The last several posts have been building to where young students will begin playing music. Keep in mind that for this series of posts “young children” are defined as ages 5 through 8; that being the case the job of the teacher is to present material which children can be successful with, master in short order and feel a sense of accomplishment playing.
In last month’s post students where working on a simple open string exercise to develop the coordination in their thumb required when plucking and moving from string to string. Students did not need to know the letter names of strings (E,A,D,G,B,E) – they only need to know strings by numbers (1,2,3, etc…). This month students will work with only two open strings “G” and “D”. In order to work with these two strings students will be introduced to the concept of sight reading. If the teacher is unable to read music, it will be greatly beneficial for the instructor to learn to read music even on a basic level to in order to accompany their student in future lessons.
The music staff should be introduced with its five lines and four spaces. It should be made clear that the lines are not the strings of the guitar; as the guitar has six strings and the music staff has only five lines – they are not the same.
Next the teacher will introduce the open strings "G"and "D" - discuss how the music note “G” will be found on the second line of the music staff and that the note “D” is written below the staff. The teacher may develop their own written exercises for the student to practice reading/playing whether the note “G” or “D”. To ease the transition into reading music the teacher should allow the student to write the letter name above/below the music note.
Next month we’ll dig a little deeper into reading music with our young students.
In last month’s post I was discussing having young students use their thumb rather than a guitar pick. The reason for this is that young beginners are still developing their fine motor skills (the small muscles in their hands, fingers and wrists) and the thumb is easier for them to manipulate.
This month teachers can use these simple open string exercises with their young students to help facilitate the use of their thumb. Although the exercises are simple the development of the right hand position is the key. Keep in mind that:
• Fingers should remain on the first string
• The right hand wrist should remain straight
• Movement of the thumb should be from the large joint
• The hand should not move only the thumb
Teachers will only need to show the exercise to students and explain to parents what the child is doing so that they may help them at home. The exercises are written in tablature and there is no need at this stage to explain “tab” to them at this time.
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!
