Guitar for Kids | Guitar Method - Easy Beginner Guitar Songbook for Children | Learn Popular Songs and Guitar Basics | Sheet Music incl. Online Audio ... (Hal Leonard Guitar Method (Songbooks)) Paperback – June 1, 2009

I have taught guitar for 12 years and was very excited when I found this book. After using it, I feel that it has been well thought out and addresses the challenges of teaching children so wonderfully. It is designed to give success early on and quickly. I also bought the Alfred Kids Guitar course book and will say that I absolutely prefer this one. This book starts out extremely simply, as does the Alfred and gets kids playing music right away, but it is much less distracting visually. It also has licensed great popular songs for use in the book whereas the Alfred uses mainly public domain tunes or songs made up for the book. The teacher parts are written out as well as the melody notes to sing along with. The other book only includes strum bars and chords, so unless you use the cd every time, it is not clear what the melody is. I let my 8 year old son start using this book and he loves it. I decided to teach the Alfred book to my 5 year old to avoid competition with his brother but he preferred the Hal Leonard because there is no singing on the cd and he thought the pictures were "stupid." I recommend the listening cd that comes with it. The sing along factor really helps kids. We have it in the car while drive to get the songs in thier heads, then when they practice they already know how to play and sing them. I love that I can teach a brand new beginner and send them home playing a song the first day. I think the age recommendation is right on, however some eight and nine year olds will progress through this very quickly and may need the next book soon. I think maybe even older beginners could find use for it as a way to quickly learn basic concepts and find success. I only wish the follow up book had as many great songs as this one.

I am a licensed school music educator. I have used this method book for over 9 years in my fifth grade guitar classes. I also use the Ukulele Method for Kids. It is my favorite method book and this is why:1. It is paced well and covers all the basics in a systematic way that young kids understand.2. The photos are large because that is developmentally appropriate for kids. One of the bad reviews criticized the photos, and they are enormously helpful to the students.3. I LIKE focusing on the chords first because most amateur guitar players intend to use chord strumming, not plucking melodies. I personally, find the chords easy to learn as a beginner.4. The SONG CHOICES are awesome! My students learned about the Beatles and some other performers with these more "current" song choices as opposed to folk songs they have never heard before.The only thing I add as a teacher is the transition from easy "one finger" chords to the full chord fingerings.I highly recommend this course, especially with a teacher to facilitate the learning. I give this my endorsement after having used it for 9 years in a school classroom. Hal Leonard got this one right.

It says it is book one for beginners and I suppose it could be. If it had started with single note songs like Jingle Bells to give kids some success it would have seemed like a beginners book. It’s not bad for what it is but it didn’t describe what it was very well.

My 7 year old recently started guitar lessons; her instructor recommended that we buy this book. He has been using it to support them throughout the lessons. Great for beginners, easy to follow, includes all the basics.

I bought this book to help me teach my grandson how to play guitar. (He's just shy of eight years old.) It is a really gentle, thoughtful way to get a little kid started, playing one-finger chords, doing songs that kids (and their parents) already know.He's happy, and making good progress. I couldn't have asked for more or better. We'll be working our way through the whole series.

I'm an adult with no music knowledge, just like a kid. I never had the opportunity to play an instrument, but wanted it so badly. I'm teaching myself and I'd never be able to do it without THIS specific book. I love it. You learn a little, play a little. You learn more you play more. There are cute kid songs and some oldies. It is fun to learn and so much less frustrating than other books I've tried. Other books say they are for beginners, but they are really naturally talented musicians who were just born with "it". Those are frankly just too difficult for me. Buy this book as a bucket list item for yourself, as I did, or buy it for a child you love.

I love the tried and true Hal Leonard guitar method, and really appreciate the slower pace of this book- 1 note is introduced at a time instead of all the closed 1st position c major notes on a string.