Learning An Instrument

When children and young people are learning an instrument they can usually do with a little extra help to produce the music they want to. Here's our current recommended selection of material that helps them get to grips with and move to mastering their chosen musical instrument. The description of each featured item includes a link to a merchant who sells it and related material. As with all pages on our site the content on this one will be refreshed & amended as inspiringyourkids.com develops and grows.

Guitar Tuition

'The Complete Guitar Player' is designed to take the beginner from their novice status to an accomplished level. It combines three tuition books previously published singly allowing students to build their confidence with their growing knowledge, skill and technique. The learning offered is based on popular songs by the likes of Oasis, the Beatles and Eric Clapton, while all the tracks covered in the sheet music are demonstrated on an accompanying CD. To check this out and much else that an aspiring or accomplished musician might desire visit Musicroom.com

Violin Tuition

Author C Paul Herfurth's original Tune A Day books helped many youngsters from previous generations get to grips with the fundamentals of successfully playing the violin and other instruments. Now completely rewritten to appeal to contemporary kids 'A New Tune A Day For Violin' is a fantastic resource that makes practising fun, exciting and above all rewarding. The book, which boasts easy to following lessons accompanied by clear diagrams and photographs, comes with a CD providing audio examples and, as a package, provides a logical structure to build and develop technique, confidence and performance. Available from Waterstones

Recorder Tuition

Usborne's 'First Book Of The Recorder' is just what a child starting out with this humble instrument will want. Here is real clarity about getting the notes to sound like music rather than screeching, and once these fundamentals are mastered friendly cartoon characters guide the budding musician in how to set about playing a range of pop, folk and classical tunes and pieces. The additional material includes facts about the recorder together with games and puzzles, which helps the whole learning process to be fun rather than a dreaded chore. Available from Amazon

Piano Tuition

For the child embarking on the journey of learning the piano John Thompson's four part 'Easiest Piano' course represents a fun yet thorough introduction to mastering the essentials of both playing the piano and reading music. The first book in the series provides easy to understand basic guides to the keyboard, the conventions of how music is written and the time value of notes such as minims and crotchets. The tunes and exercises mesh these fundamentals with an introduction to note playing and time signatures, which is then built on and developed in the follow on books in this most coherent of courses, the objective of which in the author's own words is to 'show how early, thoroughly, entertainingly and musically - rather than how fast - each pupil can progress.' Available from Waterstones

Drum Tuition

'Play Drums Now ! A Complete Lesson In A Box Vol 1' is what it claims to be. In it UK based drum teacher Toni Cannelli presents a ninety minute DVD that provides a comprehensive introduction to what a beginner needs to learn to do with their hands and feet to be able to produce the wide range of rhythms and beats required to provide accomplished percussive accompaniment. The audio CD and drum sheets provided enable students to practise their developing technique, while the whole package, if worked at, will take kids to a level of competency where they will be confident enough to join a band. Available from Musicroom.com

Mastering Blues Guitar

Many teenagers, who have learnt the fundamentals of guitar playing and have discovered that much of the popular music they like is rooted in the blues, are keen to master this most authentic of forms. This 210 minutes of this three CD set demonstrates how to play guitar in a range of blues styles and provides a tutorial in vocal accompaniment. Available from Musicstreet

Clarinet Tuition

Providing the best available tuition for a child setting out to learn the clarinet, Book 1 of the four part 'Complete Clarinet Player' manages to pull off the trick of focusing on technique without the process becoming boring for kids. The order information is presented in will make sense to youngsters and is well selected to help build a student's knowledge and skill, while the songs chosen to accompany the process are both well known and in a sequence that helps incrementally develop technique. With details of the best pieces for clarinet to listen to to get a feel for the instrument, this excellent book provides clear photographs and diagrams concerning every note covered, while the pull out finger chart is invaluable. Available from Amazon

Saxophone Basics

Sixty-four page beginners book providing tuition and pieces for pupils setting out to learn the alto and tenor saxophone; with a variety of classical, jazz and pop pieces covered, this guide provides clear fingering charts, rhythm boxes and original exercises. Both fun and thorough in its approach, beginners will find the range of facts, quizzes and tips on musicianship and care of their instrument both useful and encouraging. Available from Musicroom.com