Children's guitar recommendation

[christinarossetti]

Can anyone recommend a guitar suitable for a 5 year old please? My dc is small for his age, so possibly even for a younger child.

He's not learning formally yet, but want to get something decent that he can mess around on.

TIA

[taxi4ballet]

DH teaches guitar to children and says you will need a 'half-size' one and most music shops will sell them.

[christinarossetti]

Thanks! That's kind of you to respond.

[Mistigri]

I think guitar is not a great choice for a 5 year old to "mess around on" unless there is another guitarist in the house to help out (it's not an instrument that gives instant results - it is much more intuitive to improvise a simple melody on a keyboard for example).

We bought a guitar for my daughter's 8th birthday (she already played another instrument) and tbh it wasn't a great success - she probably played it twice before giving up in frustration. However she did take it up later aged about 11 when she was old enough to teach herself the basics, and guitar and bass are now her main instruments.

If you are certain that you want a guitar, then you should be able to pick up a half size classical guitar easily, and you can also get electric guitars in children's sizes.

[ReallyTired]

You can get quarter size guitars. I don't think that learning guitar is any easier than any other instrument. The problem is that it does hurt n the early days before fingers toughen up.

You can pick up some second hand bargains off eBay. You need to do careful research on makes though.

[takeallday]

My 9 yr o dc started lessons around a year ago. I hired one for her to start with as I know nothing about musical instruments so it s a way to ensure that she got the right size guitar. Until last weekend I took her to a guitar specialist shop and bought her a 3/4 used guitar. It was only £30. She had tried a few new and used ones of different brands and prices. I am glad that I didn't buy a guitar via internet for two reasons: 1. you really need to hear and compare the qualities. 2. guitars are like shoes and clothes their sizes can be varied a lot between different brands.

[ReallyTired]

A guitar is as good as it is set up. The internet is a bit of a pig in a poke. We recently got a bargain off the internet to replace a guitar my son outgrown. A lot depends on how much the buyer is asking and whether there is any opportunity not to purchase if the guitar is not right for you.

I think its good to buy from a guitar shop as otherwise there will be no guitar shops. A guitar shop is useful when you need strings replaced. A guitar shop will help parents who know nothing about guitars.

[takeallday]

My dd had tried a few 3/4 guitars but the one we bought is the only one that fits her. All the other 3/4 guitars are slightly too big / too long. I m sure most people know about guitars more than me however just to say do some research. A good shop will give you good advice.
The drawback about hiring a guitar s that according to the contract if the guitar s damaged while with us we ll have to pay £75 for a replacement. As already we were paying about £14 rental per term so it makes good sense for us to just buy a cheap and cheerful one that will last for a couple of years.

[GooseyLoosey]

Would agree with the comment about 5 maybe being too young. Ds's godparents bought him a lovely guitar at that age and he never had any interest in even playing it.

He took up the bass at 9 with lessons and the guitar at 11. He loves them now but would never have had the dexterity to get anything out of it at 5.

[Mistigri]

I've successfully bought guitars on-line but you need to know what you want and be confident that it will be a good fit. For a 5 year old trying out for size first would be a good idea! I have no idea whether a half size would be too big, and my guess is that quarter-size guitars are not widely available and may not be great quality. Guitars marketed specifically as children's instruments are often not very nice but you can get decent half and three quarter size classical instruments by the major manufacturers like yamaha (you can also get scaled-down steel-stringed acoustics but I wouldn't recommend these for a very young student).

A decent guitar shop should set up the guitar properly whether new or secondhand. If you buy privately you should budget for a service and a set-up by a professional.