Learn how to buy your child's first guitar.

Buying a Guitar for a Child

Learn how to buy your child's first guitar.

Buying a guitar for a child can be confusing. That’s why I put together my top five tips to help you buy the first guitar for your child. As a bonus, I’ll provide you with a free guitar mini-course to help your child start playing guitar the right way.

1. Electric Guitar vs Acoustic

I recommend a nylon string acoustic guitar for children between the ages of five and seven-years-old because they’re easier to play than their heavier steel-stringed cousins, which tend to hurt sensitive fingers.

My students have had a lot of success with the Amigo AM15 Nylon String Acoustic Guitar. It’s easy to play, it sounds great, and it’s durable enough to survive the worst treatment any six-year-old can offer.

2. Invest in a Quality Guitar

A bad guitar is one of the top reasons why most kids quit playing, so purchase the best guitar you can comfortably afford. Keep in mind your child will be playing guitar a little bit every day for the instrument’s life. Plus, cheap guitars often come with a host of problems that cost more to fix than the instrument itself.

3. Choose the Right Size

Use the following chart to help you buy the perfect guitar for your child.

Ages 5-7: 34″  (also known as 1/2 Sized Guitar)

Ages 7-10: 36″ (also known as 3/4 Sized Guitar)

Ages 11+: Full-Sized Guitar

guitar sizes for kids chart

4. Get a Design you Like

If your son or daughter is a Hendrix or Page fan, get a Fender Standard Stratocaster. (PLEASE NOTE: For kids between 6 and 9-years-old looking to rock out on the electric guitar, you’ll want to go with the Squier by Fender MINI Strat Electric Guitar, Black.) The Mexican-made model costs about half that of its American-made cousin, but the Standard series delivers on that classic Fender tone, playability, and versatility. However, if you prefer Green Day’s more pop-orientated ballads, get yourself an affordable steel-string. Just get the model most closely associated with the style of music you love.

If you decide to go electric, don’t forget to get an amp!  Roland MICRO CUBE GX Portable 3-Watt Guitar Amplifier, Black“> Roland Micro Cube GX is the Rolls-Royce of portable amplifiers.  It comes loaded with 8-effects like chorus, flanger, and phaser.  And it’s designed to model 8-classic tube amps like an acoustic simulator, classic stack, and an extreme setting.

As an added bonus, your child can also plug an iPhone into a MicroCube and jam along with his/her favorite tunes.

5. Purchase a Guitar Tuner

Few things sound worse than an out-of-tune guitar, no matter how good you are. There are a ton of clip-on tuners available now, but I recommend the Guitar Tuna. It’s easy enough for any kid to use, and it’s free.

If you don’t know how to tune a guitar, then this FREE guitar lesson should be perfect for you!


FREE Guitar Mini-Course for Kids

Now that you know how to choose the perfect guitar for your kid, it’s time to crank up the volume with a FREE guitar mini-course for kids. Your kid can start playing the guitar the right way with Rock Dojo, an award-winning guitar program for kids.

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Brian Parham
Brian Parham

Brian Parham is the founder and creator of the Rock Dojo, an award-winning guitar program for kids. He’s also the author of three guitar method books for kids, the 2018 Teacher of the Year by Lessons.com, the 2018 Rising Star of Oregon by the Small Business Administration, and an award-winning artist. He’s currently pursuing a Guitar Professional Advanced Certification from Berklee College of Music. When he’s not rocking out on the guitar, Brian enjoys reading comic books, binge-watching Cobra Kai, and spending time with his wife.