Best starter guitar???

[Anifa]

Well, this morning was frustrating; while driving him to school I asked him if he had remember to get his mouthpiece off of his practice Tuba at home and felt it to be an appropriate nonchalant time to query about a Bass. While on topic of the Tuba, I asked him if he was aware that the Tuba and Bass used to same note structure. He said, "Yes" and then I proceeded on to ask him if he thought he would like to play the Bass. A very quick response of "No" came out. He was in a grumpy mood because he wanted to watch the meteor shower last night that was to peak between 4:15 am and 5:30 am; I allowed it by setting the alarm and waking up to see it. His interupted sleep might have set the tone for his quick response, but still, I am not going to dismiss his reaction.

 

It is very interesting to watch him when over at a friends house that plays both the electric 6 string and the bass. Without prompting, my son will ALWAYS pick the one of the guitars up and start strumming it; more frequently the bass. I probably should take him over more often to see where his interest peaks, but I tend to steer clear when Jeff (my friend) starts getting into excessive heavy partying. He's a good musical friend, but he has absolutely no scruples when it comes to being around kids. I don't want my son to be influenced by anything other than music and he already thinks that Jeff is a "hero." Jeff has a CD out that is setting on the shelves of some local record stores. 12 years old is a VERY vulnerable age; and YES, I'm playing Mother Hen. My son will be tempted to experiment all too soon as it is without being placed directly in a environment that says it's OKAY to do drugs.

 

I think that my son would play either instrument if it were made available, but I don't want to trap my child into fulfilling "MY" dreams as so many parents are guilty of doing. What I might do is to go ahead and go with the things that he's begging for as Christmas gifts; video games, remote controlled cars, and things like that. Then, purchase a guitar for "MYSELF" to inspire he and my daughter both the pick up an interest in wanting to learn it. If I buy him a guitar for Christmas when he's asking for other things; he may resent it and rebel. If I go this route, I'll have to wait a bit after Christmas to recover from the impact of being Santa.

[Franknputer]

Sounds reasonable to me - 12 is such a transitional age. In a couple years, music will probably play a bigger role for him - sounds as if the seeds are already planted, and just need to sprout on their own.

 

The electronic drum pad thing sounds like a good idea, too. They're not real expensive, but could be a fun motivator for him to practice with the sticks.

 

Maybe you could have a talk with Jeff about what he means to your son, and ask him to consider that role a bit more? Maybe he can understand his influence, and take it a bit more seriously. I sympathize with your problem there - hard to find people who understand the roles they represent to kids, that don't have kids themselves (hell, even some of the ones with kids don't get it...) .