Recommendations for a kids guitar?

fcs101 said:
He's asking for a 5 y.o. though, being the father of 7 girls, you can rest assured that no 5 y.o. will be offended by Daisy Rock.

And yes, all children should have some sort of music education regardless of whether they pursue it or not.
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7 girls?? Holy wow!!
 
fcs101 said:
It's been a few years since I researched them, but the answer I found was 'yes'. I actually opted to purchase a scaled down Yamaha classical for my girls as I opted to go a different route in their initial instruction.

Lots of good info above. I'm not familiar with all of them, but I do know that DR has some added features (thinner necks) for little hands. Perhaps the rest do as well, I'm not certain, but again they were built specifically with girls in mind.
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That's what I did for my son. Parlor classical. Those nylon strings are tender, little fingers best friend.

I also tuned it to an open chord in those early years. It was better for all of us. :)
 
la noise said:
That's what I did for my son. Parlor classical. Those nylon strings are tender, little fingers best friend.

I also tuned it to an open chord in those early years. It was better for all of us. :)
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I went Classical for a few reasons:

1. Nylon strings are much easier on fingers.
2. I'm not a music teacher, but just began to feel strongly about teaching on an acoustic (less distractions).
3. I think it's important to have some finger picking technique. I think it's easier to acquire pick skills. Finger picking can seem daunting at first though. I use both styles on electric.
 
fcs101 said:
I went Classical for a few reasons:

1. Nylon strings are much easier on fingers.
2. I'm not a music teacher, but just began to feel strongly about teaching on an acoustic (less distractions).
3. I think it's important to have some finger picking technique. I think it's easier to acquire pick skills. Finger picking can seem daunting at first though. I use both styles on electric.
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My first guitar in 1976 at the age of 8 was a steel string with horrific action,
and way too much tension. I didn't know why it killed my poor hands/fingers at
the time. I hated trying to fret that thing. Now I know a crappy 3/4 acoustic Kay
from Sears that is being tuned to standard E will destroy anyone's passion for playing.

That teacher was a mean, old, impatient bastard, too. He taught me a LOT about taking
into consideration "comfort" when working with beginning players, and being "likable"
as a person.
 
la noise said:
My first guitar in 1976 at the age of 8 was a steel string with horrific action,
and way too much tension. I didn't know why it killed my poor hands/fingers at
the time. I hated trying to fret that thing. Now I know a crappy 3/4 acoustic Kay
from Sears that is being tuned to standard E will destroy anyone's passion for playing.
Click to expand...
My parents bought me a $25 Sears nylon string guitar that put me off playing guitar for 5 years. Finall bought a cheap electric from a girl in Bricktown at 17 and started learning.

la noise said:
That teacher was a mean, old, impatient bastard, too. He taught me a LOT about taking
into consideration "comfort" when working with beginning players, and being "likable"
as a person.
Click to expand...
An example of how not to do it. Sounds like my dad, for the most part....
 
la noise said:
My first guitar in 1976 at the age of 8 was a steel string with horrific action,
and way too much tension. I didn't know why it killed my poor hands/fingers at
the time. I hated trying to fret that thing. Now I know a crappy 3/4 acoustic Kay
from Sears that is being tuned to standard E will destroy anyone's passion for playing.

That teacher was a mean, old, impatient bastard, too. He taught me a LOT about taking
into consideration "comfort" when working with beginning players, and being "likable"
as a person.
Click to expand...
I think you and I had the same first guitar!!! Mine was from Sears too and I think it hindered my early passion for it.
 
Yeah, it wasn't exactly a shopping recommendation
Joe Bfstplk said:
My parents bought me a $25 Sears nylon string guitar that put me off playing guitar for 5 years. Finall bought a cheap electric from a girl in Bricktown at 17 and started learning.


An example of how not to do it. Sounds like my dad, for the most part....
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Very similar here. I tapped out after 3 or 4 lessons. I didn't knoow why it was almost
impoossible to fret a single note with one finger, let alone try and hold 3 notes fretted
at the same time. I still remember that old bastard telling me to push harder when he
was teaching me an open D chord. My protests fell on deaf ears and I begged my
Mom to let me quit lessons on the way home. Crazy how you can remember that kind of
stuff so vividly 45 years later.

I picked up an electric with a cracked neck at 16 in a drug deal and started to properly play.

Sort of. :)
 
fcs101 said:
I think you and I had the same first guitar!!! Mine was from Sears too and I think it hindered my early passion for it.
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I wonder how many kids that happened to? There are literally3 of us in this single thread with almost
an exact experience.

I will say I was content at 8 jumping on my parent's bed and pretending to be Elvis---even after I
quit lessons. It was way more fun. :)

Also, that empatghy for kids trying to do something that is inherently very challenging has helped.
Life lessons you didn't want at the time, but turned out to be instrumental. :)
 
for $50 you cant go wrong, if she shows interest/progress after a year can always upgrade but this looks like a great model,
 
la noise said:
Yeah, it wasn't exactly a shopping recommendation


Very similar here. I tapped out after 3 or 4 lessons. I didn't knoow why it was almost
impoossible to fret a single note with one finger, let alone try and hold 3 notes fretted
at the same time. I still remember that old bastard telling me to push harder when he
was teaching me an open D chord. My protests fell on deaf ears and I begged my
Mom to let me quit lessons on the way home. Crazy how you can remember that kind of
stuff so vividly 45 years later.

I picked up an electric with a cracked neck at 16 in a drug deal and started to properly play.

Sort of. :)
Click to expand...
Regarding the guitar I got from the parents, it was good only for a wall decoration or shooting arrows, and not even very good for that....
 
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