[tenwatt]

In my 15 years of playing guitar I've given lesson quite a few times BUT I've NEVER began from the ground up with a new player. I've been hired to give a 14 year old kid lessons. He's never even held a guitar before. Where would you start? Should I start by boring him with theroy or should I just teach him chords and struming patterns and teach him the theroy behind it as we go?

Anyone have any experience with this? Where would you start?

[1/2-Fast Player]

Get him playing a song as soon as possible. If you throw too much theory or single note exercises at him he'll quickly lose interest.

Start out with some very basic theory (counting rhythm, notes on the staff), teach him how to tune the guitar, then show him three basic chords like C, G7, and F and show him a simple strum. Give him a chord chart for a simple song that he can play with those three chords and let him go work on it until the next lesson.

If he walks out of that first lesson able to play (or work on playing) a song he recognizes, he'll be pumped and excited to learn more.

As you go, you can begin teaching where the notes are on the guitar, how scales work, how chords are built, various picking techniques, and all the rest, but keep him playing real music. Teach him simple versions of popular songs so he can feel like he's really playing and he can show off to his friends.

Also play along with him early in the lessons. Get him used to playing with another musician and give him the feeling of participating in music as a musician himself. This is as much about his becoming "one of us" as it is learning to play.

I read somewhere that most beginners quit within six months. Remember this, and make your priority early on that he has fun, that he makes real music, and that he sees himself progressing. Concentrate on enthusiasm first; virtuosity can come later.

[SOTC1987]

Some foundational basics are a good way to start, IMHO. First I would start by showing him how to hold the guitar properly, the proper way to sit, how to hold a pick, using the tips of his fingers, etc. I see kids trying to play their guitar with it basically laying on their lap and wondering why they can't form chords. I've been teaching some kids after church and one of the biggest problems they're running into is using the pad of their fingers instead of the tips because it "hurts".
Bad habits now will produce bad habits later.

Good luck!