If you are considering starting to learn how to play a guitar, then you may be quite surprised at the sheer range of guitars available, with those already playing the instrument, or selling it, offering you helpful advice about the different makes, models and features. In fact, it can become quite overwhelming, and very confusing. Buying a decent guitar is not the cheapest of purchases, and you'll want to make sure that not only are you getting good value for money, and investing in an instrument that matches the styles you want to play, and the way in which you want to play, but will also be suited to a beginner, and helpful for a beginner to become familiar with the styles and methods of playing the guitar. The chords and strumming techniques are fairly complicated, and you do not want to waste much time, or any, on learning to play one type of guitar, only to find later that you really prefer an entirely different style or model, and have to re-learn the methods and chords for the different model or shape.

The best advice is to take plenty of time, and not to rush into the purchase. If you can, try to visit several music stores that sell a range of guitars, and ask to try them out. Don't be afraid to experiment, as it is only through personal experience that you can begin to get a fee for the way in which guitars can vary. Even the type of wood used on the fret board can make a huge difference, not in how the guitar sounds, but in the way it feels. You'll be holding a guitar a lot, and gripping it quite tightly in positions which, to begin with, will feel quite awkward and possibly uncomfortable. You do not want to find that you purchased the wrong type of guitar for a beginner, or one which will increase the discomfort. For example, very few beginners should head straight for a steel strung guitar, as they are very hard on the fingers to begin with, and it would be best to start with nylon strung guitar to get used to the idea of pressing hard down on the strings, and learning the chord techniques.

If you have friends who have guitars, and play them, then ask them to allow you to try their out. They'll probably have advice and recommendations of their own, which will be just as valid as those you'll find anywhere else, but don't feel pressurised into buying a particular make and model simply because your friend recommends it - try it out for yourself, and if you feel you get on very well with it, fine - but otherwise, keep trying different ones.

If you are a complete beginner to learning a guitar, then it may well be that you feel either embarrassed going in to music stores, asking to try out every guitar they have, and strumming tunelessly whilst everyone watches you. This is entirely understandable, and what you may find helpful is either to take a friend with you who already plays guitar, or even pay for a guitar music teacher to go woth you to the shops to demonstrate the different guitars there for you.

It is always helpful if before you go looking for a guitar, you have some idea of what it is that you are looking at. Knowing the different parts of a guitar and what their roles are, how they affect the sound, how they work together and what differences they make will help you in understanding the guitars you see, and what particularly you should look out for when it comes to listening to, or trying out, the different guitars on offer.