What is the best brand of acoustic guitar for a beginner?
I am familiar with music, i’ve played the piano for 5 years and the clarinet for 4. However, I want to learn the acoustic guitar and I haveno experience in that.
I am looking for a cheapo brand to learn and practice on. Since it ‘s my first guitar I don’t want to spend a lot of money, but at the same time I don’t want it to sound like a toy. What brands offer the most value and durability for beginners?
Also, would it be better to take private lessons, or group lessons?
I learned to piano via private lessons, and the clarinet through group lessons in my school. I have to say that I favored the group lessons- since my classmates were there I felt more confident. However some music veterans tell me than private lessons are more focused towards progress. What is your opinion on this?
7 Responses to “What is the best brand of acoustic guitar for a beginner?”
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I’m taking group lessons, and they’re kind of slow, but they’re much easier to understand. If you’re the intelligent, driven kind, go for the private, but if you like a more comfortable air, and like to take your time learning things, go for the group lessons.
I don’t know much about guitar brands, as my mom bought my guitar, but I do know that the strings on my guitar are stiff. This means I have to press really hard and right in the middle of the frets in order to get a clear note. If I don’t, it sounds messed up. Get a guitar that doesn’t have extremely stiff strings.
I’m sorry I couldn’t have been of more help. Guitar is a lot harder than piano, but it sounds much cooler, therefore it’s more fun to learn it.
Whatever works for you is best. I teach group lessons in middle school and have up to thirty five guitars in a room. I can tell you that the group lessons are definitely geared toward making sure everyone is comfortable with the material before moving on, but I do keep a bunch of enrichment material available for students who want to move ahead.
As far as inexpensive guitars, there are starter packs that come out between the start of school and Christmas, that are usually a pretty good deal. Yamaha, Epiphone, Kona, Ibanez, Fender, and Washburn all put one out. You need to decide whether you want a steel string ($100 – 300) Nylon string ($100 – 200) acoustic electric ($150 – 300, sometimes a little more if it comes with an amp and a tuner) or electric ($150 – 300) You can get an idea of the price from Musician’s Friend, Sam Ash, Elderly Instruments, or even Yahoo shopping, then take what you’ve learned, go down to your local store and actually put your hands on a few. If their prices are about the same as mail order (or if you can convince them to sell it to you for that price since you have the printout in your hand!) buy it right there. Best of luck, hope this helps and give me a shout if you have more questions.
I played piano when I was younger and just about evey wind instrument known. I agree with the comments regarding Washburn and Fender guitars. I bought a decent Washburn and the strings were in good shape. I started to learn chords from a video tape and that is fine. If you want to play well you should try private lessons because there is more one on one practice. Do yourself a favor and really listen to the instructor and work on getting your fingerings correct and just practice and practice, you will enjoy it.
i like ovation, alvarez and ibanez. you can get a good ovation celebrity for around 350 bucks with a case, or a nice alvarez with a case for like 250 or an ibanez performers pack for even less than that.
here’s why i like ovations for beginners-
- the ovation case is far better than washburn cases
- even the cheap ones have compensated saddles
- the one i mentioned is acoustic electric an has a built in tuner
- the back is made of lyrachord, a fiberglass type material that helps the guitar to withstand humidity and climate changes
- the back , tuners, and electronics are the same as they put on some of their more expensive guitars
before you get discouraged by the back material, most guitars in your price range won’t have a solid back anyway.
http://elderly.com/new_instruments/names/ovation-cc24-celebrity–CC24.htm
heres the thing i tell everyone, buy your first guitar from a guitar shop, they can help you get hooked into the guitar community, tell you about local jams (great places to learn for free) and good guitar teachers in the area.
i would suggest private lessons as they are fairly cheap and you can direct the way they go. want to learn to strum and sing? they can teach that to you. want to learn to annoy people with 15 minute pointless solos? they can teach that too. they cost around 10 to 15 bucks a 1/2 hour
Sometimes you get what you pay for though sometimes not. Since you already have an ear and you can move your finger postions i wouldn’t get a beginner guitar you can get a good guitar for 400, go to the music store and play some. Mine was $587 or something i found a smooth ibanez at pecknel music co.better than my $2000 takamine
or you can get a classical guitar for like 140 which always sounds nice its just classical.
PEAL. There’s a $110 model that plays substantial for the money. I own one, and I would never be embarrassed to perform with it. That’s probably the cheapest for not losing quality. For the first couple, do group lessons. Then if you’re into it, do private lessons. That’s what I did!
If you can find one,Dakota jumbo models usaully have sweet tone.Otherwise its pretty hard to beat a Takamine.Both of these companies make good sounding budget guitars.If I were you I would go to the guitar store with someone who knows the instrument,that you trust.You can probably get a good deal on a used acoustic.I have found that good quality guitars sound better as they age.There is this guitar shop near my neighborhood that has old fenders,gibsons and martins,a couple of these guitars are over $150,000 I kid you not. As for the lessons,I say do both.Personal instruction is good for technique and perfecting scales,chords and such,but playing with others is great for rhythm,expressiveness,and songwriting as a group,not to mention fun.Especially if you can play in a group with different instruments:piano,guitar,bass,drums,even brass.Although it may be awkard and embarrassing at 1st,The rate at which you progress is astonishing. best of luck and stick with it