Teaching Young Children, Pt. V – To Pick or Not to Pick?

Guitar instructors who have little experience working with young children will often approach teaching them as they would an upper elementary aged student, teen or adult. However, this is a common mistake as young children (ages 5 to 8 for our purposes) are still developing their fine motor skills which are the smaller muscles in their hands, fingers and wrists. Children use fine motor skills when writing, holding small items, buttoning clothes or turning pages.

Since young children lack of fine motor skills I do not have them use a pick when beginning to play guitar as it is difficult to manipulate a small object. Rather than use a pick I like to have my young students use their thumb when playing. The large appendage is easier for them to manipulate, maneuver and aid in development of the lacking fine motor skills.

The default hand position that I like to have students use is one in which the fingers of the right hand “cup” the first string for stability right over the sound hole while keeping a straight wrist. From this position students move their thumb from string to string (see images below). 

Teachers will need to remind their students that their fingers/hand should stay in the “cupped” position as the fingers will have a tendency to “slip into the sound hole and pull the hand out of position.

Next month we’ll get into some playing!