Which guitar, classical, electric or acoustic?

The Electric Guitar  The electric guitar is the coolest instrument ever invented. A bold statement maybe? But it honestly is. No instrument has inspired as many people to take up music, and no instrument has ever sounded or looked as unbelievably good on a stage (Slash?). The guitar in the above picture is a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, aka the holy grail of electric guitars. The Les Paul is one of the contenders for the prize of the first electric guitar. Les Paul (the person) did lots to help the world of music, as well as inventing on of the most iconic guitars in history; he also invented the idea of multi-tracking, which turned out to be one of the most important recording techniques ever. Unfortunately he was beaten to the first production electric guitar by a guy called Leo Fender, with his telecaster, mainly because Gibson just laughed at Les Pauls ‘log’.  So should you pick an electric guitar straight away? Personally, as a teacher, I would recommend an acoustic but I have been told by pupils that they prefer the sound and feel of the electric. A Gibson Les Paul, wouldn’t be a sensible place for a learner to start. Firstly, the Les Paul is a beautiful piece of art (seriously) and it will leave you a bit out of pocket, especially if it is left in a corner and not played. Brands like Stagg do copies of the Gibson Les Paul; this would be a good place to start. The copies that are being made are higher quality than ever before, being easier to play and nicer to look at than they used to be. The main big brand companies also do budget versions of their guitars, Fender has squier and Gibson has Epiphone. Even most of the smaller companies do a cheaper version of their guitars, so if your son/daughter has their heart set on a Gibson you can easily trick them into using a cheaper guitar (ha!). The cheaper guitars will also make your wallet ache less when your child carelessly throws the guitar into the boot of the car.  The electric guitar is very different to other types of guitars; this will impact your learning. If you start learning the electric guitar (using an amplifier) you will find that your control over the amplifier will be much better than if you started on an acoustic. This will be beneficial for the future if you hope to be using tons of gain, as you will be able to get a clearer sound. Unfortunately the electric guitar can mask some of the mistakes that you can easily hear on the acoustic. Because of the electric guitars relative ease compared with the acoustic, picking up the acoustic after learning on electric can be a difficult process. The Acoustic Guitar  The acoustic guitar is the second coolest instrument ever invented. Maybe it doesn’t have the same aesthetic appeal or the unparalleled “cool” of the electric guitar, there is something strangely intriguing about a person sat on a dark stage, just an acoustic guitar and a microphone. To this guitarist, the mystery that is generated by that kind of set up is much more interesting than watching a guitarist play 18,000 notes per minute and spin the guitar around his head, that’s been done before anyway! To get up on stage alone with just the acoustic takes a lot of guts compared to having three or four (or five! Go crazy!) musicians on a stage. Even with a band, the acoustic guitar can bring a new dynamic to a bands sound.  The acoustic guitar is the guitar that I would recommend for learning on. I personally would recommend steel strings, however nylon strings are easier on the fingertips which will make the learning experience easier. I learned on a steel string acoustic and (aside from bleeding fingertips) I was always satisfied with the sound that I obtained from the simplest song, even Mull of Kintyre sounded good, somehow. I have always felt that the acoustic guitar generates more confidence than the electric. To get up on stage and play an acoustic alone should get respect for the player, as the intimacy between the crowd and the artist is at its peak. The electric guitar also seems unnecessarily easy compared with the acoustic, once you get used to the idea of feedback and buzz from the amp, you will have the electric guitar mastered easily if you begin with an acoustic. The Classical Guitar  In terms of sheer beautiful gorgeousness the classical guitar wins out of the three hands down. The sound of a classical guitar is nothing like the other two, it has a soft, relaxing sound that can (if played correctly) be very nice. Unfortunately, the classical guitar is often given to new players, who then relate its sound and feel to their learning days, this means that it gets played less. Truthfully, classical guitar music is the most difficult style to learn on the guitar, take it from me. Hopefully this article is nice and informative about gee-tars for you. More about classical guitars can be found on my newsdesk For more articles on guitars please see my site at