The Yamaha Pacifica is a guitar that enters the conversation when talking about the pound-for-pound, dollar-for-dollar best beginner electric guitar. When you factor in the price, the build, the variety of finish options, and the quality of the tone, it’s easy to see why it’s a ubiquitous presence in school music departments. One of the biggest challenges when playing guitar as a kid is dealing with sore fingertips and wrestling with full-size, full-scale guitars. Young hands with some growing to do might benefit from a shorter-scale guitar – that means that the length from the guitar’s nut to the bridge is shorter, typically below 25”, and even as low as 21.25”, making the upper frets easier to reach. Shorter guitarists or those that like their guitars to sit higher won’t need quite as long a strap. Most of the best guitar straps will have some level of adjustment to them, so the best thing to do is play around with different settings and find what is comfortable for you. Many of us learned on full-scale instruments in our early teens, and if there was a struggle it was more that those instruments were not that playable in the first place – even as adults we’d find some of those hand-me-down firewood acoustics intimidating! Is an electric or acoustic guitar better for kids? For those parents who are worried about their child dropping their guitar, a guitar strap is well worth considering. To use a strap you need to make sure the guitar you have has two strap buttons or pins on the body of the guitar.

Playing the guitar is a fantastic way for a child to channel their energy and passion into something truly creative - it can also help boost their self-confidence, too. In addition, playing any musical instrument is a surefire way to make friends and learn audible and visual communication skills, as well as set them up with a hobby they are likely to carry with them forever. It really depends on the size of the child. As a very rough guide though 4-7 year old children should probably look at half sized acoustic guitars. 6-9/10 years olds may be better with a 3/4 sized acoustic. From ten years and up you may be better looking at a smaller body full scale instrument such as a parlour guitar. These are very rough estimates though and it may be better trying out a few things in our shop. Your child should be comfortably reaching the first fret of the guitar when sitting. Also, they shouldn't feel too uncomfortable with their arm swinging over the body.So, if your child is looking to master the six-string, then you've come to the right place, as we've got affordable electric options from Yamaha, Epiphone, Squier and Ibanez, as well as acoustic guitars from Fender, Martin and Yamaha.

One of the many benefits of a short-scale guitar is that the string tension is looser, making the strings easier to bend. The ergonomics of the instrument might be more suited to smaller frames, too. For the under 12s, a short-scale guitar, and one with maybe a 3/4-sized body would be more appropriate. A nice to have accessory for anyone who owns a guitar is a guitar stand. A stand is a great way to store your guitar safely, while still having it out so your child will see it and will want to play. It is much easier to just grab the guitar off the stand rather than having to take it out of a bag or case. It isn’t a huge amount of effort to get a guitar out of a case, but some kids will use any excuse not to practice. You don’t need to get too fancy when you are buying accessories for a first guitar. Accessories that would be a good idea are a tuner, extra strings, a gig bag, a strap, and a guitar stand. If you are buying an electric guitar, you will also need to buy an amp.

And if your child is yet to really form any strong opinions on musical taste, the acoustic guitar’s immediacy makes it an ideal blank-slate for budding young players to find their feet and develop their tastes alongside. You can play any genre on an acoustic guitar. How much should you pay for a kid's guitar? One important item that anyone who is learning guitar will need is a tuner. An electronic tuner is inexpensive, easy to use and one of the most important things that you should have when you are starting out since beginners won’t be able to learn properly if the guitar is out of tune.