Why your music teacher can’t tell you what guitar to buy
As a guitar teacher I teach a lot of beginning guitar students. All of these students are eventually faced with the decision of witch guitar to buy. Maybe it’s their very first guitar or they started out on some cheap crappy guitar and now they want something better. The question of “can you recommend a guitar for me to buy” is sure to pop up sooner or later from these students.
Basically, they want me to recommend a specific brand and preferable also a specific model. Most beginning guitar students don’t feel, they possess the knowledge or skills to pick out their own guitar. This question is fear based at its core. Fear of making a bad purchase, loosing money and not getting a good guitar, but it’s also a fear of simply being in a guitarshop and “exposing” that they are newbies on the guitar. That is the real reason, they want me to recommend a guitar, but the problem with recommending a guitar is twofold.
For one, we are all different individuals so the guitar that fits me in terms of size, sound, playability and so on, may not be a good fit in any of the categories for you. And secondly, even though a brand has a good reputation and creates a lot of quality guitars, there is always the risk, that the specific guitar you consider buying is flawed in some way. So even if I did recommend a guitar, there is no guarantees, you wouldn’t buy a bad guitar. The real value for you as a student is to learn how to evaluate a guitar and this article will give you the main points.
Objective and subjective criteria
The objective criteria are simply “does the guitar live up to standard” meaning, does the guitar work as it’s supposed to. There is a ton of easy accesable knowledge on this online. Simply go to yourtube and write “how to buy (insert whatever guitar you consider buying)” and you will get a lot of help. You have to learn what to check for and how to do it. Then you have to go practice it on real guitars without actually buying anything yet. This will boost your confidence, when you eventually are going to go buy a guitar.
The subjective criteria
This is all the “difficult” questions. Do I like the guitar?, does it sound great? play well? and so on. These are all the questions, that beginning guitar players feel, they can’t answer. The truth is, they are the only ones who CAN answer that, as this guitar is for them. We are only judging what you think of the guitar and not how it compares to some kind of arbitrary standard. You are the one who are buying the guitar, you are the one who will be playing it and therefore, only your opinion matters. Start assessing guitar and ask your self three question. Do I like the way it looks, do I like the way it sounds and do I like the way it plays. Rate the guitar on a scale from 1-5 in all cases and you will slowly begin to pinpoint what you feel about a certain guitar and this is what builds your confidence. What you feel, is the truth about that guitar for you and the only difference between a newbie and a pro buying a guitar, is that the pro has learned to trust in whatever they feel or think about a guitar. This is what you need to develop as well. When you have done this, you will never have to ask advice on buying a guitar again.
About the author: Janus Buch is the head teacher and founder of Bredballe Guitarskole in Denmark. Bredballe Guitarskole is located near Horsens and we offer a wide verity of programs to take your guitar playing to the next level. A lot of guitar players find them selves stuck in a rut when it comes to their progress. Even though they do practice and spend a lot of time on youtube lessons, they don’t feel like they are getting anywhere. If this sounds like you, we are able to help you. If you are native to the area, seek you Bredballe Guitarskole for the best value for money guitar lessons in Horsens.