Hi. I became a member of this 'MudCat' thingy quite a while ago but everytime I post I get listed as 'guest'. Oh well. Anyway, I've been teaching for a long time now (ten years seriously) and I've taught a lot of people to play guitar. I used to take kids as young as nine and if parents insisted on younger kids taking guitar then I insisted on the parent taking the lesson with the kid. I thought that would be fun (taking guitar with the kid, I charged the same for a half hour lesson that I would have if the kid had been solo) but all it did was to show that the kid just wasn't ready to do something as structured as learn the guitar. So now my cut off it ten year old. But I don't recomend that young. I think twelve years old is a good age to start guitar and that fourteen is even better. Most of my students that start at seventeen can catch up to what another seventeen year old, who has taken guitar for four years, in the same winter. Of course there are a lot of variables. Every person is different. Some kids start at twelve and just fly because they are truly intregued with the guitar. Some fly even faster because not only are they intregued but are truly obsessed. These make the best musicians. (Although their lives are usually awash with disevilment and I wouldn't wish this trate on anyone but they do make teaching a joy because it looks like you are actually doing a great job but in truth these people would learn the instrument if they where living in complete isolation. These types of kids are rare. If you own one of these types of people then don't worry, they will become musician).

It's never early to get a kid a musical instrument. And if you are getting it for a play toy then it dosen't matter if the instrument is a little cheapish.

Most peole are normal. Normal people can become great musicians. A normal child should start around age 12-14. in my experience early starts for an instrument like guitar do not produce great results and in some cased produce the opposite results of what the parent wanted to have happen. The guitar is the most popular instrument in the world because it is the most veritile. One can play tunes on it as well as it is a great instrument to accompany a singer or another melody instrumet. But it requires a person become active in the mechanics of the instrument. When I have parents who wants a child to take instruction at an earlier age I usually recomend that they seek a piano instructor. Piano is an instrument where the mechanics of the instrument have been taken care of by someone else and with one one can clearly see what has to take place in order to make a sound. A very young student can take this instrument (with the right teacher) and still have some fun while learning about music. I feel guitar can be too frusterating for a child as young as eight or ten to have to wrap that childs brain around all the tedium that goes along with maintaining, tuning and then pushing the strings down hard enough on a guitar.

Of course then there are the 'gifted children' who can take lessons at a much youger age. Of course your (and my) children belong to this group. And becuse anyone with half a mind (as I have) can see by the way they sing along to my old Kiss records they have real talent. To these kids parents I have to insist that they accompany the child in the lessons because of the natures of the guitar and then (if they follow through with the first lesson) they usually last for three lessons and then piss off until the child is a little older. It's a great lesson for the parents to learn, I pocket the thirty bucks, and the unfortunate child has to sit through three boring lessons while their parent stumbels and fumbles with the cheap guitar that they perchased for ninety buck because they wanted to wait and see if the child showed 'real promise' before they went and wasted three hundred bucks on a real 'enter level' guitar.

I think that the best thing for kids is to be around music. It sounds like you are doing that. No rush to start your nine year old on too structured a course. Watch for the signs and if she is truly ready for lessons then she'll let you know. I also think that it is a good idea to get ones feet wet in lessons. By this I mean, to take a few (or two) lessons and see how it goes and then take a few more after a break. Music is supposed to be fun. One learns fastest when the activity is fun. Start a kid to young and it's not fun. I agree with BlackWalnut. I wish I could have gotten my kids into a music program like the one he teaches.

I'm kind of new to this internet thing. Is this post too long? Or does it matter?

Sincerely Toad %\