Giving the Gift of Music this Holiday Season
Thank you Fender for sponsoring this post. Learn guitar at home with Fender Play!
Finding the perfect gift for your teenagers can be such a challenge. At this age, teens are over toys but they are young enough that giving them practical gifts like clothes is just not going to be exciting for them. Fender has the perfect gift idea for teens this year. Their Fender Play service is an amazing way for teens to learn to play the guitar from home.
A few months ago, we shared a bit of our experience about Fender Play, a seriously cool new service from Fender that lets teens (or anyone else) take guitar lessons from home.
As a (sometimes too) busy family of 8, finding time to take 6 different kids to 6 different lessons/team practices/after school activities is just not going to happen. We typically limit our kids to one activity at a time, and even then, we generally stagger kids so everyone doesn’t have something going on during the same part of the year.
Fender Play makes it really easy for my teenager to learn how to play the guitar in the time he has available, and keep up his skills throughout the year. I’ve been amazed that, with no musical background, my teenager has been able to teach himself the basics of guitar and learn some of his favorite songs in just a few months by going through the online guitar classes on Fender Play.
Now that my son has been using the Fender Play program for a few months, I asked him what it was about the program that he liked. He said that he really appreciated that there were multiple instructors so he gets to see a few different styles. He also loves that not only are there some great lessons in the program, there are also instructions for playing some of the songs he’s already familiar with so he could get started playing right away.
Fender Play would be an amazing Christmas gift for a teen (or adult who wants to learn how to play). It hits all my goals for the perfect gift: clutter-free, something that teaches a skill, and something that gets my kids unplugged. The nice thing is, your teenager can get on the app and start using it right away. It’s always a bit of a bummer when I give classes or experiences that can’t be enjoyed on Christmas Day. The Fender Play app can be used Christmas Day so your teen can enjoy his gift immediately.
A few of my other kids have tried to learn instruments on their own before and not had much success. The resources they found were not linear and they had trouble getting a grasp on the basics they needed.
Fender Play changes that. The online learning program is designed to help new guitar players get started playing in minutes, so it’s fun right from the beginning. The hundreds of instructional videos and hands-on exercises help new players learn the basics and improve on their skills step-by-step. The curriculum is designed so that students learn something new, whether that’s a skill, riff, or full song, every few lessons. As kids see progress in their skills, they are motivated to keep learning.
Fender play uses top-quality 4K multi-camera video production so the quality is great. I actually enjoyed watching few myself and may have to sneak in some time with my son’s guitar while he’s at school, because they were entertaining and made guitar seem straightforward.
I’m excited to see the progress my son makes. Research has shown that there are so many benefits to playing the guitar. Kids who play the guitar do well socially, tend to be more confident, have improved coordination and math skills, and so much more. Those are the real gifts I want to give my kids.
Enter to Win
We’ve got Christmas covered for one lucky winner. Enter to win one of 15 Fender Guitar Squier® Strat® Packs, each containing a Short-scale 24″ Stratocaster guitar in Black or Brown Sunburst, a Squier Frontman® 10G amplifier, a pack of picks, guitar strap, and a 10-foot instrument cable (ARV $199.99 each).
This giveaway will run through December 8, 2017.
Winners will be randomly selected and notified by CLEVER and/or Fender by December 12, 2017
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
This is a great teen gift for Christmas. My daughter would love it!
Hi Rachel, and thanks for writing about Fender Play! I actually recommended it in the past to friends who wanted alternatives to traditional one-on-one lessons. I’m still to check in on their experience so far but reading your article gave me peace that it’s a very good program. As a guitarist myself, I really wish this was something that existed back when I was a teen who was teaching myself how to play the guitar. It would have been the best Christmas present ever. Your son is so blessed!