Choosing an Adult’s Guitar
How to choose the best guitar for a grownup
When you first pick up a guitar – either from a hiatus from childhood or as a complete novice – the choices may seem daunting. What guitar will give you the most freedom, comfort and best sound? You can answer these three questions by also answering the following three:
- What type of music do you want to play?
- What size fits best for you?
- Has the guitar been properly adjusted?
If you take the time to answer the first two for yourself and the third question from where you intend to purchase it, you will save yourself a lot of worry and time. Once you have the right guitar in your hands, you will also want to play it more.
What type of music do you want to play?
Before you even begin your shopping experience, consider what genre of music will give you the most pleasure. Do you envision yourself playing folk tunes or having sing-alongs around a campfire? Then, an acoustic guitar will work best for you. If you love playing some blues and mixing it up with country, the acoustic is still the best choice. If you see yourself learning flamenco or classical, then a nylon stringed acoustic will work best for you.
Conversely, if you love blues and jazz, but also see yourself ripping into a flashy solo or playing along to some country, rock or even heavy metal, then an electric guitar is definitely your thing.
Listen to your favorite songs and sing along – when you find yourself just itching to try one or several songs from a particular type of music, you will know what genre will give you the most pleasure. Then, find out who your guitar heroes are from that genre and what they play.
What size fits best for you?
A lot of children played guitar for a while and never picked it back up as an adult. Or, the child may have toyed with it for a while but never really learned to play because it wasn’t comfortable. This could be because the guitar wasn’t the right size. Many beginners aren’t even aware that guitars come in several different sizes. If you look at the diversity of sizes of people, it just makes sense that they should!
If a guitar is too large, you will have difficulty positioning both of your hands. If your hand is shoulder-height just to reach over the guitar’s body, your guitar is too big for you. Meanwhile, if you feel cramped or like you have to slouch, it may be too small. With acoustic guitars, there are several graduating sizes for children all the way up the standard 40” for adults. A petite woman may find that one of the smaller sizes fits better, while a larger person may find that a 41” Dreadnought acoustic feels the best.
Has the guitar been properly adjusted?
You would not run out and buy a car without test driving it and inspecting it first, so why buy a musical instrument the same way? Even brand new guitars should be inspected, tuned and adjusted for ultimate playability.
A guitar that is not properly adjusted will not only make it more difficult – and thus, less enjoyable – to play, but it will also train your muscles incorrectly. Your playing will end up uneven and choppy, and you will end up frustrated and discouraged. By simply taking the extra time to ensure that the guitar is properly adjusted, you will find it much easier to play.
When you have answered these questions and selected your guitar, learning to play will be a lot more comfortable and fun. If you are having fun, you will play more often. The more often you play, the better you get. The better you play, the more you will want to play. It’s a wonderful cycle to loop into.