A first guitar does not need to be expensive. It does need to be easy to play. A guitar that fights a child’s fingers ends up in the closet, and the child decides they are “not musical” when the real problem was the instrument. Here is how I would choose one.
Start with the right size
Guitars come in fractional sizes, and getting this right matters more than the brand or the color. A guitar that is too big makes a child stretch for the first fret and hunch over the body, and both of those get tiring fast.
- 1/2 sizeroughly ages 5 to 8
- 3/4 sizeroughly ages 8 to 12
- Full sizemost kids from about 12, and adults
Ages are only a starting point, because children grow at different rates. A better test is to have your child sit with the guitar on their right leg. Their right arm should rest over the body comfortably, and their left hand should reach the first fret with the elbow still bent. If they have to straighten their arm or lean forward to get there, go down a size.
Please do not buy a guitar for them to grow into. A child who struggles with an oversized guitar for a year will not still be playing when they finally fit it. Buy for the child in front of you. Good small guitars hold their value, so you can sell it or trade up later.
Nylon strings or steel strings
This is the choice parents ask about least and should ask about most.
Nylon-string (classical) guitars have soft strings that are gentle on fingertips. The neck is a little wider, which gives small fingers more room between strings. The sound is warm and mellow. For children under about eight, nylon is usually the kinder choice.
Steel-string acoustic guitars are brighter and louder, and they make the sound of most of the songs kids already know. The neck is slimmer. The trade-off is that steel strings press harder into the fingertips, so the first few weeks are sore until calluses form. Older children who want to strum along with their favorite songs often practice more on steel strings, because it sounds like the music they love.
Neither is wrong. If your child mostly wants to sing and strum pop songs, steel on a 3/4 size is a good fit. If they are young, or you are not sure yet, nylon is the safe start.
What about an electric guitar?
Parents often assume an electric guitar is the “advanced” option. It is actually one of the easiest guitars to play. The strings are light, the neck is slim, and the strings sit close to the fretboard, so chords take less pressure.
An electric does need an amplifier, and that is where parents worry about noise. A small practice amp with a headphone jack solves it. Your child can play as loudly as they like in their headphones and the rest of the house never knows.
If your child’s heroes play electric guitar, let them start on one. Kids practice what excites them. We teach acoustic and electric guitar, and the first lessons look much the same on either: chords and real songs from lesson one, with the theory arriving underneath as you need it.
What makes a guitar easy to play
Three things decide whether a guitar is pleasant or painful, and none of them show up in a photo.
- String height. If the strings sit too high above the fretboard, every chord takes extra pressure. This is called the “action”, and on cheap guitars it is often much too high.
- Staying in tune. Tuning pegs and strings that slip mean a guitar that drifts out of tune in a single song. A beginner cannot yet hear why it sounds wrong, and they blame themselves.
- Playing in tune up the neck. A well-made guitar sounds right when you play chords further up. A poorly made one sounds sour no matter how carefully you play.
This is why I steer families away from the toy-aisle guitars and the no-name packages online. They look like guitars, but they are usually hard to play and will not hold a tune. At the beginner level, stick with the names that have built good student instruments for a long time: Yamaha, Cordoba, Fender, Squier and Taylor all make small and full-size guitars that play well out of the box.
One more tip: ask the shop to check the setup. A music store can lower the strings and adjust the neck so the guitar plays as easily as it should. It is a small job, and it makes a big difference for little hands.
The extras worth buying, and the ones to skip
You need very little beyond the guitar itself.
- A clip-on tuner. It sits on the headstock and shows whether each string is in tune. Every guitar student should have one.
- A few picks if the guitar has steel strings. A variety pack lets your child find the thickness they like.
- A guitar stand. A guitar that lives in its case does not get played. A guitar on a stand in the living room gets picked up on the way past.
- A soft gig bag if the guitar travels to lessons. Many beginner guitars come with one.
You can skip effects pedals, big amplifiers, hard cases and “starter kits” stuffed with accessories nobody uses. If you want a metronome, there is a free one on our site that works on any phone.
A note for left-handed children
Left-handed guitars exist, and some left-handed players are happier on one. Plenty of left-handed people also play a standard guitar without trouble, because both hands do demanding work on a guitar. If your child is left-handed, ask before you buy. It is an easy conversation, and it saves you buying twice.
Too young for guitar?
For the youngest beginners, a ukulele can be the best first step. It has four soft nylon strings, it is small and light, and a child can play a real song in the first week. The chord shapes and the habits they learn carry straight over to guitar later. If your child is five or six and desperate to play “the guitar,” a good ukulele may be the happiest place to start.
The short version
Get the size right. Choose nylon for young children and steel or electric for older ones who are excited about the sound. Buy a name brand, ask for a setup, and add a tuner and a stand. That is a first guitar your child can actually learn on.
