Choosing Your First Guitar

I'm often asked by aspiring guitarists (or for young guitarists, their parents) which is the best guitar for a beginner.

The best advice is what I heard from my guitar teacher: get the one you want to play.  A guitar that you find fun to play will make you want to practice, and practicing will make you better and want to play more.  A guitar that suits the music you love may give you more joy than one that is designed for other genres.

Nonetheless, I would like to share some principles that may help in choosing your first guitar.

Easy to Play

One of the pains of initiation as a guitar player is to develop callouses on your fretboard hand.  This takes weeks and hours of uncomfortable practice. You can spare yourself some of the pain by starting with a nylon string or electric guitar, as a steel string acoustic guitar is roughest on the fingers.  A 12-string guitar is even tougher to learn on; I would steer clear unless you have a powerful attraction to Tom Petty and George Harrison songs that demand 12-string.

The Right Size and Weight

Another usability factor is the size of the guitar, and for electric guitars, the weight.

Acoustic guitars come in several sizes, from parlor to dreadnought.  Try them out and see how comfortable they feel sitting and standing.  I prefer a small bodied acoustic with a wider neck, for instance.

The size problem is particularly acute for children.  Smaller 1/2 and 3/4 size guitars are available for children.  Some will not support standard tuning so be sure to check for this when purchasing.

How Much to Spend

Entry level guitars are surprisingly inexpensive, and the cost of quite serviceable instruments has decreased over the years even as quality standards have improved.

Nonetheless, there are inexpensive guitars that can justifiably be called cheap because their quality is not good enough to serve a player.  They can create frustration if they are uncomfortable to play, do not stay in tune or has poor intonation (notes that are true throughout the neck). Some problems can be solved by a setup by a guitar technician.

I have two friends who bought electric guitars that turned out to be duds. One was a non-name solid-body guitar on eBay and one was a Fender Squier Stratocaster.  Both of them were disappointed with the guitars which they ended up abandoning for more reliable instruments.

There is a healthy market for used guitars, and you can take advantage of it for starter guitars.  You could also purchase a nicer used guitar (say $500) and sell it later for nearly what you paid for it.

Where to Buy

I recommend that you purchase your first guitar at your favorite local music store.  People who work at the store are knowledgeable and will stand behind their instruments.  When you have questions, the music store will be able to help you, and they often host music teachers or can connect you to a guitar teacher.

Since I live in Washington, DC, I am fortunate to have several great music stores.  The best one for guitars is Washington Music Center (also known as Chuck Levin's).  Going to Chuck's is a great experience, like a bazaar for musicians with tremendous selection of all the top brands and sales staff that are top notch.  It will remind you of the music store in Blues Brothers. In my neighborhood we have Middle C Music which offers instruments, excellent music classes and a wide selection of sheet music and books for all instruments.  As you might expect, Guitar Center offers a wide selection.  

Learn to Read Music

Many guitarists don't learn to read conventional musical notation. Instead, they rely on playing by ear, guitar tab notation, chord diagrams and lyrics with chord letters.

Learning to read music seems like an extra hurdle to many beginners, and you can point to excellent blues and rock guitarists who did not read music.

The problem is that guitar tab doesn't tell you everything you need to know to play a song, especially in terms of rhythm and melody. Adding this information to a tab can overload what tab is best at conveying.

You are doing your bandmates a big favor by learning to read music. Nearly all keyboard players and singers can read music as well as most bass players I know.

It's easy to find resources such as books, videos, and learning apps to get any guitarist past the first hurdles of musical literacy.

Start with Nylon String Guitar

 Yamaha CG172SF Nylon String Flamenco Guitar

 Many aspiring acoustic guitar students, especially children, give up before they acquire the callouses and strength necessary to make a steel string acoustic guitar sound good. It's hard to learn to fret the strings properly, and the rattling and dissonance of poorly fretted chords is discouraging.

The problem is exacerbated by the high action of most beginner folk guitars. The large size of dreadnought bodies, the most popular and widely available acoustic guitars, add to the challenge.

Nylon string guitars are easier to fret, and have smaller bodies that are more comfortable to hold. They sound great for solo performances, and are suitable not only for classical, flamenco, Latin and jazz but also for finger style folk and many rock songs.  Willie Nelson plays a well aged nylon string guitar.

