Are you looking for beginner guitar lessons for 7-year-olds?
7 years old is actually a great age to begin guitar lessons for kids. The challenge is to make learning the guitar engaging and fun. This post will cover the best beginner guitar books as well as some tricks and tips on making the process of guitar lessons for 7-year-olds fun and effective for kids. See this link If you’d like to see our list of guitar teachers for kids.
About Musiprof
Musiprof has been providing guitar lessons in Montreal, Canada for the past 5 years. Our teachers have taught dozens of young kids aged 6-12 how to play the guitar. I have to admit that when we first started, it was a struggle teaching guitar to young kids. Although our teachers were good at connecting with kids and knew a whole lot about music, actually getting children to learn, progress, and be excited about the instrument, was harder. Over the years, we figured out how to adapt our approach based on each kid’s learning style and personality and we developed a list of great guitar books for kids and songs they love.
Alfred’s Kid Guitar Course 1
When teaching guitar to kids, it’s a great idea to follow a method book. A method book provides structure and a progressive learning approach. I also recommend going off-book and finding individual songs that appeal to each specific student. After my first year of teaching at Royal Vale, I discovered a great book called Alfred’s Kid’s Guitar Course 1.
Playing chords
The book starts with how to play simplified, one-finger chords like C and G7. The emphasis here is on strumming to the beat and singing songs while playing chords. The book includes an audio recording which is great for helping kids play in time. Progressively new chords are added and the student learns how to switch from one chord to another while following the music.
Playing single notes
Eventually, single notes are introduced and the student begins to learn how to read music one note and string at a time.
Single notes and chords
Finally, the student has to combine playing single notes and chords.
This is a great book to help a 7-year-old get started on the guitar. My only critique is that the songs in his book aren’t always the most exciting for kids. I found that some of my students became bored and uninspired while working through this book. Especially the little rockers!
Hal Leonard Guitar Tab Method
This book was a great discovery for me. Learning the guitar doesn’t necessarily require learning how to read music. Furthermore, at a young age, it’s more important for students to be inspired and excited about music rather than “learning properly.”
Guitar Tab Method includes all sorts of exciting Rock and Roll songs like Peter Gunn, Come As You Are, Wipe Out, and T.N.T. to name a few. The book utilizes the tab method which is much easier to learn. This allows students to play fun songs much quicker and thus maintain their interest.
What is the Tab Method?
In a nutshell, the tab method uses a numbering system to easily communicate which fret should be played on which string. The tab method is also the language of the internet. So once a student learns it, they have access to learning millions of songs online.
This book has worked wonders for me in getting kids excited and motivated to play the guitar. Some parents and kids prefer a more classical approach to learning the guitar, but for other kids, Guitar Tab Method works wonders!
Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book 1
This is a great guitar method book for kids and adults alike. It’s a little more challenging than the other two books. It starts with learning how to play each individual string and identifying the first few notes on each one of those strings. The student learns to recognize the notes on paper and where they fall on the guitar neck. Easy songs such Ode to Joy, Yankee Doddle and Au Clair de La Lune are slowly introduced. Eventually, simple chords are introduced and the student learns to switch from one chord to another.
Making it Fun
At the end of the day, it’s crucial that the guitar teacher and student have a good relationship and that the lessons are fun. Beyond any book, song, or method, this is the most important thing. Get to know your students, become friends with them, and always be encouraging and excited about their progress! Take time in each lesson to goof around with them and get to know them. This is part of the pleasure of teaching music!
Make Guitar Lessons Individual
Go off the book with each student. Find a song that the student likes and work on it in parallel with a method book. This gives the student a sense of ownership over their lessons. They aren’t just learning the basics like everyone else, they are learning music that they like!
Easy guitar single-note songs that kids love
- Smoke on the Water
- 7 Nation Army
- Peter Gunn
- Come As You Are
- Sunshine of Your Love
- Wipe Out
- Ode to Joy
Register for Private Lessons
I hope this post was helpful to you! If you are interested in registering for guitar lessons for your child, see our list of teachers here. If you happen to be in Montreal Canada, we also provide lessons in person.
About the author: Elijah is a university-educated drummer with extensive experience in both teaching and musical performance.  Since completing his Bachelor of Music degree at Concordia University in 2010, he has played music across each province in Canada and in more than 20 countries around the world.
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