• A reliable guitar in working order (see below for details)
• A metronome (I recommend the Yamaha QT-1)
• A three ring notebook with line paper for taking down notes and lesson assignments and keeping hand-outs in
• Guitar picks
• An electric tuner)
  
  
  

How do I go about obtaining a guitar?

Here are some thoughts about renting, borrowing, and buying used and new instruments.

Should I start on electric or acoustic guitar?

I feel that either option is fine and your decision should be based mainly on the type of music the student wants to play.

An electric guitar is physically easier to play for most people because it takes less strength to push down the strings, but some people find electric guitars to be more finicky and there can be complications regarding the electronics and the need for an amplifier.

An acoustic guitar can be physically harder to play but not to such a degree that people should be scared of starting off on it.  Also, electric guitars aren’t inherently louder than acoustic guitars, they just have the potential to be much louder – without amplification they are nearly silent.

Students should start on whichever kind of guitar they would prefer.  It’s better that parents don’t impose their preference on them, because the goal is to find an instrument that will inspire the student to learn how to play it.

How do I go about obtaining a guitar?

Here are some thoughts about renting, borrowing, and buying used and new instruments.

I’m going to buy a new guitar, what do you recommend?

There are many great beginner instruments out there and I’m open to most of them, except for the very bottom tier. Do not buy instruments from stores that don’t in any way specialize in music retail. Do not buy Indiana and First Act guitars. Don’t buy guitars from Wal-mart. Don’t buy guitars from Target. Piano and clarinet students have less to worry about because they don’t sell $100 clarinets and pianos like they do guitars.

For beginning guitarists first guitar purchase, I recommend either buying a Yamaha acoustic in roughly the $300 range, or for electric guitar enthusiasts, a Fender Standard Stratocaster for around $400, along with a Fender 25R amplifier for $150.

Either of these guitars will offer a sturdy instrument that is well suited for any style of music. The Fender Standard Stratocaster is a jack-of-all-trades guitar that might not be perfectly suited to many musical tasks, but can almost always make do. The Yamaha guitars (and all Yamaha instruments in general) simply impress me with a tremendously high level of quality for their price. Both of these guitar options represent instruments I feel will last for years, if not decades, of use.  Also, should a student need to sell these instruments, they will maintain their value reasonably well.   If a student wants to play electric guitar but the Fender Stratocaster and amp are too expensive, I’d recommend buying a Squier pack, but the guitar will be at least a step down in quality and the amp will be a great leap down in quality.

If the aspiring guitarist is very young and doesn’t have hands big enough to handle a full size guitar, I recommend checking out the three-quarter size model by Yamaha.  This guitar isn’t the best investment since the guitarist is destined to outgrow it, but it can fit most children’s hands.