Do I Need To Spend A Lot Of Money On A New Guitar When Learning How To Play?

By Maurice Richard

You have finally decided to do it. You are going to learn how to play guitar!!!

Congratulations! That's an awesome decision that you will not regret. Learning how to play guitar is a great journey that can enrich your life in many ways.

Now it's time to buy a guitar and you quickly realize there is a vast range of brands and prices to choose from. Something tells you this decision is very important, which would be correct, so you want to make the best one possible.

What do you do?

Buying The Right Guitar When Learning How To Play Is Important

This is a very important step in learning how to play guitar.

So many people underestimate the importance of buying the right guitar for their needs when they first start out and this can cause them unwanted problems on their journey to learn how to play to guitar.

The biggest problem is that not all guitars are as easy to play as others. Some guitars are built so cheap it’s a miracle they are even playable.

Many professional players would refuse to play some of the cheap guitars that are made and sold these days.

Buying A Cheap Guitar To Learn To Play Can Be a Mistake

What you need to do depends on your situation.

Many people think that any guitar is good enough to get you going. And actually, there is a belief propagated that you should spend as little as possible at the start, just in case it does not work out.

With that kind of mindset and attitude you are setting yourself up for failure right off the bat. The problem is that many guitar teachers and people who actually sell guitars propagate this belief.

The majority of people start and fail to learn how to play guitar. One of the major reason for this, especially with acoustic guitars, is because they buy a crappy low-end guitar.

These are definitely cheap in price but are also cheap in features and construction and looks and sound and are typically very difficult to play.

Buying A Higher End Guitar When Learning To Play Is Worth The Investment

One of the best investments you can make as a new guitar player is to buy a higher end guitar.

Lower end guitars are made to be cheap. So, they skimp on a lot of things to be able to do that. That means it will likely not be easy to play.

Higher end guitars are designed differently. They are made with high quality materials and are made to be played easier. The strings are usually much closer to the fretboard and they are more comfortable to hold.

Because learning how to play guitar can be a challenge at the beginning and even more so on an acoustic, a high-end guitar is recommended because it will make it easier to learn with.

You Do Not Have To Spend A Fortune To Get A Good Guitar To Lean On

Do you have to spend a lot of money on a guitar? Not really. It’s all relative. What you need to do is avoid the lower end guitars that sell for $150 brand new.

You can easily find a quality guitar for a few hundred dollars but the higher you go, the more likely you are going to get a good quality product that is designed to be easier to play.

The best way to pick a new guitar is to look for three things. Find one you find attractive, that feels good in your arms and that sounds the way you like.

If you have never played guitar you simply go to the guitar store and start to look at different guitars there. Narrow them down to the ones you really like as far as looks. Then hold them all and see how they feel.

Finally get an employee to actually play the ones that feel good and listen. You will prefer the sound of certain guitars over the other ones. That's the one you should buy if you are able to.

Investing in a quality guitar from the start will give you a better chance at success because it will be easier to learn and play on but also because the investment is bigger and will be a psychological driver for you to put more value on it.

About The Author:

Maurice Richard is a professional guitar teacher that operates out of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He has been a member of an elite guitar teaching mentorship program since 2007 and has taught many people how to learn to play guitar. He helps students in many ways including showing them why buying the right guitar can get you better results.