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What Have I Done?

by thunderbird
15 replies
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On spur-of-the-moment I bought my son, 3. a small-sized folk guitar that was on clearance sale. It was the smallest guitar that wasn't a toy, but a real guitar.

He did want a guitar and is having fun strumming it, plucking strings (even before we were out the shop door), and is getting acquainted with their notes, but I don't think it's viable at this stage of his life. Guitars demand strength to push strings onto the frets, and small as it is, it is still too big for a 3-year-old. I'm not sure what I was thinking.
  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    TB, put on nylon strings for him, they're much easier to push.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    When he's in his teens and a famous rock star, you'll calm down.
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  • Profile picture of the author ozzie2012
    I have a 3 year old daughter. I bought her a set of toy drums. That was a big mistake A guitar sounds much better
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    • Profile picture of the author ThomM
      Originally Posted by ozzie2012 View Post

      I have a 3 year old daughter. I bought her a set of toy drums. That was a big mistake A guitar sounds much better
      They have Junior sets that sound much better then the toy drums
      Junior Drum Sets | Musician's Friend
      My grandson was banging on my drums the other day.
      My daughter already knows one of those sets will be his Birthday/Christmas present

      T-bird, in addition to the strings Dennis mentioned, you may be able to take it to a music store and have the neck adjusted so the strings are closer to the frets.
      A lot of the instrument instructors I know (or knew) wouldn't except a child as a student under 5 years old.
      As you probably already know youtube is a good place to look for guitar lessons for a youngin.
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    • Profile picture of the author HeySal
      Originally Posted by ozzie2012 View Post

      I have a 3 year old daughter. I bought her a set of toy drums. That was a big mistake A guitar sounds much better
      LOL - when my sister's kids were small I used to buy them presents that were purposely obnoxious and noisy. A toy piano - toy drums, you name it. She's pretty disappointed I never had kids. I know the paybacks would have been disastrous. On the other hand - now the kid is an adult and is in a band, and pretty talented.
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      • Profile picture of the author TheInternet
        You could get him a plastic ocarina. They cost about $20. Alto, not soprano. Unless you enjoy having your earns blown out.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DbSBYlMsr8

        An ocarina is about as big around as a guitar neck, but it doesn't take much pressure to close the holes.
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        • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
          Originally Posted by TheInternet View Post

          You could get him a plastic ocarina. They cost about $20. Alto, not soprano. Unless you enjoy having your earns blown out.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DbSBYlMsr8

          An ocarina is about as big around as a guitar neck, but it doesn't take much pressure to close the holes.
          My mother makes those out of clay! I'll have to ask her to bring one next time she visits.
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  • Profile picture of the author natebunger
    If he's having fun with the toy, you shouldn't worry too much. Starting to play music at an early stage is really a great thing. I've seen kids on YouTube play amazingly and I was thinking I'd really love my future kids to be like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author twister85
    When you start playing guitar for the first time, it hurts a bit and can be a pain too. they'll get hard after some practices for sure but for a kid its really tough.

    Here is what you can do,
    Try to adjust the guitar bridge to the closest to body.
    Loosen up the strings, if he's just learning, try to tune it to the lower pitch so it sounds same but low in pitch.

    Good luck and you shouldn't stop him.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      I'm not sure what I was thinking.
      You were thinking it was a good deal and your son might enjoy it. Chances are he'll play with it a bit and then lose interest - and then you put away the guitar for a while.

      It's still a good deal and a great instrument for him to learn - and he'll grow into it later.

      Or maybe you should start playing it for him???
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      • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
        you could have bought him something worse -
        seriously - he might lose interest in it - in which case, put it away until he's older and he may go back to it.

        I paid for a couple of years of guitar lessons for my son and also bought him guitars and amps - he no longer plays - but for those 2 years, he actually enjoyed it and it kept him from being bored and doing other useless things with his time.

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  • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
    Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

    Guitars demand strength to push strings onto the frets, and small as it is, it is still too big for a 3-year-old.
    Nonsense!



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    • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
      Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

      My son was watching your first example, and he enjoyed it and drew inspiration from it. The guitars in these videos you share are nylon string which would make more sense for a 3-year-old than the steel string one I bought him since they aren't as tense and are less sharp. But, hey, he can develop strength. I'll get him a nylon string one as well. I think I'd rather have him doodling around with the guitar figuring it out by ear than whatever methods were probably used to train those North Korean kids, lol.

      Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

      TB, put on nylon strings for him, they're much easier to push.
      I'll find a nylon string one for him. Guitars aren't structurally interchangeable when to comes to strings.
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      • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
        Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

        My son was watching your first example, and he enjoyed it and drew inspiration from it.
        Yeah, I thought the first one I put up was pretty impressive for a 3 year old. Then I found the other video and thought.... "are you kidding me?". So I posted that one instead.

        I've been playing guitar longer than all 5 of those kids, combined, have been alive. And they are already better than me! Those kids are gonna be scary good by the time they get to the ripe old age of, say... 10.

        I agree with the recommendation to get your son nylon strings though. Much easier to play than steel. And as Thom mentioned, lowering the guitar's "action" (the distance between the strings and the fretboard) will help too.
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  • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
    Just in case he's really bad, or becomes really good but too loud.

    And, maybe not the ocarina. lol


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