Buy a Guitar

These buy a guitar tips will hopefully help you avoid the most common mistake most people make when starting to learn guitar.

Whatever you do...
DON'T buy a Nylon String Classical Guitar to learn modern guitar on!

Most beginners start with classical type nylon string guitars when buying a guitar.

Parents tend to buy them for their children because they think nylon strings make it easier.  They DON'T! They make it harder.

While nylon strings are softer on the fingers, the very wide neck and flat shape of the fretboard makes it extremly difficult for kids to play chords. When my young students turn up for their first lesson with a classical guitar, I talk to their parents and advise them to buy an electric guitar pack.

There are several reasons for this:

• Easy to play! Even though they have steel strings, they are easy to press down and get a good sound right away.
• They have a narrow, curved fretboard. The curve fits the natural shape of the fingers and makes it a lot easier to learn and play chords successfully.
• Very Motivating. Your kids will think they are a rock star. These packs are really motivating... they want to practice! My young students that have these guitar packs with an amplifier learn much, much faster and are much more motivated. They love it.
• Classical guitars are not designed for playing modern guitar music. They just don't cut the mustard for playing modern music. Classical guitars are designed for a very different guitar playing technique which is NOT related to playing modern western music. Using one of these is like trying to chop wood with an adze. Get a chainsaw and be done with it.

So give yourself and your kids the BEST chance to learn and follow through. Buy a guitar that fits their hands.

Even a traditional Western Acoustic guitar is 10 times better than a classical. Narrower curved fretboard is what you want... acoustic or electric. 

Once you have a guitar, you need to learn to play it. Here's the learn guitar method I recommend. It's great for acoustoc and electric guitar.

NEXT: Basic must-know guitar chords theory.