6 year old wants guitar

kingdomfan

Our 6 year old has decided he wants a 'rock star guitar' from Santa, I'm all for it on the hope he might stick with it, but as I have zero musical ability or knowledge myself is the one in the link of any use if the does stick with it and get lessons.

https://www.smythstoys.com/ie/en-ie/toys/arts-crafts-and-music/musical-instruments-and-karaoke/musical-instruments/80cm-electric-guitar-with-amp/p/110724?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces_across_google&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyMKbBhD1ARIsANs7rEGCzJUPa1ZfmmuLofqqBFFDqVZjDw9MJWR2erNknNoKodRa4v3X1l8aAq_CEALw_wcB

adocholiday

There's a balance to be struck when learning the guitar between the amount you spend and the difficulty in playing it. Really cheap guitars are difficult to play, the action and string tension tends to be too high so it takes much more effort to press the strings to the fretboard and it leads to people getting fed up with it. But obviously you don't want to spend a fortune either. You would be best off going to a local music shop if you can and see if they can recommend something.

Akrasia

First thing to do is arrange lessons and then ask the instructor to recommend him a learner guitar. The stuff on Smith's is usually rubbish and wil do more harm than good.

Giving him a guitar without lessons is a big waste of time, but be aware, he won't succeed unless he's prepared to put in some work to get over the hump

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119870829#Comment_119870829

Ukuleles are tuned completely differently to guitars.

kingdomfan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119870620#Comment_119870620

Didn't know any of this great info thanks.

kingdomfan

Thanks for all replies, bit more thinking to do on it.

adocholiday

Well I had that exact experience so speaking from that. Parents got me a cheapo acoustic guitar from argos if I remember right and I got fed up after a few weeks of sore fingers and zero progress. I was adamant to learn though so I convinced them to get me an electric. Went to the local music shop and got a yamaha starter electric guitar and 20 years later I still play a few hours per week.

If the kid is genuinely interested in learning then it isn't too much more of an investment (you might pay around 200 for a half decent starter kit) but the difference is night and day when starting out. Also electric is much easier to start with than acoustic, strings are lighter and closer to the fretboard and there's less space between them so making chords is easier.

My suggestion would be to see if you can find something from Squier, Epiphone, or Yamaha that's a suitable price for your budget. They are recognised brands that have a range of entry level/budget guitars that would be much better for learning on.

Flinty997

Hard to find anything decent that small. 1/4 sized. I would say get the cheap thing, and see do they keep it going. Then get something better down the line. But don't leave it too long as they'll lose interest if its too hard.

I would know a bit about guitar's. Started one of ours (but they were a lot older) with a cheap classical acoustic 1/2 size, Valencia around 79 but it was very bad. But the kid played it enough, so I bought a better identical used one Valencia for about 40. I would say the quality of these kids guitars are often dire. Almost unplayable. They are sold in big numbers at Xmas. Then started lessons in school and bought a better 3/4 acoustic about 160 is. Then a Fender electric one Xmas. Its a 3/4 but to be honest the Fender isn't the easiest to keep in tune. I think its an issue with non full sized electric guitars.

But a kid a 6yrs I'm not sure I would take it very seriously. if they keep picking up the cheap guitar for a few months after xmas then maybe.