Acoustic Guitar as a Gift and the Approaching Festive Spirit

Completely transform the atmosphere at home, bring back warmth with gatherings of friends, and perhaps even become a global sensation – all can be achieved with the purchase of a simple acoustic guitar. Whether for yourself or as a gift for friends, even if you've never held one before.

You've probably been contemplating how to adorn your home this year, to infuse it with the holiday spirit and wonder. How to make sure that friends, upon visiting, feel the festivity and willingly immerse themselves in it. To make winter days truly bright and memorable. Maybe you want to bring all of this to the home of your friends, where you'll be celebrating the holidays in beloved company. We have an unexpected surprise idea for you that can literally change everything in the house it enters! And not just during the festive weeks but for years to come.

The Soul of the Gathering

Imagine your friends, coming together, no longer on their individual waves, glued to their phones, but becoming a unified whole once again. Envision that anyone entering the house suddenly starts smiling dreamily, and almost everyone picks up this item, trying to bring joy to others with it. Picture your children breaking away from video games and asking you to show them how to use it.

So, we assert that if there is no acoustic guitar in your home or your friends' home, purchasing one will be one of the best decisions of the year, even if the hosts don't know how to play it at all.

Choosing the Right Acoustic Guitar

There are countless types of guitars. Why do we recommend an acoustic one? It's simple – you can pick it up and play it right away, no need for additional equipment, electricity, cables, or sockets. And an acoustic guitar is much more suitable for singing without a microphone. Because if you sing under a connected electric guitar without amplifying your voice, most likely, no one will understand the lyrics of the song. Unless you're an opera singer used to voicing your velvet baritone for an audience of several thousand people.

There are two main types of acoustic guitars – classical (with nylon strings) and those commonly referred to as acoustic, equipped with metal strings. Which type of guitar to choose?

Instruments with nylon are more versatile – they are much easier for beginners to play. But if you feel that your friends, children, and you are more inclined to cover favorite pop or rock hits, then, of course, you need a guitar with metal strings. Guitars with nylon strings are used for Latin American music – sambas and bossa novas, as well as melancholic Portuguese fado or passionate Spanish flamenco.

However, these divisions are quite conditional, and if the soul is singing, it doesn't matter what material the guitar strings are made of.

The Price Tag

Photo: The guitar player, Source: Pixabay

The next good news is that a guitar is a very affordable gift. A decent instrument, perfectly suitable for the needs of a warm home gathering, can be purchased for as little as $100. Although, as in any hobby, there is virtually no upper price limit.

Inexpensive guitars, both with nylon and metal strings, are made from laminate. This material is much less demanding than solid wood, much cheaper, but it does sacrifice the beauty of sound that wood offers. Guitars starting at around $300 have only the top deck made of wood – the main element for shaping the sound. The lower price range for a fully wooden guitar is approximately $500.

Quality inexpensive classical guitars made of laminate are produced by the Japanese Yamaha, German Hohner, and Spanish Admira. In the realm of affordable guitars with metal strings, Japanese Yamaha and Ibanez unquestionably lead the way in our opinion. Guitars developed in the UK and manufactured in China by Tanglewood have also proven themselves well.

A Few Useful Tips

There are a few more secrets you should know to ensure that the charm of the guitar you bring home works to its full potential:

• Only expensive guitars come with quality strings! When buying an inexpensive instrument, immediately get a set of good strings for it. The seller will gladly recommend them to you. They will also help you install the strings and teach you how to do it correctly.
• It's better not to hang the guitar on a nail and not to store it on a stand in the open – not only will you have to constantly wipe off dust, but it may also dry out if the humidity in the room is below 40%. Therefore, the third item on your checklist should be a case – you can get the cheapest one if you don't plan to take the guitar out often – for picnics, hikes, or to friends.
• You can save on buying electronic tuning devices – smartphones with simple and free apps have become excellent tools for this purpose.

Life of the Guitar in Your Home

So, the guitar has adorned your home. What's next? First of all, if you've chosen a guitar with nylon strings, we recommend taking it out of the case and tuning it for the next few days – new nylon strings stretch for some time. But then you'll be able to play the guitar right away without spending time on tuning. Metal strings start to settle almost immediately.

You may want to learn a couple of chords of your favorite song. For this, there are plenty of guitar schools and websites with song lyrics provided with accompanying chords on YouTube. Chords are presented in the form of graphical "grids" that show the necessary finger positions on the strings. So, don't worry that you'll have to learn notes. Even the most complex guitar riffs are recorded in "tabs" for beginners – diagrams that simply indicate which strings and frets need to be pressed.

Each member of your family probably has a favorite song – organize your home cover song contest and record the best performances for TikTok. This is how the careers of many modern global stars began, who now earn millions with their beloved creativity.

In six months or a year, describe on your social media how the atmosphere in your home has changed thanks to the appearance of the guitar. And make sure that it is practically a living being capable of becoming the soul of the company.  And also take note of how much your guitar playing skills have progressed. 

Perhaps, you are the new Paco de Lucía?