Buy a guitar that says “play with me”! A new school year, new hobbies! Which guitar should I actually buy for son/daughter? Simple but extremely important: a guitar that says “play with me” !
When you go to the music store to buy a guitar, please don’t tell them you don’t know anything about guitar or music … There is a 99% chance that they will send you outside with a classical guitar in your hands. And the chance is 99.9% that you will put this guitar for sale on Kapaza 3 weeks later because son / daughter has stopped. Very unfortunate. I see on the internet and Facebook music schools and music teachers giving advice to the parents of starting guitar students: “Take a guitar with this type of top for a better sound, and such a type of body for better resonance and warmer sound reproduction, and that type of neck with this fingerboard, and that brand, and spend at least as many Euros, etc”. Hahaha, a better sound, really ? Come on quacks, we’re talking about starters, so what’s the “warm sound” of a guitar? Shouldn’t they first learn how to put their fingers and how to play music, before they might think about the warm sound and good resonance? A good guitarist even sounds warm on a broomstick with wax wire!
What is really important when you buy a guitar for yourself, son or daughter?
1. The guitar must be easy to play and fit well in the hand / lap, so a bombardon of a classical guitar … forget it
2. Choose the right size 4/4 or 3/4 depending on the age and size of the child (3rd kindergarten to about 2nd grade I use a 3/4 guitar in class)
3. Don’t spend too much money. Then it doesn’t hurt if after some time your child says that he prefers to play drums instead of playing the guitar. An expensive guitar doesn’t make you a better musician…
4. Don’t be fooled into thinking that your child should start on a classical guitar first (because that’s how everyone does it… sigh), then western guitar and THEN electric guitar. Complete nonsense! An electric guitar plays much easier to start, and the style choices are much more extensive. If your child wants to play classical music, buy a classical guitar. If it wants to play other styles of music, buy an electric guitar!
5. Most importantly : a guitar has to be super cool! Buy a guitar that you are proud of, the right color, the right shape, a guitar that you want to show to everyone, a guitar that you want to stroke, smell, that you just can’t stay away from, … In short, a guitar that says to you “play with me” !