How To Choose A Beginner Guitar

So you’ve decided to start learning guitar – that’s awesome! The next step is to get a guitar you can start practicing with, which leads to an important question – what type of guitar do you want?

At Yousician, we recommend you to choose a guitar that genuinely appeals to you, whether it’s an acoustic (which does not need to be plugged in to an amp) or an electric (which would need an amp for the sound to be louder). Many people recommend beginners to start on acoustic guitars to build hand strength. However, we have found that the best results come from playing a guitar you enjoy so that you are motivated to play and practice.  

Learning guitar is about building technique and dexterity, so the skills you learn on one guitar can transfer nicely to another guitar. When you learn guitar on Yousician, remember that you can use any guitar type and the app can still listen to you play and provide feedback on notes and timing. There are popular songs of all genres in the app that you can practice to.

Steel string guitars are one type of acoustic – they’re the ones with all metal strings (as opposed to the nylon-string guitars below). They are perfect for playing songs in the modern style.

Electric guitars are more comfortable to play because they’re smaller than acoustic guitars, and are especially great for rock music, soloing, and more. The only downside is that you may have to spend additional money buying an amplifier to connect the guitar to. These days however, there are options like iRig which can connect your instrument to your phone at a fraction of the cost.

Nylon string guitars are the other type of acoustics – these are the ones with three of the strings made of nylon, like a fishing line. They are popular and great value, and tend to be much easier on your fingertips than steel strings (although you’ll get used to it quickly no matter which guitar you get). Traditionally they have wider necks which can feel large for smaller hands, but you can get a nylon string guitar with a slim neck if you need. They’re especially used for classical music, but can also be used for modern styles.

Now that you know about the different guitar types, determine what your budget is. If you’re concerned about costs, remember that your first guitar does not need to be expensive. Cost does not always mean a quality guitar – there are plenty of good affordable guitars, and some that we like and play on a regular basis are in the $100-$250 range. As long as there are 6 strings and it’s tunable, there’s nothing stopping you from starting.

To make sure you find the right guitar for you, we recommend you go to your local guitar store and try some out. See how the neck and body feel, make sure you can hold it comfortably, and ask the staff if you need advice on whether it fits you or not. Most importantly, there are many guitars out there, so find one that fits you.

Once you’re happy with your purchase, you can kick off your newest hobby. Start learning on Yousician and see how your skills develop!

Ready to learn?