A lot of people who are thinking of taking up guitar often ask if it's better to begin on a nylon or steel string model.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both however the decision mostly rests on two factors which are your age and what kind of music you wish to be able to play.
In this article I'll discuss what the right options are so hopefully you'll be able to make a more informed decision for yourself.
For children aged 9 years and younger it's definitely better to begin on a nylon string guitar.
You can get guitars which are scaled down in size for children in quarter, half and three quarter size.
In my teaching practice I've seen plenty of children with half size guitars and most of them were not worthy to be called a musical instrument as the tuning and intonation was always terrible.
As a result go for a 3/4 size nylon string guitar for children aged 9 and under as they will perform much more like genuine guitar.
Once we get into the ages of 10 and above I would recommend that a steel string guitar is the better option to go for.
It will often be easier to tune and give you a lot more response and feedback for your song playing.
That advice assumes however that you wish to play popular songs and music.
Obviously if your wish is to play classical or flamenco Spanish guitar then buying a nice nylon string guitar is the only choice.
Most guitars can be adjusted so that they will be easier to play and I highly recommend that you get your guitars set up correctly.
The two most important things is that it will tune up well and that the action is not high.
If both those things are correct you'll have a lovely guitar which will be easy to learn how to play guitar songs on.