If you’re interested in teaching your child a musical instrument, the guitar is a great choice. In addition to being fun to play, it offers variety when it comes to playing styles, musical genres and song choice. 

Though you can start guitar lessons for your child earlier, most teachers recommend beginning lessons at age six because kids have the fine motor skills necessary to strum and form chords with their fingers...and have a longer attention span! 

Besides the obvious benefits of learning a musical instrument (like the enjoyment and satisfaction they’ll get), your child will also learn a lot about themself! Read about seven of the benefits of guitar below!

1. Guitar classes teach discipline 

Learning the guitar, and pretty much any musical instrument, is a lot of hard work. Sure, it may look easy to play, as many professional musicians make it look effortless. But the craft of learning finger placement when forming chords, the preciseness it takes when fingerpicking, the rhythm of strumming, and the coordination of using both your hands simultaneously requires patience and discipline. Learning to play the guitar is incredibly rewarding on a multitude of levels, the one many parents will appreciate is it teaches your child time-management and dedication. Just 20 minutes of practice a day can produce amazing results. Getting your child to do this can be difficult (...we know, getting your children to do most things can be difficult...) But if they’re able to practice discipline, not only will your child have the potential to be a great guitar player, but they’ll learn the value of hard work and time management.

2. Learning the guitar boosts confidence 

 Most parents know the struggle when it comes to getting your kids to do any kind of practice at home. However, the more your child practices, the more their confidence will surge! Not just as a guitar player, but in all aspects of life! Once your little one has mastered the guitar, they might move on to a new instrument. Or maybe try a new sport? No matter what they do, learning an instrument can boost confidence and help develop an open mind to try new things! 

3. It’s a great way to encourage creativity 

When your child first begins lessons, they’ll be learning the mechanics of the instrument itself, basic song structure, and the technical details of the kind of music created by the guitar. But once mastered, they’ll be confident enough to start experimenting with writing melodies, chord progressions, and songs. This is where the real fun begins. As you watch your young musician grow from a beginner to a more accomplished guitarist, they’ll naturally want to expand their repertoire as a player and possibly even as a songwriter, honing writing skills to form lyrics that accompany their music. And who knows? Before you know it you might be going to their gigs! 

4. Playing the guitar inspires an appreciation for music 

Part of learning the guitar is listening to music that features the guitar. If your child is learning a particular song, it always helps for them to listen to the original version of the song to master the mechanics of how it’s played. But because this instrument can be played in many different styles such as fingerpicking and strumming, the guitar is featured in a variety of music genres: from classical and jazz to blues and country (and of course...rock). As your child increases their skills, they’ll naturally be exposed to all sorts of music to build on what they’re learning in class. 

5. Children achieve greater academic performance

As we touched on before, learning guitar helps your child develop discipline and a routine. This, of course, will most likely influence the way your child handles other aspects of life, like school. Your child will begin to notice the rewards that come with dedication to playing an instrument and carryover that hustle to their school work! 

‍

6. Playing guitar improves multitasking

To successfully play the guitar, your child must be able to form chords on the fretboard with one hand and strum the guitar strings with the other. But they also need to be able to sight-read, listen, and if they choose, sing! That’s a lot going on at the same time. Luckily, your child’s guitar teacher will be able to guide them in the process of learning how to multitask, which will improve their guitar playing and make it easier to do other activities that require multitasking later in life.

7. Your child will learn the importance of setting goals 

Ultimately, when anyone decides they want to learn to play the guitar, they have a song in mind that inspired them to start this process (aka the acoustic version the entire Frozen soundtrack). Getting to that point can be tough! But your child will learn a number of steps throughout the process, and as they learn, their teacher will set smaller goals, breaking up lessons into bite-sized chunks that are digestible. Once mastered, they’ll be instructed to work toward another, and another, until they get to the point of reaching their ultimate goal of playing their favorite songs. This comes in handy in life and can be applied to a multitude of projects. Goal-setting is an important aspect of success and guitar lessons will help her realize how important it is in life. 

Ready to get playing? There are so many virtual guitar classes to explore. Check out tons of options here!