Mrs. Kat wants to learn how to play!

[Katastrophe]

I'm excited! Mrs. Kat just came up to me and asked if I could teach her how to play guitar. She's a fairly artistic person, and I think she has a good shot at learning. Once she puts her mind to a project, she tends to stick with it.

She wants to learn George Harrison's solo to "Let it Be." How cool is that?:D

Any hints for getting her started would be appreciated. I don't want to go overboard too soon with this.

Thanks!

[tot_Ou_tard]

Yow!!! Way cool Mr K!

Just really cool.

:AOK:

[just strum]

That's GREAT!!!!

I wish I could get my wife or one of the kids interested, but it's not to be:(

This will make for some good music and good posts:)

[ted s]

That's great Kat, I heard of this neat site called Dolphin street ?

[SuperSwede]

Go Kat Go... and then it was something about some blue suede shoes but I really dont remember...

[sunvalleylaw]

I would start with simple melodies, played in first position, then simple open chords, and some three or four chord songs, (that was very rewarding to learn to strum a song. E, A, D, songs, and D, Em, A, G songs are good starting places for us beginners),then find simple melodies just by ear on the fret board, then turn her loose on Dolphnstreet. That is this beginner's perspective!

[Childbride]

IMHO, from personal experience...

hook her up with a teacher. someone she can yell at other than you. :D

then, when she has lessons, play the chords to her leads, that will keep her in time.

and most importantly, find songs that touch her heart. that sing to her. y'all play them together, as a treat, at the end of the day. it makes Everything Better. ;)

[pie_man_25]

one word: metronome.

[luvmyshiner]

Start her our slow Kat. Teach her three simple chords and a few songs she can play with them. Avoid trying to tell her how she can play better too much, and let her find her way. She'll fall in love with the instrument in short time.:)

[pes_laul]

Way to go dude :AOK: I Teach student 3 bucks a hour (cheap aint it) for money at school and one of the first song I always teach them to play is stone sours "through glass" which is a nice acoustic song. the only downside is that the guitar is tuned Eb Ab Db Gb Bb eb good luck and remember there is no limit:D

[luvmyshiner]

Kris, I love that song. I've been trying to find decent tabs, but I haven't found anything I'm happy with yet. Any chance you might point me in the right direction?

[pes_laul]

shiner do you get guitar world? because in the issue with satriani and steve via on it they had the tabs to the song. these tabs are kinda correct http://911tabs.com/link/?3801082 try this youtube video http://youtube.com/watch?v=EoimJ3_2Maw hope that helps and good luck:AOK: It aint exactly right but it should give you a sort of a idea on how to play it

[Katastrophe]

Thanks for the suggestions, all. This is gonna be some kinda fun. I'll keep updating as we go along and let you know how it goes.

[Jimi75]

How about a pink "Hello Kittie" Squier Strat.
Put some Svarowski christals on the pockguard and she will definitely pick up the guitar everyday ;-)

hey, I am just kidding.

Cool to hear that she wants to learn how to play. I am sure you will enjoy the time you will spend together playing the guitar.

Take it easy my friend

Jimi
:AOK:

[tot_Ou_tard]

I like this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Hal-Leonard-Guitar-Method-Complete/dp/0634047019/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197981240&sr=8-1

It's inexpensive, comes with 3 CDs, & is rewritten with Greg Koch.

It focuses on melody for a long time, but you can get chord-based playing elsewhere. It is mainly written in notation, but starts out simply so you soon become comfortable with it.

I'm partway through the last book (the 3 books are bound together.)

On the other hand, she'll need other help to get quickly to the solos that she wants to play.

I second pie's suggestion of a metronome. I use the drum machine in my RC-2 looper & that makes all the difference.

Here's what I do:

I first listen to the CD to hear how it should sound, then go through the piece in chunks learning which notes to play & deciding how I will finger them (the book tells you in the beginning).

When I'm realitvely comfortable with the first few measures I add another couple focusing my effort on the difficult measures & fluidly flowing from one to the next.

I think about fingering; should I roll the finger? Try to relax the hand & get them d@mned unused fingers relaxed & closer to the fretboard.

When I can do the whole piece reasonably well, I go back over with the drum machine making sure that the notes are played with the correct rhythm. You can play along with the CD if you wish.

This takes some concentration, when I get that down, I speed this up & work on fluidity, tone, & nuance so that it sounds good to me.

I only move on, when I can handle the piece, but I never wait until it's perfect.

When I need a break while working on something new, I play some of the stuff I have already learned trying to smooth it up & have fun.

But she has you to help, so an ideal thing for her would probably be for her to play with you: simple chords while you solo, simple melodies while you play rhythm. Keep it slow, have fun, give plenty of encouragement, & let her lead the way.

Good luck Mr & Mrs K!

[pes_laul]

one thing you gotta know about guitar teaching is just dont bore the crap out of them with scales try to make it fun and they will learn better that way.

[Tone2TheBone]

I agree. Teach melodies and actual songs that she'll recognize to motivate her to progress effectively.