Before you decide to purchase a beginner acoustic guitar, the style of music you enjoy playing needs to be taken into consideration. A nylon string classical guitar is well suited for Latin, folk type music as well as certain styles of pop. But if you play rock and country it's the steel string guitar that is more the kind of guitar you need, and it's also a good choice for certain kind of pop and folk music. The best thing you should do here is to try out both nylon and steel strings to better determine just which kind of beginner acoustic guitar is the most suited to the music you enjoy playing.

When it comes to guitar teachers, they tend to recommend guitars with nylon strings because they are easier on the fingers and hence more suitable for beginners. Be this as it may it is counter productive if the learner is wanting to play rock. Having a sound that is more classical will put them off playing as it will sound nothing like the music they enjoy playing and indeed listen to. A steel-string guitar is the obvious choice if you want to learn to play music made by steel string which is a bit edgy, rock style music. Playing steel strings will hurt initially but in no time you will get the hard callouses on your fingers. Same goes for classical guitar music. Don't go down the road of playing a steel string if you are into classical music even if someone tries to persuade otherwise.

Classical nylon string guitars are not only so called like that due to the music they play but also because they all have the same relative dimensions. They have wider fingerboards while the bodies are smaller which when played produce the distinctive classical sound. What varies with classical guitars is the feel and tone so when you go and buy a new one, don't assume they all sound the same. Try several when you go out and choose your beginner acoustic guitar for classical play. With the steel string style of beginner acoustic guitar the one to start out with is the six string dreadnought guitar. When you compare dreadnought guitars the variation between them are slight but the one mentioned just earlier is the one that beginners are usually looking to play.

The wood which makes up our beginner acoustic guitar is very important as it will affect the tone of the sound that the guitar makes. A spruce top is usually the wood of choice for most beginner acoustic guitars, so make sure when choosing it that the top is made of solid spruce and not a two piece one. Choosing one with a solid spruce top will increase the life of your new guitar. When it comes to the wood making up the back and sides the choices include mahogany, spruce (again) and rosewood. With rosewood the tone
tends to be heavy whereas mahogany is lighter.

The part called the "action" is the space between the neck and the string, and a low action is what you
want to look when purchasing a beginner acoustic guitar. A high action is far more difficult to play and something you should start to learn to play when you become more experienced.

One thing to include in your shopping list as you go to purchase your beginner acoustic guitar is a good electronic tuner. As a new learner you will not yet have developed to tune using your ears. With the help of an electronic tuner you will spend more time learning how to play and less time spent tuning your guitar.

Find on the following link the best available beginner acoustic guitar.

Ivan Calderwell is a writer and acoustic guitar enthusiast. Find out more about beginner acoustic guitar as well as more advanced guitar at his website: acoustic guitar shops.