Customer Reviews

Kid's Guitar Course, Book 1 (Book and Enhanced CD) (Kid's Courses!)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a guitar teacher with a degree in jazz guitar. I teach 30 kids a week in age ranges from 1st grade through senior citizen. I am also an early childhood music teacher who teaches general music classes and percussion in pre-school through 5th grade.

I have tried several other books to various degrees of success using other materials and my knowledge of children of this age. This book is an effortless teach to children this age. I am convinced you don't even need to know how to play guitar to teach your own child with this book.

Teachers...if you have kids this age its a great find. Starts with chords and easy songs. Not too many pictures to cause distractions. Later it gets into reading on the first three strings with ease. I finished the book in something like 10 weeks with 4 students in 1st-3rd grades. All of them are playing beyond my expectations. I can't wait for another one from these people. Heard its coming out end of Jan. 05.

Good luck.

This is a beautiful, colorful book that really draws your child in just because it looks so fun! I'm so happy that they made a beginning guitar book like this because I've found that usually only piano gets so much attention. I've played guitar since I was nine, and have a Masters degree in Music. Guitar is a wonderful instrument to learn. You can take it with you anywhere and you can accompany yourself singing. You can also learn classical guitar easily if you start young and people will love to listen. I think more kids should learn guitar at a young age. Hopefully this book makes that possible!
I started using it with my son. It moves in easy steps. It's an excellent book. Highly recommended.

This book gets the kids playing right away with no time wasted on theory that a small child could not comprehend. The CD makes the playing more fun and feel more "grown-up". Nice book! Both the 7 year old and 5 year old are enjoying using it.

This is one of THE BEST methods out there for the young guitar student learning to play pick style guitar. The book and enhanced C.D. are excellent instructional tools. I've used this book for a few years in private instruction and just started using it in my young beginners group guitar class with great success in both areas.

The text starts with three-string chords and progresses through various rhythmic combinations (though never using eighth notes) with the C,G,G7, and D7 chords. Along the way the student will play some original and folk songs (i.e. three blind mice, etc). The melodies are provided on the accompanying C.D. and are quite easy to pick out.

The second half of the book focuses on learning to read standard notation. (NOTE: there is not TAB) The text covers notes through the first three strings. As with the chord section the child will play various original melodies as well as famous classical and folk melodies (i.e. Ode to Joy, Jingle Bells, etc). In this section the student will play the chords they have learned previously along with the notes they are learning.

If you are using this book in private or group lessons you may want to introduce standard note reading alongside the introduction of chords, instead of moving sequentially through the book. As stated earlier there is NO TAB in this book which may turn some teachers off. After completing this book the student would understand the material roughly through the first half of Book 1 of either the Hal Leonard or Mel Bay Guitar Methods.

If you are looking for a method for classical guitar for the young this is NOT for you! I would highly recommend getting Classical Guitar for the Young by Jay Traylor. An even better book though difficult to get in the U.S. is The Guitarist's Way by British guitarists Peter Nuttall & John Whitworth.

Bought my son a guitar for Christmas. Looked and researched books to help him learn to play. After searching for a while I chose this one and am glad I did. It is easy to understand. My son is 10 years old and I don't think it is too young for him. I recommend it...

This has been a great first guitar book for my 7-year-old. I love the CD that plays the same notes with the book. It lets the child know they are playing it correctly or incorrectly. The cords are presented first with 3 string simple cords and then advance to 6 string cords as the 3 string ones are mastered. Sound music theory including strummung notation. Colorful pictures and classic kids songs that all kids will recognize. I think for a young player this is a good buy and a great way to start guitar!

I'm not much of a guitar player; I know just enough to fiddle, and wanted to give my 8-year old some experience without paying for lessons to see if the interest in the instrument was actually there first. I'm amazed at how quickly one is able to pick things up with this book; it is clear and easy to use and, importantly, lets kids play "real" songs that build on each other so they can have a good sense of success as they progress through the book. The CD that comes with it is a good aid as well.

I don't think this book is quite as great as some other reviews have made it out to be, but it has been better for my couple of younger students than the Mel Bay book. The smaller, easier 3 string chord forms are good for young kids that don't have hands big or strong enough to play full 5 and 6 string chords. Towards the end there is a good mixture of single notes and chords which is nice. The variety of songs do a decent job of teaching about different rhythms and rests. However, I'm not crazy about the lyrical element, they have not helped at all, especially since the written melody for guitar doesn't usually match up with the traditional melody that would go with the lyrics used from well known kids songs. Still glad I chose to get a couple copies of this.

My 7-yr old granddaughter wanted a guitar for Christmas, so of course we needed instructions - this is the perfect book. She is able to read most of the instructions herself, and those that she can't are readily understandable by the grownups!

I've been teaching guitar for the past two years, and with my young students (5 to 11 yrs old) this is a highly effective series. I recently got the flash cards to use as a teaching aid, and the results were immediate even with my most challenging students. The Kids Guitar series has a clear focus on both music theory and guitar technique. It is fun and engaging for the students, and builds gradually through a series of exercises until the student is comfortable playing all six strings in the first position using standard music notation (not tabs). My only wish is that they had a book three.