How to Find the Best Beginner-Friendly Guitar

Learning to play the guitar is always an exciting experience for beginners. It’s the beginning of a long and wondrous journey – one which will allow you to play your favorite tunes and perhaps even create some of your own! Of course, you need to invest in the right equipment before you can do any of that. Primarily the actual guitar. This part is typically fun and frustrating in equal measure; it might be thrilling to look at all the cool guitars you can play, but it can also feel overwhelming with how many options are out there. What you want is one that’s beginner-friendly, and this guide will help you find just that.

Start With Your Budget

It’s hard to shop for a guitar without having a budget in mind. Guitars come at all sorts of prices – you’d be able to find a $20 second-hand guitar if you looked around, but you could also spend upwards of $5,000 if you wanted to. Having a budget in mind will be handy as it will reduce how many guitars you need to look at – there’s no point in browsing through guitars that cost $2,000 when you want to spend no more than $300. Try not to aim for the most expensive guitar at this stage, as you are only a beginner and can always upgrade later.

Consider What You’ll Play

What music do you plan on learning? While most guitars can play most songs, the type of tunes you plan on strumming out should play a role in the guitar you play. Most beginners choose a classic guitar, as this can play a wide range of genres beautifully, but you could also get an electric guitar, which is good for jazz, blues, and rock. It can help to look at guitar notes of your favorite songs to see what type of chords and notes you’ll be playing. Plus, this is helpful for beginners, as it provides visualization of where you should put your fingers.

Look Closely at the Strings

People who are starting the guitar find their fingers get sore pretty quickly. It’s not easy to hold down the strings consistently; it takes some effort! To make it easier, look closely at the types of strings on the guitar. Ideally, choose light strings so they aren’t as harsh on your fingers, and move on to thicker strings as you go. It also helps to keep your fingernails short!

Consider the Size

There are several different guitar sizes to consider as a beginner, including:

• Quarter Size

• Half Size

• Three-Quarters Size

• Parlor

• Full Size

Most adult beginners will want full size – the others tend to be the best guitars for children. However, the parlor-sized guitar can be good for both children and adults alike and works well if you like your guitar compact.

Test Some Out

Last but not least, test some guitars out at a music store before making your purchase. Physically holding a guitar is a lot different from seeing its image online. You can get a feel for it and see whether it will work for you. Plus, being in a music store is useful as you can ask an assistant for their advice!