It's quite interesting to notice how guitar students have often the same questions when starting to play the instrument. In almost two decades I had hundreds, if not thousands, of people asking me the same questions over and over again. What I often do nowadays I just predict the question and give the answer even before they ask, to their amusement off course. This is my chance to clarify a few important issue. By far the most common question is whether to start with electric or acoustic guitar lessons and my answer to that is always the same: Acoustic guitar! these are my reasons why:
Acoustic guitars are loud enough and you don't need any amps or pedals you would normally need if you play electric. That will save you quite a bit of money you could spend in online guitar tutorials or even a better guitar.
When you play acoustic you focus on basic guitar techniques like chord changes, strumming and fingerpicking and you don't need to think about any advanced electric guitar stuff. That will help you lay down a good foundation.
Playing open chords sounds more authentic on acoustic guitar and it will definitely inspire you to play even more just because it sounds so good.
You can take your acoustic guitar wherever you like without having to worry about amplification. That is quite useful if you want to play at a camp or friends house and don't want to worry about carrying around extra stuff.
Acoustic guitar is a bit more demanding to play versus to electric guitar and that will make your hands stronger and help lay down a solid foundation.
Once established we should leave the electric guitar for a later stage, the next question is whether to buy a nylon or a steel string guitar. That is completely a personal choice as the two instruments have different tone and are used in different genres of music. If you want to play classical, flamenco, bossa nova or latino a nylon string is what you need while the steel string is used in more contemporary styles like pop, country and rock.
After you have been playing for a while and are comfortable playing song you can start considering getting yourself an electric guitar.
Playing a musical instrument is a very enjoyable activity and the effort you put in will soon pay off. Therefore keep on practicing as practice make perfect and at all times have fun in the process.
Tommy Beltrani has been teaching guitar for almost twenty years and he focus on acoustic guitar lessons. You can get access for a limited time to a 4 weeks Quick Start Guide with valuable guitar instructions and video lessons.
