Guitar for kids: the right age, the right size and the first lessons

Most pictures in this guide come from Guitar for Kids, the children’s book of the Hal Leonard Guitar Method by Bob Morris and Jeff Schroedl. It puts one idea on each page, from holding the guitar to six first chords, with play-along audio and parts for a parent or teacher to play next to the child.

If your child strums your guitar and asks for a turn, they can usually learn to play it. Guitar for kids works best on a guitar sized to the child, after a few weeks of play at home. Lessons come once the child is ready, and practice stays short enough to outlast the sore-fingertip weeks.

This guide is for parents. It covers when a child is ready for guitar, which size and type of guitar to buy, what to do at home before lessons, and how to choose a teacher and a first book. It ends with how to keep practice going when the fingertips hurt, and whether guitar, piano or ukulele should come first.

Most children are ready for guitar lessons between six and nine. By then they can press a string hard enough to make it ring and reach the first fret of a half- or three-quarter-size guitar with the elbow still bent. They also need to stay with a task for twenty to thirty minutes. Before that, a ukulele or a small guitar at home, played as a game, is the better start.

How to tell your child is ready

Age is a rough guide. A teacher looks for readiness in a trial lesson, and you can check most of it at home in an afternoon. A child who does most of the following is ready for weekly lessons; a child who does not yet is ready for the home start further down.

• Presses a string until it rings. Hold a string down behind a fret and pluck it. A child who can make a clear note, not a buzz or a thud, has the finger strength for the first chords.
• Reaches the first fret with a bent elbow. On a guitar of the right size, the fretting arm should stay bent at the elbow at the first fret. If the arm goes straight, the guitar is too big or the child is too small for it yet.
• Keeps a steady beat. Clap “one, two, three, four” together and see whether the child stays with you. Every first strum is counted in fours.
• Stays with a task for twenty to thirty minutes. A first lesson usually runs thirty minutes, broken into short activities, and the child has to come back to the guitar after each one.
• Copes with sore fingertips. Steel and nylon strings both press into soft fingertips for the first few weeks. A child who shrugs that off keeps going.
• Wants to. One teacher’s test for a six-year-old is exactly this: the child follows directions, can focus and is motivated. A child pushed into lessons tends to stall.

Guitar by age: what works at each stage

The table gives the usual starting points by age. Read it as a guide to what usually fits, and let the readiness checks above overrule it.

Choosing the right size guitar

Children’s guitars come in fractions of a full-size guitar. The opening page of Guitar for Kids shows the three sizes most children start on, full, 3/4 and 1/2, beside the three types: electric, steel-string acoustic and nylon-string classical.

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Size charts from different makers disagree by a year or two, so treat the table below as a starting point. A child’s height tells you more than their age, and the reach of the arm tells you more than height, which is what the elbow check below tests.

Some makers also build 1/8 and 7/8 sizes for the very young and for teenagers between sizes. Whatever the chart says, do the elbow check in the shop. Sit the child with the guitar, ask them to put a finger on the first fret, and look at the fretting arm. If the elbow is still bent, the size fits. If the arm goes straight and the shoulder pulls forward, choose the next size down. Between two sizes, choose the smaller one: a slightly small guitar still plays well, while one that is too big makes every chord harder.

The same boy stands with two electric guitars in the book’s own comparison. On the full-size guitar his arm stretches straight to reach the first frets; on the smaller one his elbow stays bent.

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Nylon, steel or electric

Nylon strings, on a classical guitar, are the gentlest on soft fingertips, which is why the youngest children often start there. A steel-string acoustic sounds bright and needs no amplifier, but its strings press harder into the fingers; light-gauge strings and a well-adjusted guitar help, and many children manage steel from about seven or eight. An electric guitar has a thin body and light strings, so it is usually the easiest to hold and to fret. It needs a small practice amplifier, and one with a headphone socket lets a child practice without an audience. A child set on rock music often practices most on an electric.

Avoid toy-shop guitars that will not stay in tune. A child cannot tell a badly made guitar from their own mistakes, and a guitar that sounds wrong even when they play it right can put them off for good. A music shop will check the string height and the tuning before you take it home.

Starting smaller: ukulele or a three-string guitar

For a child under six, a full guitar is usually a lot of instrument. A ukulele has four soft nylon strings, and its first chords need one to three fingers, so a small child can strum a song in a week. The guide to ukulele for beginners covers sizes and the first chords. Three-string kids’ guitars do a similar job with one-finger chords. Both lead into guitar later, since the strumming and the habit of practice carry over.

Starting at home before lessons

You do not need to wait for a teacher. The weeks before lessons are a good time to tune, hold and strum, and to find out whether the interest lasts.

Tune it first

A guitar out of tune makes a child’s right notes sound wrong. Use the free guitar tuner: it listens through the phone or laptop microphone and shows when each string is in tune. Tune before every session; children’s guitars go out of tune more often, since small hands bump the pegs.

Holding it

A child holds a guitar the way an adult does. Sit up straight and relaxed, rest the guitar on the leg of the strumming hand, tilt the neck slightly up, and keep the feet flat or one foot on a footstool. If the guitar slips, raise that thigh with the footstool or adjust the chair. The full step-by-step, with the fretting thumb and the pick, is in how to hold a guitar.

In the book’s photo, the girl’s right foot rests on a footstool, which lifts the thigh the guitar sits on so it cannot slide.

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The first chord and the first songs

Children’s methods start with simplified chords that use one finger on three or four strings, so a song comes in the first week. Guitar for Kids begins with C: the first finger presses the second string at the first fret, and the child strums only the three thinnest strings.

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The second chord, G7, moves the same finger to the first string at the first fret. Changing between the two is the first real skill, and the book sets it under a song the child may already know.

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The table lists the six chords Guitar for Kids teaches, in the book’s order, with the shapes as it prints them. Strings are numbered from 1, the thinnest, to 6, the thickest.

The full six-string shapes come later; the free chord finder shows them for E minor, C, G, D and A when the child is ready.

Songs the child already sings are the best first material, because the ear tells them when a chord change comes late. With the chords above, a child can strum “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh on E minor alone, and “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles on C and G7. “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie and “You Are My Sunshine” by Jimmie Davis need C, G and D. A parent who plays can also fret the chord while the child strums, which makes music on the very first day.

Lessons with a teacher: the best path

Playing at home shows whether the interest lasts, and a teacher then builds the technique. The problems that set in early, a tense grip, a guitar tilted to watch the strings, counting that drifts, are hard for a parent to spot and quick for a teacher to fix. Apps and videos can carry a motivated teenager. A child under ten needs a person in the room, or at least on a live video call.

How to choose a teacher

Ask the school music teacher, local music shops and other parents, then book a trial lesson with two or three teachers. Look for someone who has taught children of the same age, uses a method book and can say why, and asks the child questions instead of talking over them. A weekly written assignment is a good sign. For the youngest, ask whether a parent may sit in: you become the teacher at home for the other six days, and that goes better when you have seen the lesson.

Group classes suit a child who wants company and a lower price; private lessons move faster and fix technique sooner. Online lessons over video work once a child can follow instructions across a screen, which for most children means eight or older.

The first book

A method book sets the order for the first year: one idea per page, a short piece that uses it, and an order that a teacher and a parent can both follow. If the teacher has a method, use theirs. If you are starting at home, Guitar for Kids from the Hal Leonard Guitar Method is written for this. It goes from choosing and holding the guitar to the six chords in the table and the first notes on the top three strings. Many pages carry a teacher part, a melody or chords for an adult to play while the child strums, and the online audio gives the child a band to play along with. It works for acoustic or electric guitar, and a parent with no musical training can follow it.

When the child finishes the first book, Guitar for Kids Book 2 continues in the same format, with online audio and songs children know. There is no new method to learn halfway through the year.

If you would like to learn alongside your child, the adult course in the same series, Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book 1, starts in the same place. The guide to how long it takes to learn guitar shows what the first months look like for a grown-up beginner.

Keeping practice going at home

Sore fingertips are one of the reasons children give up guitar, and they pass. The tips are tender for the first few weeks, until thin calluses form. Three things shorten those weeks: a guitar of the right size with low strings, nylon or light-gauge strings, and pressing only as hard as the note needs. Many beginners press far harder than necessary, so ask the child to lighten the press until the note buzzes, then add a little. If a fingertip hurts sharply or a blister forms, stop for the day.

Keep sessions short and daily. One guide to guitar lessons for kids, from TeachMe.To, suggests 5 to 10 minutes a day at ages 5 and 6 and 10 to 15 at 7 and 8. From 9 to 10 it suggests 15 to 20 minutes, and from 11 to 13, 20 to 30. Playing every day matters more than the length of any one session. Practice to goals rather than minutes: the teacher’s list might say three clean changes from C to G7, or one song with steady strumming, and when the list is done, the session is done. The guide to a guitar practice routine shows how to shape a session as the child grows.

Let the child pick one song a month to learn, since a song they chose is a reason to practice. An audience helps too: a grandparent on a video call or a two-song concert after dinner gives the practice a date to work toward.

Guitar, piano or ukulele first?

The ukulele gives the quickest first song and suits the youngest children. The guitar asks more of the fingers but leads straight to the music many children want to play. The piano lays out notes and chords visibly, which helps a child who likes to see how music works. The comparison of piano vs guitar vs ukulele weighs the three, and the guide to piano for kids covers the keyboard side for parents.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best age to start guitar lessons?

Most children are ready between six and nine, once they can press a string until it rings, reach the first fret of a small guitar with a bent elbow and focus for twenty to thirty minutes. Younger children do better with a ukulele or a small guitar played at home as a game.

What size guitar does a 6-year-old or an 8-year-old need?

A 6-year-old usually fits a 1/2-size guitar, and an 8-year-old a 1/2 or a 3/4, depending on height. Size charts disagree by a year or two, so check in the shop: with a finger on the first fret, the child’s elbow should still be bent.

Should a child start on an acoustic or an electric guitar?

Either works. Nylon strings are the gentlest on the fingers, and an electric guitar has a thin body and light strings that are easy to fret, though it needs a small amplifier. A steel-string acoustic needs no amplifier but presses harder into the fingers. The best choice is often the one the child wants to play.

How long should a child practice guitar each day?

A short session every day works better than a long one once a week. Ten minutes suits the youngest beginners and fifteen to twenty minutes suits older children. Set two or three small goals from the teacher’s list, and stop when they are done.

What if my child’s fingers hurt and they want to quit?

Sore fingertips are normal for the first few weeks and pass as calluses form. Check that the guitar fits and the strings are low and light, ask the child to press more lightly, and keep sessions short. Stop for the day if a fingertip hurts sharply or blisters.

The first year, in short

Check readiness at six or seven, buy a guitar sized to the child, tune it and play at home for a few weeks, then find a teacher who likes teaching children and follow one book in order. Keep practice short, daily and tied to songs the child chose, and the sore-fingertip weeks will pass on their own.

If your child is ready to start, Guitar for Kids is the book to open on day one, with a part for you in each song so the two of you can play together.