with a Marshal MS-2 or MS-4.

What kind of father would I be if I didn't buy the amp with the guitar? :)

Opinions?

How about giving him some incentive and maybe saving yourself some money?

Many local instructors will have a guitar to lend or rent to a beginner. Maybe start your son on the lessons, and as a condition of him liking it, and showing that he's keeping interest and practicing, get him the guitar and amp at that point. If he drops out after a month or so, you haven't laid out any cash for something he may never use again.

I've been there as a dad, so I know how much you can buy a kid that he never ends up using. My difference is that I play too, so if I bought something for one of my kids, (like my drum kit, a couple guitars, bass, small amps,) if they got bored with it, then I would reclaim it.

My bro started on a full size classical (strength-wise classical is the easiest) at the age of 6 or 7 with one one-hour lesson per week if I remember well and he sticked to it.

Electrics and acoustics both use steell-core strings which are stiff and will cause nasty blisters. Classical guitars use nylon strings which are much more friendly to fresh untrained fingers.



So my advice is to find a full-size classical guitar for your son and find a teacher that will teach him some easy and recognizable tunes , before starting to deal with theory stuff like scales and chords. This way it will provide some instant gratification which has good chances to maintain your son's interest. Learning on classical will also give him a head-start on proper hand position and finger-picking technique. I think the age of 6 is too young to be able to appreciate the qualities of an acoustic guitar and the electric guitar is a good excuse to make a lot of noise without really making any progress.
Keep at those lessons for a year or two. If there is still an interest by the time he's 8, you can discuss an electric kit.

It worked for my bro and it worked for me too.

If getting the elctric with the amp keeps his interest more than an acoustic, it would be worth the extra money. Any opinions on the Ibanez/Marshall combo? What about the Washburn kit for $99?

At that age it's really about keeping his interest. Thanks ibzRG. It's easy to forget about classical guitars on this site. And yes, they're easier to play than electric, but for a 6 year old, it could just be too much. A full size classical was too big for my first ex-wife. (Like all my wives, she's only 5' tall.) I bought her a 3/4 size classical that she can actually handle. (Yes, I still speak to the first ex, just not the third one.)

There are a lot of options out there, but there's also no guarantee that he's going to get hot about what you buy him. Oh, you'll see that initial flicker and the sparks from the initial plug in and resulting, nasty, loud sounds, but if it doesn't grow into a fire, what does it all matter?

Most of the starter stuff you've posted is pretty good as starter stuff goes. When spending a little to get started, electrics will be MUCH easier than acoustics. Even some of the low priced classical guitars can be difficult to play as classicals have a much wider neck than electrics. (This is what my ex struggled with as she couldn't really reach everything with her small hands.)

Guitars are also pretty individual. While these low priced starters come off an assembly line, they are anything but identical. Some are really good, some are really bad, most fall into the OK catagory. If you buy it over the net, make sure you take it to a guitar tech to check it out. Nothing will kill learning the guitar quicker than a poorly set-up, bad playing, guitar.