Is Yamaha CS40 3/4 Classical Acoustic Guitar a good guitar for beginners?
Yamahas are generally good guitars for beginners. However, the one you mention is a 3/4 size, which is mostly intended for children. If you’re an adult with normal sized hands, a 3/4 size guitar is likely to be too small for you. You most likely need a full-sized instrument. Secondly, a classical acoustic guitar is built to be strung with nylon strings for a mellow tone best suited for classical music (hence the name “classical guitar”). If that’s the kind of music you intend to play, then go ahead and get a classical guitar. OTOH, if you want to play country, folk, rock, blues, bluegrass — almost anything else OTHER than classical — then you most likely want a steel-string acoustic guitar, which (as the name suggests) is strung with steel or steel-core strings and has a louder, brighter, crisper tone more suited for these other styles of music. NOTE: You CANNOT put steel strings on a classical guitar. Classical guitars are built of lighter, thinner wood to make them more responsive
Almost certainly not. First, unless you’re a small child you should get a full size guitar (not a 3/4 size). Second, classical guitars are used almost exclusively for playing classical music. Unless you’re really interested in playing classical music don’t get a classical guitar. For most – almost all – beginners a steel string flattop acoustic guitar is the better choice. It’s much more versatile and can be used for rock, pop, country, blues, folk, and more. If your concern is the size of the body of the guitar keep in ming that there are plenty of full size steel string flattop acoustic guitars with a smaller, more comfortable body size.
It depends how old you are (unless you’re under 9 or are very tiny you should get a full size guitar, not a 3/4 size). Also, if you don’t want to play classical guitar music you shouldn’t buy a classical guitar. Yamaha does make good quality beginner guitars at a good price, but I don’t think that one is the right one for you. Get a full size steel string guitar like the FS720S unless you meet the criteria for a 3/4 size classical guitar as I stated above. EDIT: I read Harry’s answer. I was trained on classical guitar from age 7 to 10 and certainly agree that that’s a fine way to learn to play guitar, but I hate classical music. When I was 10 I got a steel string acoustic and that’s when my love of guitar really took off. If you want to play classical guitar, by all means get one and learn to play it, but you can learn to play guitar (really play guitar) just as well on a steel string. You still need to learn music theory, arpeggios, finger picking, etc to be a good guitarist no matter
Most teachers of guitar suggest an acoustic (non-electric board guitar) for a beginner student. Either a steel string or nylon string is suitable. Either type can play all kind of musical genre.the nylon strings are easier on the fingers and produce a darker mellower tone.The steel strings produce a brighter metallic sound and are hard for a beginner’s fingers. Many players use a plectrum(pick) to play this strings.The steel string acoustic have a narrow neck and the strings are closer together than in the nylon string (also known as classical) guitar. Primarily chord-only players like this feature in the steel strings acoustic since it makes fingering easier for making chords. Players that like to play the melody lines in music tend to prefer the wider separation of the strings in the classical guitar- less chance of playing the wrong note – Famous jazz guitarist Earl Klugh plays the nylon string guitar showing that nylon strings are just as good in any genre not just classical music.
