Kid Acoustic Guitars

Why Choose a Kid Acoustic Guitar?

Kid acoustic guitars are a relatively new phenomenon. Traditionally, many people thought that letting kids learn on smaller instruments would encourage them to develop bad habits, and that the skills they learned on a smaller guitar would not be easily transferred to a “grown up” guitar. Most guitar manufacturers shied away from making guitars with kids in mind, and the ones that were available were often more like toys than actual musical instruments. Using them was a bit like trying to teach a child to play using a Guitar Hero controller.

Recently, those old stuffy notions have been thrown out the window. Now, most major guitar manufacturers are churning out a variety of child-friendly guitars, and some companies have even popped up that specialize in kids’ guitars exclusively. Think of it as the School of Rock effect; this movie made teaching kids musical instruments outside of the traditional piano/violin/trumpet variety not only acceptable, but desirable.

The idea that learning on a small guitar is second best is gone as well. The most important things about learning to play the guitar are becoming familiar with chord progressions, recognizing notes and becoming comfortable playing. That can only happen with a guitar that fits the player properly. Bigger isn’t necessarily better when choosing a guitar; it’s all about the comfort.

Types of Kid Acoustic Guitars

Because size does matter when choosing an acoustic guitar for your child, these kid-friendly guitars come in a few different sizes:

• 1/2 size
• 2/3 size
• 3/4 size

Of course, when picking the best guitar for your child, you have to think about not only what fits them now, but also about their age and how fast they’re growing. If you can barely keep them in shoes and jeans because they’re growing like a weed, you may want to go for one size up when picking a guitar. Alternatively, you can go for the size that fits them now, but consciously go for a basic, cheap guitar for the time being and upgrade to something fancier when they grow a bit more.

Strings are another issue to keep in mind when choosing an acoustic guitar for a child. Steel strings are generally the norm for the average acoustic guitar, but nylon strings work best for small guitars for a few different reasons. First, nylon strings are much lighter and easier for small hands to hold down. Also, steel strings tend to get a little trebly on a smaller sized guitar. Nylon strings simply sound better when the guitar is small.

Good Acoustic Guitar Choices for Kids

The following kid friendly acoustic models get high marks from guitar reviewers:

• Ami by Art and Lutherie: This guitar is better for older kids since it can be a little heavy for the smallest hands. For kids who can handle it, the sound is very true to a regular-sized acoustic.

• Fender Squire MC-1 and MA-1: Both of these guitars are ¾ size, but the MC-1 is a steel-stringed guitar and MA-1 has nylon strings. As such, the latter is better for beginners, but for a small steel string guitar, the MC-1 gets high marks for sound.

• Daisy Rock line: Daisy Rock specializes in guitars for girls, and they have several models that are kid-friendly. They’re affordable and offer great inspiration to girls who want to learn to play.

• Hohner HC 03: This ¾ size guitar is very affordable and gets two thumbs up for its sound. If you think your child may be ready to graduate to a full-sized guitar soon, this can make a great, budget-friendly stop gap guitar while they grow.