Hi guys, as fellow musicians I'm just curious as to how you feel about teaching music to very young kids (who may have short attention spans) especially when it comes to music?

For years I've been teaching guitar lessons, to mostly teenagers, and to some adults as well. And I enjoy teaching, you know there are a lot of people who feel they can't possibly be inspired by those who possess less knowledge than they have, but on the contrary, because there are so many young aspiring musicians today who just have that natural flair inside of them. Although they lack the proper knowledge to play with their heroes, they sure have a lot of good ideas when it comes to the structure of songwriting.

I've always enjoyed teaching, because I really get a kick oyut of the ideas that my students have come upo with over the past few years, and it's great to just unwind and chat them just to find out what's going on in their heads.

However, with fourth graders, it's a much different story. When it comes to theory, a lot of the times they don't wanna to hear about it, because they feel that the best music today is played naturally, or with just a few chords.

Kids can be brutal, however recently I accepted a job as a music teacher at a school down here in Florida, where I'll be teaching grades four-six. It's a challenge nonetheless, especially when it comes to keeping them interested, and maintaining their enthusiam when it comes to the guitar, and music theory in general.

, So Jon, and the rest of you guys who have perhaps been in this situation, perhaps you could give me some tips on how to hold court, knowing just how much information I should express on the first few sessions? The reason the job was offered to me, because the teachers that I work with know that I have the patience to deal with kids like these. However, I want to try and avoid the evitiable paper airplanes, and those nasty detention slips...

Help me out guys...

-Joseph