# I Knew I Should Have Started Learning When I Was Younger!



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

These kids are kindergarten age. Their timing is remarkable.

http://webcafe.net.hr/forwarduse/video/inner.html?select=201103080006503


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Ummm, wow!? How do you teach kids that age to do something like that?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Well, they live in an atmosphere of educational discipline and guided (ie coached) practice, where music is highly valued and pursued, and likely have very good parental supervision besides very good teachers. Their comparative youth helps. Compared to the way many students work, they are superhuman. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

mrmatt1972 said:


> Ummm, wow!? How do you teach kids that age to do something like that?


Beat them? ... wow 5 yr old robots ...


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

shoretyus said:


> Beat them? ... wow 5 yr old robots ...


i think that's a little harsh. i don't know if you have kids, but universally, they all want to please.
they want to hear "great job! that's wonderful" they love to run and play like all other kids, but they've been guided towards excellence. kids will work their little butts off for just the littlest bit of praise. tiger mom is sensational, and gathers alot of attention. but truth is, kids won't respond to that sort of thing indefinitely. they're way too smart for that. 
good for them i say, and truth be told, i am powerless to their cuteness. robots are not cute like that.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Thanks for posting this link. My wife and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The children are so talented !! ...individually and collectively.
I love the way they all got into the groove.

While watching the video, I couldn't help but think of the relative proportions of the size of the guitars to the height of the children. This would be compared to an adult sitting and playing a cello, or even a stand up bass, in the manner that a classical guitar is played. 

Cheers

Dave


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Sorry I am just not fond of that kind of thing. I just can't help think of how much fun they may have missed practicing.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

They're not 5. They're obviously not 12, but they aren't 5. You can get certainly squeeze motor skills out of very young children, but the sort of demonstrative "Hey, look at me, I'm having so much fun!!" expressions, and the co-ordinated movement of the kids as they all shift around and then look toward each other? HIGHLY atypical of 5 year-olds. You can't coach what kids can't spontaneously do themselves, and kids that age lack the social insight to co-ordinate their visual expression like that, and the attentional/cognitive capacity to co-ordinate facial expression and playing simultaneously.

When you consider what it takes to master 1st language (which is also a motor skill, as well as cognitive), the guitar-playing is certainly feasible for that age (and is even probably easier), but not the self-consciousness required for the social presentation involved.

Still, impressive for 8 year-olds.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

mhammer said:


> They're not 5. They're obviously not 12, but they aren't 5. You can get certainly squeeze motor skills out of very young children, but the sort of demonstrative "Hey, look at me, I'm having so much fun!!" expressions, and the co-ordinated movement of the kids as they all shift around and then look toward each other? HIGHLY atypical of 5 year-olds. You can't coach what kids can't spontaneously do themselves, and kids that age lack the social insight to co-ordinate their visual expression like that, and the attentional/cognitive capacity to co-ordinate facial expression and playing simultaneously.
> 
> When you consider what it takes to master 1st language (which is also a motor skill, as well as cognitive), the guitar-playing is certainly feasible for that age (and is even probably easier), but not the self-consciousness required for the social presentation involved.
> 
> Still, impressive for 8 year-olds.


There are some exceptional kids that can do that. I have a video of a friend whose *3 year old son* gave a four minute Bible reading in their congregation. This kid read exceptionally well with pitch, pace, gestures (both facial and hand), and handles difficult multi-syllable words better than many teenagers. 

So, while not all kids are this talented at such a young age, some are, as these kids show. If you don't believe it's possible, PM me and I'll send you a link to the video. Regards, Steadfastly


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

One thing at a time (which is what reading with expression is), sure. Two things at a time (a complex motor and memory skill like playing AND social coordination), not so much. Much much easier to find older kids who look 5 than to teach kids at age 4 to acquire those sorts of skills.

Let's just say the credibility of "feats" achieved by very young Chinese kids is questionable, given what happened at the Olympics.


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## Adrian (Sep 27, 2010)

*Just starting up again*

I'm 41. Took electric guitar from ages 12-16 and learn some basics and soloing lead riffs.

Stopped completely after that. Been playing for 5 months now and have learn 2.5 songs. The last one is half way threw.

I find it hard to coordinate my playing (motor/memory with audience -- visual smiling etc). Either I do one or the other but I can't do both simultaneously or I mess up.

Any advice? How do I get better at multitasking this way?

I find the only thing I can do is talk and speak to audience in between breaks of songs. That way they feel attended to and I can also concentrate properly when I play. I introduce the song, and smile and communicate with audience, and then play without any interruptions.

Any tips?

P.S. 41 isn't young but I know 55 years old who play in bands and multitask like crazy. Its really all about practice. But I wondered if you pros can help me out. How do I feel like I'm not neglecting the audience if I don't even take my eyes off the guitar for fear of messing up notes? I assume use a lot of pedals so my memory is being used intensely.

dsouza


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Its like any sort of skill acquisition. When you started walking, you could make your legs move OR look around, but you couldn't do both (ever noticed how toddlers placed in a new environment have a habit of falling over because of the distractions?). When you learned to ride a bike, you couldn't initially pedal AND steer. When you learned to read you couldn't figure out what THAT word was and keep track of whether the sentence made sense or not at the same time.

All skill acquisition relies on extensive practice rendering the micro-components automatic, so that the person can pay more attention to the higher-level aspects of the task.

For my part, it's a no-brainer as to what will get you to the point at which you'd like to be. The hard part is figuring out how the dickens you're going to fit all that practice into the midst of a full adult life. I would hope at this point, the motivation doesn't come from locking yourself up in your room, thinking that one day this is gonna get you laid. If maturity deprives us of potential motives for diligent practice like that, and if it throws stuff like grocery shopping, waiting for the muffler to get replaced, pretending to like the movie your wife is watching, driving your kids to this or that, where do you insert the thousands of hours of woodshedding?


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Well, never going to complain about having small hands again!


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