Guitars for children

[1695814]

My almost-six year old has her heart set on getting a guitar. (Her almost-nine year old cousin has one...that's why.)

IF (and that's a big "if") I get her one, what should I be looking for?

I have a good deal of musical talent, but it's more for the keyboard-type instruments than the stringed kind. (She has shown sparks of talent, too - she picks up & sings tunes easily. She just started piano lessons a month ago. (They're quite informal, but she's learning some primary concepts and seems to be doing well.))

A long, long time ago I got to play with my dad's really old and cheap guitar. I pretty much only figured out how to tune it. I wasn't adept at the fingering & strumming.

I'm thinking that a guitar is not something that you can just throw at a kid and say, "Here you go, kid. Knock yourself out." ...especially since I won't be a lot of help in guiding/teaching her.

But, maybe there are guitars out there that are geared towards the younger set.

I need a good deal of education & unbiased information, so I turn to you, AO.

TIA,
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Spoiler:

The thread title sounds like a charity.

Spoiler:

If it's a charity, maybe Tom will make this a sticky!

Spoiler:

j/k

[1695814]

http://www.kidsturncentral.com/topics/music/guitar.htm suggests to just let the kid go at it for a few months & then get them into lessons.

http://www.guitarforkids.com/ suggests that you should get a professional to help choose the guitar. Hence, you'd have them in lessons right away.

[Samantha]

Originally Posted by 1695814

But, maybe there are guitars out there that are geared towards the younger set.

Yes, there are. They even come in girly pink!

My 7 yo would love to have one. But her MEAN mother won't get one for her.

[The Waiting Hurts]

I actually bought guitars for two of my friend's kids for Christmas from Toys R Us; the boy is 8 years old and the girl is 6 yo. I didn't want to get something that was top of the line where if it turned out they didn't like to play, it wasn't much money spent but I still wanted it to be of decent quality. This is the one I purchased; FirstAct makes really good starter instruments for children without being a pricey investment. So you don't feel like you've wasted money whenever they have a new whim for a different instrument or if they come to realize that they don't like play any one particular instrument.

Unknown to me and it worked out such that the girl's grandmother plays the guitar and is giving her lessons. The grandmother thinks that, for its purpose, that particular guitar is pretty good.

Oh they also have a music guide that I bought with the guitar. However, my friend told me that there are music lessons for various intruments on one of his On-Demand channels, which I though was pretty cool.

[MarsLasar]

Six seems too young for the guitar, unless the interest level of the child was extraordinary. At least for classical.

[goarmy]

The very one that The Waiting Hurts purchased is the one that our son received as a birthday present a couple of weeks ago when he turned 6. Both he and his 3 year old sister* enjoy strumming it. No lessons planned, we're going to let things happen.

* Happy Birthday today, cool girl!

[General Apathy]

Happy Birthday

[Frenchie]

This is very similar to what MM started out with. She didn't start lessons until she was about 8 and we went to a teacher and had a trial lesson first. Once the teacher determined that she would be able to work with her, we purchased the guitar. Before that, she had something a lot cheaper that came from like Target or somewhere. Until she was definitely going to take lessons, I wasn't putting out more than $30-$40 for it. The one we bought her for lessons was about $70. She's now been in lessons for 2+ years and graduated to an adult-sized guitar at the end of last summer (spent about $150 for guitar and accessories). When she's 13, if she's still taking lessons and behavior & grades permitting, she will graduate to electric if she still wants it.

That being said, I'd say go for something very cheap just to see if the interest remains. MM started asking for lessons around your daughter's age, but I waited because if it was a passing phase, I didn't want to expend a lot of time & money on it. Once it became apparent she was really interested, that's when we upgraded. Also, even though it's easy to find teachers for young kids for piano lessons, it's not as easy for guitar - at least not a good one. I called a ton of places for MM. Several were ready to take her then & there. Two said they needed to do a trial because of her age. As you said, it's not the same as piano at that age and it takes more patience - and dexterity! I later came to realize that the 2 who wanted to do a trial run were two of the better instructors in town while the others were more about the $.

Long winded, but HTH!

[Kenny]

We picked up some cheap guitars from a toy store for our girls because they both wanted a guitar. If they start playing and are interested in continuing lessons (not that either have started yet - I'm waiting for my wife to teach herself so she can teach the kiddos ) then we'll purchase something more appropriate down the line.

[Wolverine]

We purchased a guitar package (everything included) from Kohl's last Christmas and enrolled the little Wolverinette in guitar lessons. It was evident from early on that there was something wrong with the guitar. We took it into a a very reputable shop to have the kneck adjusted and the tech there could not adjust it any more to fix the problem, the kneck was too far out of whack. We ended up going to another very reputable store, where the instructor got us a discount, and bought a Fender 3/4 size for just under a $100. This guitar was MUCH better than the cheap one and easier (and thus more fun) to play. I guess the motto of this story is if you skimp on the guitar, you could end up discouraging the kid from wanting to play the instrument. Good luck on your choice.