# My 8-year old wants a guitar.



## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

How many times have you heard that? "My (insert age here) kid wants a guitar"..............sounds funny now that I'm the one saying it!

Anyway, she's really keen on the guitar, and I've given her some lesson with my A&L Folk Cedar but even as a smaller acoustic, it's huge to her. 

Her birthday is this month and I'm thinking of surprising her with her very own guitar ~ BUT I want to keep it "real". No cheap plastic crap.

Perhaps an A&L "Ami"? I dunno......it's gotta be small enough but a 'real' guitar so to say. 

Hmmmmmmmmm.


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

Have you considered a Baby Taylor? They sound surprisingly good considering their size.

Here's the link to L&M with price for new... 

http://www.long-mcquade.com/?page=products&ProductsID=7075


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Comes in three colours. 22.75" scale. Squier Mini Strat

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0310101570


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

Rob ~ That mini Strat looks cool, but she wants an acoustic. Maybe when she's older she will want the whole "set up".....

Ham ~ I never thought of a baby Taylor. Interesting. My only concern now that I think of it is just how well she is gonna "keep" this guitar. How many stickers, ect are gonna actually end up on in. If that's the case, perhaps she will be getting some Daisy Rock thing.......


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

http://www.activemusician.com/Buying-a-Child-s-First-Guitar--t11i15

Did you see this link?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

The AMI is an AMAZING guitar. Bought one for my daughter 2 years ago, for pickin' around the TV, everyone in the house picks it first among many.

Had a Squier mini, it was truly a piece of junk. Dunno if the build quality has changed, but it had terrible hardware and fit and finish.


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

ThePass said:


> Rob ~ That mini Strat looks cool, but she wants an acoustic. Maybe when she's older she will want the whole "set up".....
> 
> Ham ~ I never thought of a baby Taylor. Interesting. My only concern now that I think of it is just how well she is gonna "keep" this guitar. How many stickers, ect are gonna actually end up on in. If that's the case, perhaps she will be getting some Daisy Rock thing.......


I think you should balance the worry over how she'll take care of it with the quality of the instrument. Don't cheap out for fear of a few stickers. Better to have a good instrument that stays in tune and is more playable in the first place. Stickers or not, it's more likely to be played than thrown in the closet which is the most important thing. 
Whatever route you decide best of luck!


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

+1 for the Ami.

A number of my students have started with an Ami, and they are usually number one on my list of recommended starter guitars - great little guitars. And frankly, I've never found a Baby Taylor that had the punch of an Ami, though admittedly my local shop doesn't carry Taylors, so I don't get to try them very often.


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

There are so many good guitars out there at very reasonable prices, but personally I have never been a fan of baby Taylors and would recommend you not look at them.ship


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

LOL and I am another that would recommend the Baby Taylor. It is what we did with my son when he was 8 or 9. He had it for three years and set it aside and picked up flute and is now doing something I dunno what at school with his school band and still wants to give piano a try.

All the same, any parlor or similar sized guitars are going to be good. The Martin parlor doesn't sound too bad, it was the other one we had looked at for him at the time.

Looking about, spied this. Looks like a fair company list http://www.theguitarsherpa.com/acoustic_parlor_guitars/default.html


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

Thanks for the ideas guys ~ I'll likely go with the Ami.....you know, so she at least has the 'same' guitar as dear old dad!


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

Hmmmm..........found a Baby Taylor on kijiji for a good price.


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## Mike MacLeod (Nov 27, 2006)

A bit of advice that you probably already know, but other folks might benefit.
1. If you never want you child to play music, buy them a cheap instrument. When it sounds crappy or is hard to play they assume it's all their fault.
2. If they tire of it, and they might, why not get a guitar that you can use too. A travel guitar is usually small enough to suit.

re. #2. How about CA Cargo. Not cheap but it; is small enough for a young child, can double as a hammer without damage, sounds surprisingly good, and travels beautifully. I walk on board the plane all the time with mine.


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

I went with the Baby Taylor. Picked it up for a killer deal with a nice looking matching gig bag, too.

And like Mike say's above, it will do me around the campfire if she ever (touch wood) give it up.

It's actually fun to play. A bit bright, but hey ~ what's one to expect from a guitar this size.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

I would add a "3" to what Mike posted there too. 


3. A decent guitar will retain resale value if you decide to sell it, where-as with a cheap guitar you end up with kindling. 


 and yes, the Taylor is brighter than other guitars in its class. Cheers to her birthday and playing with dad


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

Of course now her 4 year old brother wants to play too......monkey see, monkey do.

problem is he's left handed, LOL!!!!

No 'stealing' his guitar like I will his sisters.


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## Mike MacLeod (Nov 27, 2006)

Don't be too sure.  The great Libba Cotton learned on her Brothers right handed guitar. She just turned it upside down and played that way all her life. I mixed her show a few years before she passed away. A lovely woman.

Re. Lefties. I do not think you are doing a left handed kid any favours by assuming automatically that they can't play right handed. I know several very fine guitarists that thank all the gods there are that they were not aware of left handed guitars when they started. They can now trade and sell guitars without a problem. They can walk into a guitar store and have no problem at all trying instruments. If they want to double on an upright Bass or fiddle, it is much much easier to learn. After all, there are no left-handed pianos, and I have never seen a concert violinist playing left handed. - I'm sure the partner for the first left-handed section fiddler was called Patches!


