Help Your Child Practice at Home

Whether you play an instrument or not, sometimes helping your child with their guitar playing at home can be daunting. If you are not sure where to start with helping them practice, here are a few tips for you. 

1. Remind them to slow down 

Everyone, adults and kids included, when practicing the guitar have a tendency to want to speed through exercises or songs. The person who does it the most number of times wins right?

Well, it really depends on the exercise. If they are playing through a song, then it can be a great idea for them to slow down. So that they learn to play the parts accurately and perfectly. Rather than rushing through.

2. Play louder or quieter

A great way to improve their control when it comes up picking, whether that's with their fingers or a guitar pick, is to change the dynamics (how quiet or loud something is). If your child plays everything loudly or everything quietly, then you can suggest to them to try playing it at different volumes. 

3. Tell them to repeat a small section 

If you notice they are struggling with one specific part of the song, whether that's a chord change or changing notes in a song, have them play through that specific change 10 times by itself, and then put it back into the song. 

4. Getting them to play music they enjoy 

When your child is working on a song, it's best if it's something they are enthusiastic about. They will be more likely to practice at home if it's for a song they enjoy. You can always ask your teacher to incorporate music they like into what they are learning. 

5. Have them teach you what they've been learning in the lessons 

You could make one of the practicing sessions more fun in the week by having them teach you what they learned in the lesson. Have them play "teacher". This is an area where they can have a lot of fun and do a role reversal with you at home. This is a great way to help them to solidify in their mind what they've done too. 

With practicing an instrument, a lot of practice does not sound very musical at all. So don't worry if they are trying to play through a song and it sounds nothing like it yet.

While it's great that they may be listening to chart music, we can expand their horizon by exposing them to small doses of different types of music. Whether it be funk, jazz, or rock. Try showing them videos that have people playing the guitar in it. The more you can have them thinking the guitar outside of lessons, the more they will be inspired by it in the long run. 

About author: Guitar Tuition East London provides high quality guitar lessons for children in London. And more importantly, they are fun and engaging to make sure the students are motivated and feel passionate about learning the guitar.