How to choose the best guitar for your aspiring guitarist

According to recent study, neuroscientists have claimed that learning a musical instrument helps in a better holistic development of a child. Practising regularly with a musical instrument improves their cognitive, emotional and social skills, thereby enabling them to perform well in all spheres of life. Guitar is one of the musical instruments that youngsters all over the world are fascinated with. It originated in Europe, and has a fretted fingerboard with six strings, played with the fingers or occasionally with a plectrum (guitar pick).  

If your youngster is aspiring to join a guitar class, make sure that you choose the right instrument for her. Here is what to look for while buying a guitar.  

Choose a classical guitar for beginners 
As most music connoisseur knows, there are primarily three kinds of guitars - acoustic, classical and electric. An electric guitar is small yet heavy, acoustic guitar is lightweight but bulky and classical guitar is slim and tiny.  Experts suggest that it’s best to begin with a classical guitar because it is the easiest to handle. It has nylon strings that are easy on the fingers as compared to the steel strings of acoustic or electric guitars that not only sound sharper and louder but are also hard on the fingers. If not used carefully, these strings can hurt the fingers.  

Select a guitar with easily adjustable strings 
An unadjusted guitar is difficult to play. Choose one that has strings which don’t need to be pushed too hard against the frets. In fact, it is often recommended that a child uses a used guitar that has properly been inspected by a regular guitarist and isn’t right out of the box. Whether your child will learn to play efficiently depends upon the quality, accuracy and easy playability of the guitar. 

Pay attention to the size 
Selecting the right size of guitar is a prerequisite of every parent with an aspiring guitarist at home. An instrument that is too large will make it difficult for your child to play. As a matter of fact, raising their hands up to the level of shoulders to reach over the guitar can be uncomfortable and painful too. It also puts kids at a great technical disadvantage because the muscles get too stretched. This hinders them from moving their fingers smoothly.