Which Guitar for Beginners is best: Acoustic or Electric Guitar?

A New Take on the Old Question of Which Guitar for beginners to Buy...

"Which Guitar is best for Beginners: Acoustic or Electric Guitar?" Parents of new students always ask us This question. We usually answer that question with another question: "What did your child say they wanted?" This often startles parents, and is usually followed with something like: "…but I thought one should always start with an acoustic guitar. "Well folks, here is our take on this subject:

The kind of guitar is really not that important.

What is important is that the student has a passion for music and the guitar in general. With all the video games, iPods, Kindles, etc., that today's teenagers are surrounded with on a daily basis, I find it amazing if a child shows any interest in music or learning an instrument at all. So if all it takes to foster that interest in a child is an electric guitar, then I say: "Absolutely, yes!"

But isn't an acoustic guitar easier to learn on?

Quick answer: it doesn't have to be. Yes, the lower string tension of nylon strings tends to be more comfortable on beginners' hands than steel strings, but an electric guitar can be strung with lighter string gauges, and the lower string action of electric guitars, combined with their smaller neck width, makes fingering chords and notes much easier for beginners. Also, I am finding that the smaller body size of electric guitars is especially suited to smaller children, because they have an easier time reaching around the instrument with their picking hand, and finding a good playing posture.

But don't we need an amplifier for an electric guitar?

Not necessarily. An electric guitar is sufficiently loud for practicing. You won't be able to perform on a concert stage without an amp, but let's be honest, you won't be able to perform on a concert stage at this time, period. First you must practice enough to get good enough to perform. Also, today's musical instrument manufacturers have come a long way in the last two decades or so, to produce relatively high quality instruments at lower prices. A generation or so ago, there was simply no low price alternative to the cheap classic nylon string student guitar. Today, there are moderately well manufactured (and priced) beginner guitars of many kinds and varieties. In most music stores, all beginner guitars are usually in the same price and quality category. The bottom line is: there are thousands of other activities that are competing for today's youth's attention. Music and making music is getting pushed more and more to the periphery. As parents and as music educators, we must embrace even the slightest indicator of musical interest in our children or students, if we wish to one day see them as accomplished musicians. A beginner instrument that the student actually likes should be the smallest hurdle on this journey. If the student chooses a face-melting-zombie-slaying heavy metal axe, or just a butterfly-adorned pink western guitar, let's just go with it and remember that this might be the one thing that keeps them interested in guitar during their critical first months of playing.