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Mike MacLeod said:


> Re. Lefties. I do not think you are doing a left handed kid any favours by assuming automatically that they can't play right handed. I know several very fine guitarists that thank all the gods there are that they were not aware of left handed guitars when they started. They can now trade and sell guitars without a problem. They can walk into a guitar store and have no problem at all trying instruments. If they want to double on an upright Bass or fiddle, it is much much easier to learn. After all, there are no left-handed pianos, and I have never seen a concert violinist playing left handed. - I'm sure the partner for the first left-handed section fiddler was called Patches!


Very true. Apparently it has to do with how our brains are wired. As I understand it, the left brain deals better with rhythm better than the right brain, no matter which side of the brain is dominant. So as long as the left brain is correctly wired to the right side of the body (it isn't always) then a lefty should be able to play righty.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Not sure about classical instruments that came about during superstitious times fearing sinister people. Modern guitar is more a product of the twentieth century so not surprising there is left-hand models. How I believe it should be approached is to leave an unstringed instrument on the living room floor and see how the child wishes to hold it uncoached. My son is lefty guitar but righty uke.


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## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

Mike MacLeod said:


> A bit of advice that you probably already know, but other folks might benefit.
> 1. If you never want you child to play music, buy them a cheap instrument. When it sounds crappy or is hard to play they assume it's all their fault.
> 2. If they tire of it, and they might, why not get a guitar that you can use too. A travel guitar is usually small enough to suit.
> 
> re. #2. How about CA Cargo. Not cheap but it; is small enough for a young child, can double as a hammer without damage, sounds surprisingly good, and travels beautifully. I walk on board the plane all the time with mine.


I started out at about 11 on an archtop Harmony. A real kid killer. This was '67 and my dad thought guitar wasn't a good instrument. He died last year still thinking that Glenn Miller was as good as it got, for pop music. After 6 months of me spending every free moment with that guitar in hand my folks bought me the twelve string I really wanted. Of course a twelve string is a difficult thing to learn on but 44 years later I'm still playing. A decent instrument is a good idea but someone with the desire in them will play anyway. 



Mike MacLeod said:


> Don't be too sure.  The great Libba Cotton learned on her Brothers right handed guitar. She just turned it upside down and played that way all her life. I mixed her show a few years before she passed away. A lovely woman.


Her alternating bass style where she picked the melody with her thumb influenced a lot of players but getting Freight Train to sound like Cotton would require turn your axe around so not many sounded like her.



Mike MacLeod said:


> Re. Lefties. I do not think you are doing a left handed kid any favours by assuming automatically that they can't play right handed. I know several very fine guitarists that thank all the gods there are that they were not aware of left handed guitars when they started. They can now trade and sell guitars without a problem. They can walk into a guitar store and have no problem at all trying instruments. If they want to double on an upright Bass or fiddle, it is much much easier to learn. After all, there are no left-handed pianos, and I have never seen a concert violinist playing left handed. - I'm sure the partner for the first left-handed section fiddler was called Patches!





bw66 said:


> Very true. Apparently it has to do with how our brains are wired. As I understand it, the left brain deals better with rhythm better than the right brain, no matter which side of the brain is dominant. So as long as the left brain is correctly wired to the right side of the body (it isn't always) then a lefty should be able to play righty.


There may be something to it but it appears many were able to get over it. Hendrix and McCartney being a couple of the more obvious lefties. Rumour has it that McCartney started out right handed and couldn't make it work, saw Slim Whitman playing left and realized the was another way of doing it. 

I think there's an argument for suggesting a player give right a try but not one for pushing the issue.


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

Regardless I won't be encouraging (or discourage) either way my boy want's to play the guitar. He is what he is. Actually would be cool having a lefty in the fam. My brother is left handed, and 'would' play left handed if he ever did play the guitar.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

which is why I say just put an un-stringed instrument on the floor and let him pick it up and hold it however he wants to. Whatever feels natural to him is how to go, same as figuring out what hand a child wants to write with  its just an extension of that putting a pencil in the middle of a table and sitting the child in front of the pencil and seeing what hand is used to pick it up and hold it.

My daughter is a very strong right handed person. She picks up a guitar and simply holds it as a righty. Same for ukes and violins. Oddly, any wind instrument (flutes recorders etc) she persistently wants to play lefty. She has to stop and look at it and switch hands for her fingers to be correctly on the keys.


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

keeperofthegood said:


> Whatever feels natural to him is how to go


Exactly.........


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## Guest (Nov 18, 2011)

I keep my guitars out in the open for my toddler to look at, touch, strum etc... I dont let her bang them or scratch them but still she is allowed to play with them when she wants. I play on the couch and she often mimicks me singing, or comes and strums the strings while I play. She does it all the time. My Ami is the most easy accessible guitar for her to touch and reach, my Norman and Seagull S-12 sit behind the Ami all in a row.

I do so in hopes that it creates an interest in music, my wife also allows her to sit and bang away on her piano.

Sometimes when I play my daughter blows away on her recorder.


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

wiley said:


> I keep my guitars out in the open for my toddler to look at, touch, strum etc... I dont let her bang them or scratch them but still she is allowed to play with them when she wants. I play on the couch and she often mimicks me singing, or comes and strums the strings while I play. She does it all the time. My Ami is the most easy accessible guitar for her to touch and reach, my Norman and Seagull S-12 sit behind the Ami all in a row.
> 
> I do so in hopes that it creates an interest in music, my wife also allows her to sit and bang away on her piano.
> 
> Sometimes when I play my daughter blows away on her recorder.



That's awesome........When my kids were younger they used to come along and wack at the strings as I playedd too. Good times. I've never hidden my guitars from my kids ~ I don't let them just grab my Les Paul and wail away, but I do let them use my acoustics or Strat whenever they like.


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