Guitar for kids

My 6 year old has said that he'd like to learn guitar. But I know nothing about guitars.

I have seen online that you can get 1/2 size guitars for kids to learn with, but I don't know what is a good brand.

I don't know if he'll stick with it, so don't want to spend a fortune. Are there any decent kids size acoustic guitars for £50ish?

Cheers!

What kind of guitar? There are classical that have nylon string and a wider fret board that are used mainly in school lessons. Folk which has metal strings a narrower fret board and can be used for strumming and playing popular music. Then there's electric guitars but you would need a amp. You can also get an electro acoustic that has a hollow body like a folk or classical guitar but also pick ups. It's generally used to play Blues music.

For a beginner, don't worry about brand. Better to get something cheap that you don't mind getting abandoned or damaged, then maybe get something more expensive if he enjoys it and sticks with it. A £25 half-size acoustic is perfectly fine for learning the basics.

For example: this would be perfectly acceptable for a young beginner.

I think for ~£50 it's not really worth thinking about what's a good brand or not, as any decent brands will be way over that, even for a child's guitar. I can totally understand not wanting to spend more than that though, as it makes sense with a six year-old and not being sure if they'll stick with it. The main thing is seeing if they still like the idea of it once they start learning, if they have some rhythm and timing, can pick up chords or start to learn to read music, etc, and you can do all that with a basic guitar. Might be worth considering a classical guitar, as they're a bit cheaper and will have nylon strings - metal strings on an acoustic can be tough on a kid's fingers.

Worth looking at these maybe: https://www.gear4music.com/acoustic-guitars/types/kids
Or a couple of options here: https://strettonpayne.com/kids-guitars/?sort=priceasc

Might be worth checking out if Yamaha or Squier have kid size guitars.

Harley Benton have a mini dreadnought for around 50-60.

Having a look at the half size guitars you can only really get classical and a few electrics. Honestly I would just get anything that has a half decent rating.

Cheers all. I know nothing at all about guitars so would just be looking for something cheap he could learn on. If he hates it, then I haven't wasted too much money! At the same time, I wouldn't want something that sounds dreadful or falls apart within a few days.

MCN/Lotus, cheers for the links. Stuff like that is perfect, I'll check them out.

I got this 2 years ago for my son -

3rd Avenue XF 1/2 Size Junior Kids Classical Spanish Starter Beginner Pack Acoustic Guitar with Nylon Strings, Gig Bag, Capo and Picks – Natural https://amzn.eu/d/3zahyvw

It's on offer at mo for £58. I really didnt expect much but I was suitably impressed; it comes with a case and capo and stays in tune which is a big thing for these! Def go for nylon strings starting off for a young kid, as it'll be too sore on their fingers otherwise.

For a six year old I'd recommend a ukulele, but if you're set on six strings:

Yamaha Acoustic Guitalele, GL1 - A hybrid between guitar and ukulele (70 cm) with 6 Nylon Strings and Fitted Yamaha Gigbag

Whatever you get, make sure you also get a tuner.

Octoroc wrote:
Whatever you get, make sure you also get a tuner.

There's phone apps for that now.

Octoroc wrote:For a six year old I'd recommend a ukulele, but if you're set on six strings:

Yamaha Acoustic Guitalele, GL1 - A hybrid between guitar and ukulele (70 cm) with 6 Nylon Strings and Fitted Yamaha Gigbag

Whatever you get, make sure you also get a tuner.

I didn't think of a ukulele, that's a really good idea.

I used to work in the guitar department for one of the UK's most well known music shops.

I'm at my kids birthday party at the moment, but remind me later and I'll open the vault of knowledge in my mind*



*He wants a Fender Custom shop strat, Marshall DSL40 and a tube screamer. Trust me on this brother.

LewisD wrote:I used to work in the guitar department for one of the UK's most well known music shops.

I'm at my kids birthday party at the moment, but remind me later and I'll open the vault of knowledge in my mind*



*He wants a Fender Custom shop strat, Marshall DSL40 and a tube screamer. Trust me on this brother.

* I'm sure he would be happy with a £4k guitar. But he can buy that himself when he's grown up.

Was going to recommend a ukulele as well, both my boys have started there before eldest has moved on to a full guitar. It's a good way of giving them a taste of what it's like but at a lower cost and with less challenge to potentially put them off!

For what it's worth I started aged 7 with a 3/4 size and this possibly led me to very strong left hand technique, I'm unsure why this happened (probably a deal on the guitar via my teacher). I always appreciated having a nice instrument even if just to gaze into the wood sometimes. I had an innate musical interest but perhaps this did also somewhat influence the attention I paid to it, hard to say.

My fingers are literally longer on my left hand which arguably lends to so-called "prodigious" results. I'd err on the side of quality sub £100 but that's me. You can start and play well on any guitar that is set up and has new strings, and I often enjoy playing on borderline broken guitars as a challenge.

I'd definitely start with a classical style guitar. Steel or even electric are far to tough on young skin and the latter I would say actually takes more technique to sound like you would want it to sound. The former naturally leads well into the latter because of promoting some of the most essential techniques and being slightly harder to form undesirable habits on.

Starting young is a very good idea and can equip someone with a both a mental and creative tool for neurodevelopment especially in regards to dexterity, regulating and expressing emotion and essentially a sort of physical arithmetic, and source of soul and connection for life. It's a lovely thing and I wish you all the best of enjoyment with the process.

Edit: I just looked at the photo on my windowsil when I was maybe 8, 9 or 10 and spotting the J in the sound hole, that would appear I had a Joan Cashimira then, too. I don't remember this because I was too young, but I still have my fullsize about with a slightly smaller body than normal (maybe a quasi tenor guitar), that I picked myself from the guitar luthier who used to live next door to me. And that instrument still sounds fantastic. Something like this.



Those are midrange guitars, even at that size, probably around the £200-£250 point. My mother is/was an amazingly generous person, and we actually weren't wealthy. This surprises me, as this wasn't long after my father "moved on" leaving us with little to no money. My teacher was essentially a surrogate in some respects.

I guess I can only say, I appreciate that then and appreciate it now, too. But I still play average, random knockabout guitars in flea markets etc and think they sound objectively musical, so I'm not sure how important that actually is - especially at such an age. I suppose treasures are important and it was that; I only sold it because it was too small and I needed to fuller sounding, full scale guitar to move to grades 5 on up to, and I was told I had to do that to pay for a new guitar.

I do remember selling it for maybe £80 to £120 to get another instrument, so perhaps it's with bearing in mind good quality small guitars are in demand. To write off £20-40 quid may or may not be worth the "trial period".

I think having a fantastic teacher, being shy and somewhat isolated and so having something to "communicate with" (and to) had more to do with it than just what it was worth though. But I could tell it had intrinsic value and sounded good, which spoke to me.

I would avoid anything that is painted or has transfers on it. If it's not wood or that element is being hidden, it's going to sound flat. Definitely not composite materials (MDF, plywood etc).