Music therapy has been around for many years. It is recognized as a tool for helping patients with emotional and behavioral problems like depression and ADHD. While the usual instruments used are the drums, cymbals, and other instruments that do not need too much instructions, the guitar is now being introduced as an option to consider. Learning to play guitar requires some finger dexterity, and this comes with limitations as to who can learn to play guitar. Nevertheless, allowing disabled children to handle the guitar is a start towards giving them new hope and opportunities.
One of the uses of easy guitar lessons for disabled children and senior citizens is as a motivational tool. For children with ADHD, they develop the drive to sit down for at least half an hour to strum a guitar. It gives them a chance to learn how to focus on making sounds, and eventually playing simple songs.
Senior citizens are also open to learning to play guitar, mainly because it is reminiscent of days when the guitar was a popular.
The beauty of learning to play a guitar is that by learning a few chords, you can create music. After learning the basics, which includes how to care for the guitar, there is a lot of freedom to play anything. Even just strumming the guitar can relax children and senior citizens easily.
Music appreciation through easy guitar lessons can also help children with autism or learning disabilities, as well as speech and emotional problems. Furthermore, by learning to play the guitar, the children and senior citizens have a unique opportunity to enhance their social skills.
In Manhattan, an innovative approach by the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center uses music as a means for getting patients to release tension and anger. They believe that music can heal the spirit, just as medicines can heal the body. With music, they can connect with the rest of the world and the people around them.
With easy guitar lessons, children are taught how to follow schedules, and the need for practice. They also get a lot of free time to just play the instrument of their choice. Learning to play guitar is just one of the ways to draw out a child or a senior citizen, and make them feel important.
Here are some guidelines you can use in helping a child learning to play guitar:
1. Keep the pace slow and repetitious. While you may find it boring and redundant, they won’t.
2. Give prices or tokens as a reward system
3. Insist on practice
4. Give them a choice of songs to learn, making sure that the songs are appropriate for their level of playing
5. Start a band with drums, guitars, and any other instruments you can think of
6. Give them a chance to vocalize how they feel about the easy guitar lessons, and if they want to pursue the lessons or not
7. Inject fun into every lesson
These are just a few of the things you can try if you have a disabled child or a child who has gone through emotional distress in his life recently. Music has a gentle way of healing broken spirits.
Originally posted 2009-12-10 03:29:44. Republished by Old Post Promoter
