From time to time, I will post answers to frequently asked questions that I receive from customers and prospective customers. Please feel free to post a question here, and I will do my best to answer it. For more immediate response, please call or email.
What is the best type of Guitar for a beginner?
I usually recommend either a Classical (Nylon-string) guitar or an electric guitar. The advantage of a Classical guitar is that the strings are easy to press down, the fingerboard is wide and therefore easier to pick out the separate strings, and you don’t need to learn to use a guitar pick to play it. However, there are advantages to starting out with an electric guitar. Those advantages are: electric guitars have a “low action” (ie, the strings are usually very close to the fingerboard) which means that the strings are easy to push down. Starting with an electric guitar would make sense if the student really identifies with electric guitar music, which is mostly what you hear in rock and pop. One disadvantage of starting with electric guitar is that you need an amp, so that is an additional investment. The guitar that most beginners should avoid is acoustic steel-string guitar, because it is generally more difficult to play.
I strongly recommend buying a guitar from Guitar Center, if you have one located near you. In my area, there is one located in El Cerrito. They have a 30-day return period, and their prices are very low. This allows my students the opportunity to bring the guitar to a lesson so I can check to see if it is a suitable guitar for them. If you find another store, be sure to check whether there is a return period.