Yamaha offers great values in nylon string guitars, including smaller versions for children. Based on my first guitar teacher's recommendation, I started with a Yamaha CG172SF. If you decide to move on to steel string acoustic or electric, you can sell a quality nylon string guitar for nearly what you paid for it.

Do yourself or your child a favor by considering a nylon string guitar to start.

Gear List for the Beginning Guitarist

From time to time, a new guitarist or their family member asks what gear you need to start out learning guitar.  The good news is that there is nearly a limitless assortment of gear that guitarists find useful and enjoyable, so if you know a guitarist you should never be at a loss for a gift idea.

For some reason, guitarists are particularly prone to gear acquisition syndrome (GAS).   I'm sure there are pianists who collect gear as well, but in my experience they are less likely to go gadget crazy.

I do not recommend purchasing a bundle of accessories along with your guitar unless you sre sure that they are high quality.  Some cheap accessories are more annoying than they are useful.

In addition to a guitar (and amplifier and cable if you are learning electric guitar), here is the minimum that you will need to get started:

• guitar case -- if your guitar didn't come with one, you need to get it. Gig bags can be handy and will keep dust off your instrument, but hard cases are much better, especially if you are transporting the guitar in a car. 
• humidifier -- you need this for acoustic guitars if you are in a low humidity environment, such as indoors in winter in many parts of the country. If you have a fine acoustic guitar this is a no-brainer. 
• guitar stand -- handy and prevents damage to your instrument. The very best one that I own is the Hercules stand with neck cradle.  It is much more stable than the cheap and light stands, and the neck cradle has saved my dropping an instrument on stage. At some point you may need a multi-guitar stand as well. 
• picks -- try different sizes, shapes, and thicknesses until you find your favorite.  
• music stand -- I prefer the beefier models which can support a book and not just a few sheets. 
• tuner -- Buy a decent one.  Many types are available, including clip-on units and tuning pedals (the way to go for electric).  I used the Boss TU3 Chromatic Tuner Pedal. It seems expensive but totally worth the money. I also like the inexpensive clip-on tuners such as D'Addario NS Micro Clip-On Tuner.  You can download tuning apps for your smart phone but dedicated tuners are usually better.
• metronome -- practicing with a metronome is essential but often neglected by guitarists.  You can go with a standalone metronome, or combination tuner/metronomes are available as well.  There are apps for metronome for smart phones and computers which can be handy -- these are often better than the tuning apps.
• strap -- This is your opportunity for self expression.
• capo -- Be sure it's the right model for the width of your guitar's neck. 
• extra strings -- Changing strings is like getting a new guitar for $10.  You can save money buying strings in bulk. Strings.com is an excellent source for buying strings, especially if you purchase in bulk. 
• wire cutters and string winder -- handy for changing strings unless you like to have a mangy string coil on your headstock. Repair kits contain these items along with screwdrivers and wrenches for common repairs.

All these accessories are a great start for your guitar playing.   

I Love the Bands I Love

Remember the strength of our bonds to bands back in high school?   We were passionate about our music, and would defend our taste from any classmates.    Sometimes you had to pick sides -- you couldn't be a Stones and  Beatles fan at the same time.  In its exquisite extreme, I had friends who were exclusionists, devoted to one and only one band.    There was the Neil Young guy, the Eric Clapton guy, the Jimi Hendrix guy, and legions of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd guys.   I worked with a friend who played Springsteen non-stop at the office for at least 10 hours a day. I say guys because in high school they took music much more seriously than girls.  Since then, I have met many women who are as devoted to music.

While I have changed quite a bit since high school, I still love music, and my devotion to recording artists is strong.  When I find an artist who is new to me, I explore their catalog and listen to live versions of their songs.    I also listen to songs over and over, especially if I'm trying to learn them. 

It's fun to find a new artist or discover a new side to a musician that you never encountered before.  I will share some of my favorites, especially the ones you may not know, on this blog.

Here are some artists that you may not know who are high on my list of favorites:

Bobby Bare, Jr. -- alt-country at its best from the heir to a Nashville legend.

Whitehorse -- Canadian duo specializing in Americana. I have seen them live when they come to town and hope to see them on their home turf.

Devil Doll -- I would start with her Queen of Pain album.