I was force fed guitar when I was a kid

My old man is a guitar teacher... he started late (24) so when i was a kid he was in his practicing prime... and he got me straight into it...

i was totally against it many times, but he said... "do it until you're 15, then you can quit"

so 11 years after starting, I hit 15 and quit.

for a week,

smart bastard knew that if he got me into it young, I'd use it for the rest of my life...

My sister fell for it too... she's a music therapist... and my bro, a graphic designer and great player

A lot of parents of students say "we don't wanna force him/her"... but they force them to do maths, and p.e.... so why not music?

it's proven to be a huge benefit to mental development and social improvement as well as arresting the decline of grey matter as we age, and boosting self confidence, enlarging brains, making people more sensitive and in touch with their emotions and enhancing the communication of the left and right hemispheres of the brain... and a million other things

why the hell is music not as important as maths?

send kids to school? make them learn music.... as important....

word, i totally agree with cabsy, why in the hell isn't music a required curriculum in school. music should b e a necessity

A little background... started saxophone at age 8, played till 20. Had a son just over 2 years ago and I want him to grow up with music. I would watch my friend practice with his dad and would always be envious of the time they shared. (I had a weekend only dad with no musical talent.)

The best way to show my son, I felt, was to show him how much fun I have doing it. I picked guitar because I need to grow my own ego and confidence (entirely different thread) and have been learning guitar for 3 weeks now. The only thing I can say is ADDICTIVE.

I feel musical skills provide so much that helps development of people he will have to play until he moves out or forms a business venture.

Benefits of music/guitar as I see them:
Mentally, it helps communications between the two sides of the brain
hand, eye coordination
confidence
social comfort
social status
politely handling compliments
dealing with being the focus of attention during good and bad moments
camaraderie

Let the kid know you are proud of him and offer to help 'show him a few tricks'. Heck, he won't know your teaching basics if he can see how they will sound cool in the future.

HOLY!!! That's exactly what i did!!! i grew up around guitars, my dad had (its mine now) a Les Paul and a martin, i had my own (danelecto-danoblaster) and it wasn't until i was like 17 until i started playing it. At first i actually kept my playing a secret, hiding the amp in my closet, always packing my guitar in its case and so on. I did this because if i decided that it wasn't right for me my pa wouldn't hold it against me. Fortunately it stuck and here i am like a year later havin a blast!

I have a daughter, and I tried getting her interested in the guitar, but she wanted something else that was her own, and no one else's in the house. She chose Shodokan Karate. I think as long as children have something other than watching Television, and they find interest in it, it will become something that developes those motivational skills, and hand eye coordination. Guitar is not the only way. I hope that when she is older she will ask to learn. It would mainly be for my own ego, to teach her, but it would be a great thing to share.