Here are some examples of the revolutionary results we are getting with very young kids using Liberty FLIP capos and the amazing Liberty Guitar Method. These feature some copyrighted material, and some other people's children, so they are private videos that aren't widely available for viewing. There is nothing like seeing real children playing real music in real life with real instruments to show the power of this idea.
There are a few more videos on our YouTube channel, and we plan to put up a lot more soon, and there are dozens of videos of Liberty Tuning pioneer Harvey Reid using these capos for more advanced things.
A 7-year-old boy (Levi) playing on various adult guitars – the first Liberty Guitar "poster child." Levi learned to play like this with no effort or "practicing." The first time he ever had a tuned guitar in his hands, at age 6, he played this. It's also at the bottom of this page.
These are all unedited videos, shot on an iPhone. His family doesn't believe in children's music or children's instruments, and we think this shows the value of kids playing songs they like, the way they want to play them, instead of always being in the shadow of adult teachers, accompanists and conductors. An excellent demonstration of this exciting new way to play guitar, that uses a Liberty FLIP Model 43 capo and little musical pixie dust. When have you ever seen a young child strumming and singing a song like this? It's about to start happening a lot, and though Levi has good musical ability, almost any kid could also learn to play these chords.
Here is Levi playing for Bob Taylor at the Taylor Guitars factory.
Teaching the same song to his 2nd grade music class.
Levi happily playing his Dad's giant Leo Kottke Model 12-string (first time he ever touched it) with medium gauge strings and high action-which is as far from a "children's guitar" as anything could be... Don't buy a short-scale guitar for your kids! There is a better way.
Singing for legendary luthier Jean Larrivee, testing out a special prototype guitar...
Relaxing by the poolside like a rock star, Levi takes his new Taylor GS Mini for a spin...
Helping teach our first Liberty Guitar class in our town in Maine
Triumphantly leading his 3 pals (Nick, Esme and Olivia, who learned the Liberty Method at recess in a few hours of practice...) to back up the whole school singing in "This Land" for their Immigration Day, where the 4th graders all dress up as their ancestors. This is what we think kids' guitar music should be about.
Children rocking a church service, with no adults conducting or supervising...
This unedited iPhone video shows Otto & Levi & their cousin Patty perform the South African hymn "Siya Hamba" during the February service at the Community Church of Durham NH. Patty had been playing Liberty Guitar for about a week and was able to join in. 7-year-old Levi is the song leader, and his 10-year-old brother is helping. No adults are playing anything, though the congregation starts singing, clapping and even stands up as the excitement builds.
A man learns a simple song in a couple minutes and plays it easily and comfortably for his young daughter and wife...
Our fisherman friend Tim learned to play Wheels on the Bus, and led a sing-along (in the key of C for you music teachers) with his wife & daughter in his first 5 minutes of learning Liberty Guitar. This was not edited and was obviously not staged. This is why we call the Liberty Guitar Method "Guitar For Everyone."
Otto (age 10) rehearsing "Peace Like a River"
Otto Reid was the first kid to learn the Liberty Guitar Method, and though he doesn't practice, he does it with no effort. Here is an impromptu rehearsal at church to make sure he was ready to back up the kids singing group for their performance.
2 Kindergartners perform a simple song in church with 10 mins of practice.
(Neither Nora (left, age 6) or Charlotte (right, age 5) own an instrument or have any particular musical background, but in a few minutes of practice and guidance they were able to play Liberty Guitar Method chords on guitar and baritone ukulele and perform this at the UCC church service Dec 13 2015. A shining example of the fact that even quite young kids can contribute real music to the world and have a good time doing it. It's called "I Can't Wait for Christmas Day" and was written for them to perform by Harvey Reid.) Nora is playing an adult guitar.
Six Children perform "Silent Night" in church.
[At the Dec 13 2015 service at the UCC church in York Maine, Otto Reid (hard to see him in the back on guitar) played Liberty Guitar and sang with the "Young Voices" (Charlotte- age 5, Nora- age 6, Levi- age 7, Ava- age 9, Clementine- age 9) For you music teachers, they were in the key of G. Except for the Reid boys, these kids have almost zero musical background, and they arranged this with only a little adult assistance and not much rehearsing, and performed it by themselves. We think they did a fine job. The Liberty Guitar Method allows kids like this (and adults too of course) to play their own music, which is good for them and good for the world. (Captured on an iPhone and posted unedited.)
Otto rocks the 4th grade school play.
9 year-old Otto Reid rocks the school play all by himself, using only his Dad's electric guitar. He is using Liberty Tuning Version 1, with just 1 boy and 1 guitar. A very impressive demonstration of the power that Liberty Guitar can put in the hands of young children. Taken with an iPhone camera in the audience. No adults had anything to do with performing this song.
6-year-old Levi performs his first song on guitar.
Levi in his first on-stage performance using the Liberty Guitar method with 2 Liberty FLIP capos. He is singing in the key of C. (He stole his father's guitar for this, and was making fun of his neighbor "John from Maine" who is laughing in the audience.) This marked the beginning of Levi's musical performing, and the first demonstration of the tremendous power of the Liberty Guitar idea.