If your child is already big enough to start grabbing at your guitar, or you’ve caught them staring in wonder at the screen whenever the likes of Brian May, St. Vincent pops up, then it might be time to kit them out with a guitar of their own. But what kind of guitar is best for a child? Should it be electric? Should it be acoustic? What size should it be? Picking out the right guitar for you child can make or break their will to keep learning, so it has to be right, right? In this purpose-written Buyer’s Guide, we offer a helping hand. If you can’t find the answer to your question here, feel free to contact us!
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1. Should a Child’s Guitar be Electric or Acoustic?
While an acoustic (usually classical) guitar is generally considered the perfect first guitar for children, that’s not necessarily the case. Instead, it’s a much better idea to go for a guitar that will make the sound that your child wants to hear:
If your child is already in love with that classic, ripping rock sound, then they’re unlikely to be all that motivated by an acoustic guitar. In that case, it has to be an electric guitar.
If your child’s heart is set on an acoustic sound, then you have the choice between a steel-string acoustic and a classical (Spanish) guitar. Classical guitars are great for classical music and produce a round and warm sound, and the nylon strings feel more flexible. Steel-string acoustic guitars are much brighter sounding and have a classic pop/rock, folk and country style sound.
There are also electro-acoustic guitars. These guitars can be played in the same way as an acoustic guitar (there are classical and steel-string versions), but can also be plugged into an amplifier or PA.
For beginners, always choose a standard 6-string guitar.
Is your child left-handed? Then make sure to pick a left-handed guitar.
By taking note of these few tips, you can make sure that your child’s guitar-playing becomes a life-long passion rather than a short-lived phase. You can find more detailed information about the differences between electric, classical, and acoustic guitars in the blogs included below.
2. Should a Child Start with a Ukulele or a Guitar?
Since it’s so small, children can easily get along with a ukulele. Also, ukuleles only have four strings while guitars have six, so learning chords can be much easier, making the jolly, higher-pitched sounding ukulele a great starter instrument before making the transition to a guitar. This said, it’s not necessary to start with a ukulele. Many young children can start playing guitar, and it doesn’t have to be a full-sized one (see Questions 3 to 5). However, learning to play a guitar is more difficult than learning to play a ukulele, so it’s definitely worth booking a few guitar lessons, so your child can get a hang of the basic techniques without giving up too quickly.
A few comments: There is also the guitarlele (also referred to as a guitar-ukulele or guitalele). This instrument has six strings and is tuned in the same way as a guitar, is only a little bigger than a normal ukulele and has the same sound. The chord shapes are the same as those you’d play on a guitar, so there’s no need to learn anything entirely new when stepping up to a full-sized, standard guitar. However, since the guitarlele is tuned in a higher pitch, a guitarlele A-chord played on a guitar is actually an E-chord. Learning to play songs on a guitarlele can also be limited since there aren’t many song books available for the guitarlele.
3. What Size Should a Child’s Classical Guitar Be?
Assuming that the child has an average height for their age, the following tips will apply:
12 years and older: At this age, a standard sized classical guitar will be fine. The name or model of any standard sized guitar won’t include the size at all, or the size will be referred to as 4/4.
Younger children: In the included table, the recommended age is listed next to the recommended size: 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 7/8. All of these guitars have the same shape, they’re just smaller than the standard 4/4 model. These sizes are not measured as fractions, so the 1/2-sized guitar is not half the size of a standard guitar. Also, the ‘string length’ refers to the length between the nut and the bridge, and this measurement is more commonly referred to as ‘scale length’.
Assuming that the child has an average height for their age, the following tips will apply:
12 years and older (standard model): At this age, a standard-sized acoustic with a dreadnought, grand auditorium, or slope-shoulder body-shape will be fine. Make sure that you don’t pick out a mini version by mistake, like a mini-dreadnought – these have the same shape as a normal dreadnought but are a bit smaller. 12 year and older(more compact model): A steel-string acoustic with a 000 / 0M / orchestra / auditorium, 00 / grand concert, or concert body shape is also a good choice. These are kind of sorted from largest to smallest, but there’s no specific rule about how big these models are. They all have a smaller body than the dreadnought so can be more manageable for growing kids, or kids that just prefer the feel of a slightly smaller model. Also, if you really h ave no idea what size you need, then these models are a happy middle ground. Younger children: Unlike the classical guitar, there are no specific acoustic guitar sizes so it can be a little bewildering. We do advise taking a look at models with a 0 body shape, parlor guitars, 3/4 sized guitars, or a travel guitar. The actual size of the last two body shapes can vary from model to model, so the best way to check the size is to look at the scale length (the length between the bridge and nut). This measurement will be included in the specifications of almost every guitar and to give you a starting point, the standard scale length of a steel-string acoustic guitar is 35.5”, or 622mm.
