Reply
Wed 5 Jan, 2005 06:05 pm
Anybody know? I'm thinking of getting one for my almost 5-year-old and want to know which one would make a better instrument to learn on.
acoustic guitars have steel wound strings....classical nylon strings....acoustics have narrower more electric like necks it really depends on what the interest is.....a beginners scaled down 3/4 acoustic would probably be better for a young child to gauge theri natural talent if any and interest level...
I was looking at the half size, being the cheap bastard that I am. And you hit the nail on the head, I have no idea if he'll take to it or not so I don't want to over invest or choose something that will be hard for him to learn on. So far he's shown interest in that he likes to wrap rubberbands around tissue boxes and 'play' them. So you think acoustic over classical?
An acoustic burns better....
But you need the clean lines of an electric guitar to do the job with style...
DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!
Bi-Polar Bear wrote:yes...
Cool. Thanks for the advice, Bear.
But you know I have to ask why, right? Does it just sound better, or is it easier to learn?
Cute, Mr. Stillwater. I imagine if his little sister gets a hold of it it will look something like that.
Ah, good point. Someone told me nylon strings were easier on the fingers, but I hadn't thought about his ability to reach around the neck. You can tell I don't play the guitar.
Thanks again, Bear.
I was gonna say nylon strings but after thinking about it a little longer I go with Bear and say slimmer neck and steel strings.
Fingers might hurt at first, but after a week or two it'll be over and barre chords (the ones where you press all the strings with only one finger) are easier on a slim neck.
Ok. I just ordered this one.
http://store.middletownschoolofmusic.net/la30stacgupa.html
It seemed like a good price since that's roughly what the ones at the toy store cost. In fact, it's a little bit cheaper than some of them.
Thanks for the input guys. I was leaning heavy towards the classical but you swayed me.
Mr Stillwater wrote:An acoustic burns better....
But a classical guitar burns hotter
The nylon strings are easier on the fingers for a beginner, but it doesn't take long playing with steel strings (3-4 hrs?) for the callouses to develop on his finger-ends, which stop it from hurting.
Yep, once accustomed to the acoustic guitar, learning classical guitar will be much easier. It doesn't really work the other way around, for kids. Also, you can get light guage strings, which aren't too hard on the fingers.
he'll never keep nines in tune without the guitar set up differently...on top of that...because a new player will be struggling with chords and finger placements...he'll stretch the strings all over the place for awhile anyway which will constantly knock it out of tunes...10's at the lightest is my advice. 10's on an acoustic are considered extra light....
Ah yes, BPB. I play electric and forgot about the differences with non-electrics.
What does anyone think about the idea that daddy should learn to play at the same time as the kid? So maybe he could help dad learn to change from B7 to A without buzzing the strings.
Joe
If daddy hasn't mastered that yet...perhaps it's time to limit playing to in front of the bathroom mirror, air guitaring it with the loofah
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace