by iroteb on Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:34 am
I have been playing for about 19 years now. I have taught guitar lessons on and off for much of that time. And, I have often heard people say "learn on acoustic first." Let's just say, I don't buy into that notion - at least not entirely. If you know you want to play acoustic guitar, then by all means that is what you should pick up.If you just want to start learning and don't much care or know what genre you'll end up playing, then I'd get an electric. First of all they are much easier to play...it's not as hard to push down the strings. Which leads to other benefits - for one barre chords will be easier, next if you ever want to solo then an electric is almost required in most popular genres. All that said, I have always tried to talk my students into starting on an electric guitar. BTW buy the best guitar you can afford. In guitars, you really do get what you pay for.If you know someone that plays (preferably for a couple years at least) take them with you to pick one out. They should know enough by then to tell the difference between a crap guitar and a goo one.Oh, I usually practice my electric without an amp.