Assuming that the child has an average height for their age, the following tips will apply:
10 years and older: A standard sized electric guitar should be absolutely fine for a child aged 10 or older since the body is so slim.
Younger children: For younger children, it’s a better idea to pick out a child-sized model. This does mean that there will be less to choose from and, since there are no fixed rules for the size of a child’s electric guitar, it’s worth taking a look at the scale length to get an idea of its actual size. The scale length is the measurement between the bridge and the nut and can be found in the specifications of almost any model. To give you a starting point, the standard scale length of a normal-sized electric guitar is 25.5”, or 648mm.
6. What Colour & Shape of Guitar Should I Get for My Child?
Once you’ve figured out the type of guitar you want and found the right size, then you’ll often be left with a few different body-shapes and colours to choose from. While this might not seem that important, the look of a guitar can definitely be one of the biggest motivators for playing it. Is there a particular guitar with a shape or colour that your kid can’t stop talking about? Then it’s probably worth just listening to them. If not, but you know their favourite colour, then get one in that colour, or better yet, just let them choose for themselves. Any beginner’s guitar should be so irresistable that it just has to be played every day.
Tips:
While models with really extreme body shapes like a V-shape or a super-compact travel guitar might look exciting, they’re usually really awkward when you sit down to play and are designed for more experienced guitarists.
When browsing through all of the guitars in our webshop, you can use the filters to find a guitar with the colour and shape you’re looking for.
So that the guitar actually sounds right, it’ll need tuning every time before it’s played, so the help of a tuner is essential. To keep the guitar safe when it’s not being played, a guitar stand is also a great accessory, and if your child thinks their guitar is a work of art, you could even get a wall mount, and really show it off. So your child can safely get their guitar to lessons and back, a guitar bag is definitely a good idea, and so they keep learning and playing outside of lessons, you could kit them out with a guitar book. If they want to play standing up, then a guitar strap is an obvious one, and once they have a few chords down, they might want to start playing with a plectrum. If you’re getting your child an electric guitar, then they’ll also need a guitar amplifier, see Question 8 for more information about these.
Any electric guitar is amplified by a guitar amplifier. For beginners, a combo guitar amplifier is perfect, since it’s not too big and isn’t too loud. A combo guitar amplifier combines a speaker and an amplifier in one box, and for practicing at home, an amp with a power output of 5 to 20 Watts will be enough. If your child wants to play with other musicians, they might need to upgrade to an amplifier with 30 to 50 Watts of power so that they can play at a higher volume. You can also look at the diameter of the speaker to get an idea of how loud the amplifier is. Amp speakers can be 5, 8, 10, 12, or 15-inches.
To connect the guitar up to the amplifier, you’ll need a standard 6.35mm jack to jack instrument cable with a length of about 3 metres.
Tip: Pick a combo guitar amplifier that can imitate well-known amplifiers and has a few built-in effects (these are called modelling amplifiers). This way, your child will be able to explore by playing around with something like a sparkling clean sound with an echo, or a classic distorted rock sound with some overdrive.
9. What Kind of Strings Should You Put on a Guitar?
A new guitar will always come with a set of strings installed. These strings are usually only meant as ‘demo’ strings and have already had a pretty rough ride between the factory and your living room. While you can play them with no problems, it’s likely that they could sound better. It’s also likely that one of them will break fairly quickly.
To make an entirely fresh start, it makes sense to put a new set of strings on a new guitar. It’s important to replace them with strings with the same thickness (gauge) and made of the same material. You can usually find out which strings the guitar came with by checking the specifications. For now, it’s just best to get the same or similar strings. Experimenting with different strings can wait until your child has more experience as a guitarist. If you can’t find exactly the same strings anywhere, see our Guitar String Buyer’s Guide for some extra help, or just stick to the same material and gauge.
