Nephew's Getting His 1st Guitar

Be even cooler if the 9 yr old got a bass or drums :P

I got my grandson an mini strat for his 8th birthday. He told me he was "the luckiest kid in the world".

That was 10 months ago and his interest is still going strong.

Now that I think about it, I can't wait to see both of my nephew's faces when we walk into the guitar store tomorrow. What a great surprise it'll be.

If the younger one wanted a bass or drums would rock. Annoy the jerk neighbors in my sis's apartment.

...And maybe I could con my dad into getting me a Peavey strat-o-copy too.

:D :twisted:

Ghost, I think (maybe) that it is important that he isn't pushed into doing anything. Get him the guitar, let him be the one to say "I want lessons", or "I want to learn this song", don't force him to do anything with it. He may put it down for 5 years, and then play again, who knows, or he may run with it now.

Thats one side of my thinking

The other, is that sometimes I think "Darn, if only my parents had made me get lessons when I first got the guitar when I was around 7, I'd be an amazing player now". But I don't really know that do I? Maybe their forcefullness would have pushed me away, as I am/was a very independent, free thinking person.

Then again, you have kids like Randy McStine who is 17 years old, and playing gigs in New York City, because his dad started him playing at 5 years old.

^That doesn't give you any real advice I suppose.

Anyways, hope the present goes well.

My oldest nephew asked for a guitar this past Christmas and his mom thought it was a bad idea. I'll be interested to see how things turn out by the end of the year. My sis's ex-husband really pushed my nephews' hard at football and wrestling and oldest has asthma. Scary.

I got my first guitar when I was 12 and really struggled even with lessons, but then that was just me. It's just been in the past 6-7 months that I'm understanding what I'm doing.

I really hope my sis doesn't push him to practice and that he wants to learn because he wants to. Just this past May I brought one of my guitars with me to a family get together to see how my nephews' would like playing guitar. I just let them noodle and showed them a few chords and where the thumb should be on the neck. It was fun.

I got my first electric for my 15th birthday... and my first "guitar" when I was around 13 or so... Actually, it was more like a piece of hollowed out plywood with a "neck" on it.. :roll:

Congrats man, and if you want to annoy the neighbors, definatly get the drums.. :twisted: :lol: Hope they stick with it like I did... after you get over that "beginning" hump (You know, the one where you dont have any callouses and you don't know what you're doing....) its really worth it...

And remember, they have a better chance of sticking with it if you get a quality instrument, or at least get a setup on the guitar if its acoustic...

Bawhahaha!!! The youngest nephew did get drums tele and yoyo. Cool huh!?!
He's sound really good too. The older nephew ended up picking out a Peavey Raptor for his first guitar. I like that guitar a lot. Didn't want to put it down. He started out with a blue Ibanez ax series, but the neck was too wide for his hand, so he tryed the Peavey and liked it.

Those beginner of beginner days all those years ago. I got my first guitar as an early Christmas gift. A C.F. Martin & Co. Stinger. I'm now 26 and just getting the hang of it. Much more enjoyable now.

:D

Hope he enjoys it.

A lot of kids start and then stop months after starting. Because there are so many people playing guitar, most people are under the assumption that it can't be too hard. Then they find out that they can't make awesome guitar solos the first day they pick it up, and it's a real downer, so many of them drop it.

When I talk to friends that I might teach, I always reinforce the idea that it will take work to sound good, and everyone sounds bad at the start, and it ain't as easy as it looks.

......"Darn, if only my parents had made me get lessons when I first got the guitar when I was around 7, I'd be an amazing player now". .....

I had a few lessons when I was about 12 or 13 but was too lazy or had other interests (can't remember now at 56 :roll: ) and dropped out. I wish my parents had pushed a *little* bit harder for me to stick at it but we were a very non-musical family - I can't ever remember my parents listening to music even on a radio in the background.

Now as a beginner again I look with sorrow at those missed 43 years or so. I may never have become a great player but I guess I would know a song or two now! :D

When I was little I took lessons for a few months on a little 3/4 classical. I did ok, I guess, but didnt like it and I stopped and the guitar got sold a few years later. I didnt think about it for years, then when I was a sophomore in college, I got a cheap Johnson acoustic and taught myself. The only instruction I've had was a chord book and Guitar Noise. (I took a class in college, but all it did was teach basic chords I already knew...It was just a chance for me to be in a room with people with guitars and it was a totally fun experience.) Now I've just graduated, I have a handful of coffeeshop gigs under my belt (and two memorable banquet performances).

So it is true that people tend to put the guitar down and not want to play it, then decide to pick it up again. When I took lessons, it was like I HAD to practice and my parents were kinda pushing for me to be prepared for my next lesson. I think it's a good idea that you nephews picked their own axes/drum kits, because it gives them ownership of the instrument and makes them wanna play more. I know from experience that I tend to play the 2 guitars I bought myself over the ones my parents gave me as gifts. Not to say those are bad guitars, cos I love them both (a Fender and an Ibanez) but I have a better bond with the Martin and the Squier I bought myself and picked out myself.