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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,792
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,792 |
My first guitar was also a harmony classical from a wholesale box store. It came with a book for beginner songs I played every day for a couple hours. I then bought a takamine steel string acoustic in 1975 still have it and still on occasion play it. For the right kid it is a great gift. My wife suffers from really small handistis she could never form the large chords on a guitar, so I bought her a very nice use, and she loves that thing. She had never played an instrument, but has learned to play a fair selection of chords.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 3,007
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 3,007 |
The title pretty much says it all…..I’m looking for my 10 year old grandson’s first guitar!! I’d love to hear inputs regarding this so that he hopefully gets turned on to playing the acoustic guitar!!!
Thanks for your insights,
Cecil I have a question. Is your grandson big enough to handle a full size acoustic guitar? Or will he need a 3/4 size guitar? Note stay away from 1/2 size guitars; I haven't seen one yet that was worth buying. This is from experience as I have seen a number of young/small in size students with them. This was something as a very eager 9 year old that I wish someone had asked before I got my first guitar. I feel like it was massive in comparison to how little I was at the time!
Cheers,
Ember
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Joined: May 2022
Posts: 1
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 1 |
A Nice squire is never wrong. Cheap and sounds well.
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 892
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 892 |
Don't spend a lot. Most people don't stick with it.
The tuner is a good idea.
Be sure to get him 2 months of weekly lessons.
Make sure the teacher can show him tunes he likes.
Doesn't matter the genre, just simple 3 chord tunes.
Get him hooked on the instrument. If he likes it, he'll do the hard work.
Don't start him off learning "The Volga Boatman" from Alfreds Basic Guitar Method.
He'll quit in a week.
In my years of playing noone has ever called for that tune, either in the audience or from the bandstand.
Now "Blue Tailed Fly", that's a story for another time.
biab2026(Mac) Latest Build
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Apple Mac Mini M2 pro 32GB Ram
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Blue and White Sea Star
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,687
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,687 |
Don't spend a lot. Most people don't stick with it.
The tuner is a good idea.
Be sure to get him 2 months of weekly lessons.
Make sure the teacher can show him tunes he likes.
Doesn't matter the genre, just simple 3 chord tunes.
Get him hooked on the instrument. If he likes it, he'll do the hard work.
............... A tuner is a mandatory purchase when buying a string instrument. I respectfully disagree with your teaching methods. The last music store I taught in had two guitar instructors. One taught via songs. I, on the other hand, am old school and taught reading music from day one. If they practiced and did well I would throw in fun stuff like songs. If they did not keep doing well on the basics I would stop the fun stuff. I found this to be a better way of teaching and the students get to read music and in many cases a few years later they learned music theory. Actually I had very few quit. The other instructor was an excellent guitarist. He got the teenagers who only wanted to play songs and the instructor was perfect for them. I got everyone else and had about twice as many students. The parents appreciated my method because their kids were learning the instrument and that is what the parents wanted because they were paying the bills. YMMV
OK, a random thought;
Why does toilet paper need a commercial? Who's not buying it?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 647
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 647 |
I got the cheapest guitar I could find and a Bob Dylan song book in 1965 back in the folk era. Still have the guitar but lost the book. I still like to play songs that I enjoy, mostly campfire stuff through old favourites like Irish Eyes to really modern things like John Denver.
Never had guitar lessons and I can only find individual notes on the first 3 frets but it's enough for me
I did buy a 12 string, an electric strat, a mandolin and a banjo for fun.
Don't play as much now
BIAB for Windows Version 2019 (643)
Windows 10 (1909)
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 621
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 621 |
I gotta wonder how many kids express an interest in learning an instrument and give up after a relatively short time because they are given cheap, substandard instruments that sound like crap and are actually painful to play fight with.
Not many people are going to stick with something if the experience is unpleasant.
Byron Dickens BIAB. CbB. Mixbus 32C 8 HP Envy. Intel core i7. 16GB RAM W10. Focusrite Scarlett 18i 20. Various instruments played with varying degrees of proficiency. https://soundcloud.com/athanorsoundlabs
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Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 745
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 745 |
My first guitar was made with leftover wood from a fence post! :-)
Personally, if looking for a cheap acoustic guitar I would look at a Recording King Dirty 30's. They do come in sizes.
For an electric, I would look at at Squier.
...Deb
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 647
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 647 |
I took the steel strings off and replaced them with nylon. Looking back, the action is a bit too high, but it's not significant over the first 3 frets so I didn't notice. I had no expectation or intention to be a good guitarist, just someone who could strum along at a party or campfire. Even today my skills are probably much the same and that's OK. sometimes it's the parents who expect more than the child is prepared to deliver. Sometimes it's just fun
BIAB for Windows Version 2019 (643)
Windows 10 (1909)
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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Holiday Weekend Hours
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Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!
— Team PG
Update to Build 10 of RealBand® 2026 for Windows®!
If you're already using RealBand 2026 for Windows, download build 10 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
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