If you're the parent of a child just starting to learn an instrument at school, one of the concerns you may have is providing them with an appropriate instrument for playing and practising at home. As you can imagine, FunkyPunk Music does have a lot of experience with this and we are here to help!
Guitars
For most children of Primary School age, a 3/4 size classical guitar is the ideal instrument. They may grow out of it by sometime in Secondary School but it can then be passed on or resold etc.
Here are some good examples:
Valencia Classical guitar: www.amazon.co.uk/Valencia-3-4-Classical-Guitar/dp/B002ED29T6
Jose Ferrer Classical guitar: www.normans.co.uk/p-3840-jose-ferrer-estudiante-34-size-classical-guitar.aspx
One of the websites we recommend for browsing all sorts of guitars is Thomann:
www.thomann.de/gb/guitars_and_basses.html?sid=8f1c3ef068c4782f23777cce4c1b3565
If buying a new guitar is a bit expensive right now, Second Hand Shops often sell suitable guitars and there's always eBay, but do be careful! We are always happy to help - send us a weblink or photo and we can usually tell you if it's a suitable instrument at the right price.
Failing that, in our experience most people know someone who has got a guitar 'in the loft'! A quick email or FB request to friends and family will usually reap rewards. And if the instrument needs restringing etc, we are usually able to do that for you quite quickly (approx £10).
On a final note, if your child is Left Handed and you/they are really keen to play the guitar Left Handed, you will find the availablity and choice on offer is massively limited. Where people are happy to learn Right Handed (there's really no advantage either way) there are lots of benefits.
The websites above do sell Left Handed guitars, but in much less variety and availability.
If you want to get further advise on this, your coach will be more than happy to chat!
Dan
FunkyPunk Music