The Yamaha Pacifica is a guitar that enters the conversation when talking about the pound-for-pound, dollar-for-dollar best beginner electric guitar. When you factor in the price, the build, the variety of finish options, and the quality of the tone, it’s easy to see why it’s a ubiquitous presence in school music departments. To put it simply, any guitar which keeps your child excited, enthused and passionate about the instrument is a good guitar. In reality, what that looks like will vary depending on a number of factors worth considering. How old is your child? How much growing have they still got to do? Have they played before or have they been playing for a while now? Do they seem serious about the instrument? What inspires them to play guitar? What’s a good age for my child to start playing guitar?

For those parents who are worried about their child dropping their guitar, a guitar strap is well worth considering. To use a strap you need to make sure the guitar you have has two strap buttons or pins on the body of the guitar.So, if your child is looking to master the six-string, then you've come to the right place, as we've got affordable electric options from Yamaha, Epiphone, Squier and Ibanez, as well as acoustic guitars from Fender, Martin and Yamaha. We’d argue that a good-quality strap will last you years and years, so spending as much as you can on one is a sound investment. If you’re a gigging player then it goes without saying that a good quality strap is worth its weight in gold and if you’re playing at home then you can probably get away with something less extravagant until you’re ready to take a step up. If you get a decent amp it helps to make the guitar sound better and helps to improve the overall guitar playing experience. It’s definitely important that the quality of your chosen strap is good. Think of it this way, your strap not only needs to be comfortable but it also needs to securely hold your guitar. You wouldn’t want to entrust your guitar to a low-quality strap, as one day it might decide to drop your guitar when you’re least expecting it. How we choose the best guitar straps for this guide

It is much easier to just grab the guitar off the stand rather than having to take it out of a bag or case. It isn’t a huge amount of effort to get a guitar out of a case, but some kids will use any excuse not to practice. One of the biggest challenges when playing guitar as a kid is dealing with sore fingertips and wrestling with full-size, full-scale guitars. Young hands with some growing to do might benefit from a shorter-scale guitar – that means that the length from the guitar’s nut to the bridge is shorter, typically below 25”, and even as low as 21.25”, making the upper frets easier to reach.If you are buying an electric or an acoustic-electric, you will also need to get an amp. The thing about amps that you should be aware of as a parent who is buying a guitar for your child is that you don’t want to get the cheapest amp you can find. In a word, yes. Guitarists come in all shapes and sizes and every player has their own preference in terms of the height they set their guitar. Almost all guitar straps, whether they're made of leather, polyester, suede or any other material, can be adjusted to some degree. But before you get to that, when purchasing your next strap it's important to buy one that is going to be long enough for your height and your preferred hanging length for your guitar. A nice to have accessory for anyone who owns a guitar is a guitar stand. A stand is a great way to store your guitar safely, while still having it out so your child will see it and will want to play. But you certainly shouldn’t rule out a full-scale guitar for your child. There's no age minimum for a full-scale guitar - what's most important is that it feels right. One big benefit of starting out with a full-scale guitar is that there's no sizing up after they're grown. If budget is tight, this should definitely be a consideration. And if your child is yet to really form any strong opinions on musical taste, the acoustic guitar’s immediacy makes it an ideal blank-slate for budding young players to find their feet and develop their tastes alongside. You can play any genre on an acoustic guitar. How much should you pay for a kid's guitar?

Full-sized guitars can be incredibly challenging on small hands, which can be quite disheartening to someone just starting to learn the guitar, especailly at Christmas time. Buying a guitar that's the right size for your child will give them the best possible start in their musical journey! A couple of other things that might come in handy to a first-time guitar owner are a guitar stand, instruction book or DVD, and a metronome (to help keep a steady tempo). Guitar Tuner Looking for the iconic sound of the SG, but you don't get on with the cumbersome nature of a full-size guitar? Well, the newly released Epiphone Power Player might be the best guitar for you.

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It's worth noting that if you aren't taken with the SG shape, the Les Paul is available and both guitars come in three distinct finish options, Lava Red, Dark Matter Ebony and Ice Blue.