If you are buying your very first guitar often the first decision you need to make is which type of guitar you should buy. Acoustic or Electric?

In this video I break down the basic differences between an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar and discuss how these differences apply to beginner guitarists.

Firstly, we look at the ergonomics of the guitar. Acoustic guitars rely on large body designs and a sound hole to project sound. This larger size can make actually sitting with and playing the guitar difficult for beginners. This is particularly true for kids.

Acoustic guitars also require much more hand strength to play when compared to electric guitars. They are typically strung with 12 gauge strings which, while considered light on an acoustic instrument would be quite heavy on an electric guitar.

The force required to tune the high E string to pitch on an an acoustic guitar with a 12 Gauge high E string could be as much as 22lbs. An electric guitar by comparison typically starts with a 9 gauge string and would require only 12 lbs of force to tune the High E to pitch. This means that an acoustic guitar is not only larger and more awkward to hold it also requires stronger hands and this can be a real problem for a young player just starting their guitar journey.

Secondly, we look at inspiration when deciding between an acoustic or electric guitar. It makes a lot of sense for a beginner to choose an instrument that reminds them of their musical heroes. It's important before you begin searching to ask what kind of music or what musicians are inspiring the player to buy a guitar in the first place. Certainly if you love rocking out to AC/DC it might not make sense to buy an acoustic guitar. It might be more fun, and more inspiring to buy the kind of guitar that you see that band using.

Finally we discuss play ability. Really the whole goal when beginning to play the guitar is that you want to be inspired to pick the guitar up and play it all the time. If you have to fight the instrument because it's large and uncomfortable or because it's hard to play, it's less like;y that you will continue playing it.

These days, kids have so many options as to how to spend their time. It's really important to make sure the instrument they choose is inspiring and fun or they are likely to give up.

So, do some research. Make sure you invest in a decent quality instrument that will stay in tune and have reasonable action.

If you do decide to get an electric guitar make sure to check the tuning stability, and the action to ensure that the strings aren't so high that you can't comfortably press them down. You can also purchase lighter gauge strings or even electric guitar strings if that's what it takes to help you get through the initial learning.