OrganicZed
Roadie
- Messages
- 563
My son is nearly two and he has become very interested in my guitars. Almost every day he asks to play dad's guitars. He also asks to look at guitars on my phone (look at my Reverb feed) and he tells me which ones he likes. When we're in the car he says that he wants to hear guitar songs (music that is guitar forward). My wife told me that he has outright rejected most of the songs on her playlist because they don't feature guitar very much. His rejection of the Mariah Carey Christmas stuff earlier this week was particularly swift and forceful. 
He currently has a little toy guitar with strings and he does play with it some on his own, but he mostly just brings it to me and then asks to go play dad's guitars. I suspect that what he likes about playing with my guitars has more to do with spending time engaged with me and playing with the things that I value rather than a genuine desire to make music himself. He spends half of the time flipping switches and moving knobs on the guitars and amplifiers, so I think the tactile play with important stuff is part of the appeal as well. He likes buttons of any kind right now.
Christmas and his birthday are coming up and my wife suggested getting him 1/2 scale guitar of his own. There are aspects of the idea that I like.
1. A lot less reason for him to bash his grubby little hands (or feet and tongue) on my prized guitars.
2. He could play a "real" guitar any time he wants and it won't require my supervision.
3. If his interest continues to grow could use it as his first instrument. He lacks the coordination, focus, and discipline to start any kind of actual musical instruction right now.
On the other hand, I don't want to push him to play just because it is something that I enjoy. Also, if my suspicions are correct and he mostly likes it because it is something that we do together, giving him a guitar of his own might not provide him with any additional fun.
Did you buy a guitar for your young kid(s)?
Would you do it again?
Am I overthinking this?
He currently has a little toy guitar with strings and he does play with it some on his own, but he mostly just brings it to me and then asks to go play dad's guitars. I suspect that what he likes about playing with my guitars has more to do with spending time engaged with me and playing with the things that I value rather than a genuine desire to make music himself. He spends half of the time flipping switches and moving knobs on the guitars and amplifiers, so I think the tactile play with important stuff is part of the appeal as well. He likes buttons of any kind right now.
Christmas and his birthday are coming up and my wife suggested getting him 1/2 scale guitar of his own. There are aspects of the idea that I like.
1. A lot less reason for him to bash his grubby little hands (or feet and tongue) on my prized guitars.
2. He could play a "real" guitar any time he wants and it won't require my supervision.
3. If his interest continues to grow could use it as his first instrument. He lacks the coordination, focus, and discipline to start any kind of actual musical instruction right now.
On the other hand, I don't want to push him to play just because it is something that I enjoy. Also, if my suspicions are correct and he mostly likes it because it is something that we do together, giving him a guitar of his own might not provide him with any additional fun.
Did you buy a guitar for your young kid(s)?
Would you do it again?
Am I overthinking this?
