Cart 0

3 Top Tips When Choosing a Guitar for a Child

Posted by Brittens Team on

With many types, styles, costs and sizes of guitar, how do you know which guitar to buy for a child? We have 3 Top Tips to consider when looking. 

1 - Buy a Real Guitar - if you want them to learn to play

If you are hoping the child will take to the guitar and learn to play, they will need a real guitar from a trusted musical-instrument supplier. A properly made guitar will be more comfortable to play, tune-up correctly and stay in-tune more efficiently.  

(A toy guitar or very cheap, poorly made example will be uncomfortable to play, lose its tuning and quickly leave them frustrated and ready to give up.) 

2  - Choose a Classical Guitar

Choosing the right guitar for a child

There are three main types of guitar: Classical (sometimes known as ‘Spanish’), Acoustic (often known as ‘Folk’) and Electric (including Bass).

Each of these types are constructed differently, while lots of children like the idea of having an Electric guitar, and some of the Acoustic ones can seem colourful, we always recommend starting with a Classical guitar of the right size. They are the ideal instrument for any beginner and especially children, and there are size options available.

Due to the way Classical guitars are constructed they have softer tension on the strings*, making them more comfortable to play when holding down the strings on the fretboard to create chords - especially important for little fingers.
Whether an absolute beginner or a young student going through their grades, comfort while playing and stable tuning are both very important. The easier it is to play, the more likely it is that a child will want to keep practicing. 

*Acoustic and Electric guitars both have higher tension strings. For more details see our blog What Guitar Strings Should I Use?)

3 - Choose the Right Size Guitar - Important for comfort and building the right habits

If you buy a guitar from Brittens, we offer a free in-store sizing-service to ensure that the guitar you buy is correct for the child. You may also find that your guitar teacher can advise you about sizing. 

Buying the correct size of guitar is key; if the guitar is too large, the child may over-stretch and not be able to correctly form the shapes of the chord patterns when learning, if it's too small they will tend to scrunch and assume an uncomfortable posture when playing, and in doing so, may pick up poor playing habits.

Choosing a guitar - How much do they cost?

We have a range of Classical guitars designed especially for children and smaller players from 1/4 size upward, in a range of prices, take a look or pop in-store and have a chat to one of our team who will be pleased to help.  

Share this post

← Older Post Newer Post →