Go Nuts Music

sound advice for every ear

Picking up an instrument (at any age)

Guitar, keys, a ukulele. For you or a kid, first chords to first songs. Nobody here was born knowing this stuff either.

  1. Electric Guitar for Beginners (What to Actually Put in the Cart) The Squier-class guitar, the small amp, and the $50 to $80 setup that stops beginners from quitting.
  2. The Best Acoustic Guitar for Beginners (Should It Be Acoustic?) Whether it should be acoustic at all. Steel strings are the hardest on beginner fingers.
  3. A Keyboard for a Beginner (61 or 88 Keys? The Real Answer) How the keys feel matters more than how many. 61 keys are fine for year one; weighted is the better buy.
  4. A Ukulele for Beginners (Which One Actually Holds a Tune) A real one runs about $50 to $100, and the kid-sized pick is named.
  5. How Much Do Music Lessons Cost? (The Honest Rate Card) About $30 to $60 an hour for a private teacher, and the free column most people forget.

Guitars

how much a guitar costs: beginner, used, and upgrade prices How Much Does a Guitar Cost? (And the Line Item Nobody Mentions) Real-guitar money, used runs half, and the line item nobody mentions: always budget the setup. acoustic vs acoustic-electric: the same guitar plus a pickup for 50 to 100 dollars more Acoustic-Electric Guitars for Beginners (the $80 Question) A normal acoustic with a pickup built in. Whether the premium buys anything in your first year. what a guitar setup includes and costs: string height, tuning, neck check, fresh strings Guitar Strings, Setups, and What They Cost (the Saving $80) Strings die after about three months, and the $50 to $80 setup is the best money a beginner spends. guitar chords for beginners in the order to learn them Guitar Chords for Beginners: Eight Grips Carry Everything About eight open shapes plus one strum, learned in song-pairs. The real skill is the switch. how to read guitar tabs for beginners in one diagram How to Read Guitar Tabs for Beginners (Five Minutes) Six lines, numbers for frets, readable in five minutes. And no, it isn't cheating. easy guitar songs for beginners in the order to learn them Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners (That You'll Actually Finish) Start with a two-chord song. Ten chords and one strum play hundreds of songs. guitar lessons for beginners: free courses vs platforms vs a human teacher Guitar Lessons for Beginners: Free Structure, Paid Hands Free structured courses, cheap platforms, or a human teacher whose real value is watching your hands. acoustic vs electric guitar for a beginner, what each one really asks of you Acoustic vs Electric Guitar: Which Should You Start On? Start on the one whose music you want to play; the skills transfer. The folklore says otherwise, and the folklore is wrong. nylon vs steel strings, two different guitars, not a swap Nylon vs Steel Guitar Strings: What's the Real Difference? Two different guitars, not a swap. Steel strings on a classical can wreck it.

Pianos and keyboards

what a piano really costs over three years: digital, used upright, and the free piano How Much Does a Piano Cost? (And Whether You Even Need One) Real uprights against the weighted digital that needs no moving and no tuning. The honest math. weighted hammer keys vs unweighted toy keys, the real dividing line for a beginner piano The Best Piano for a Beginner (Digital vs Acoustic) The dividing line isn't digital vs acoustic, it's weighted vs unweighted keys. easy piano songs for beginners in learning order Easy Piano Songs for Beginners (A List That's Actually Beginner) A list that's actually beginner, and why the falling-note videos aren't the way in. how to read beginner piano sheet music: the annotated first page Piano Sheet Music for Beginners (and How to Start Reading It) Free sheet music is everywhere. Reading it is a four-week trick, not a childhood window you missed. piano tuning cost: normal tuning vs pitch raise for a neglected piano How Much Does a Piano Tuner Cost? (Grandma's Old Upright) About $150 to $200, and the piano that sat silent for years can almost always be saved. piano moving costs: local, stairs, and long distance How Much Do Piano Movers Cost? (And Why Not the Couch Guys) About $150 to $400 for a local move, and worth it because a piano can hurt people. piano lessons for adults: real starting ages from real learners Piano Lessons for Adults (It's Not Too Late) It's not too late: about a year to real pieces, twenty enjoyable minutes a day. piano vs digital piano vs keyboard, the three things stores sell Piano vs Keyboard: What's the Actual Difference? Stores sell three things, not two. The digital piano is the middle object, and key feel beats key count.

The ukulele corner

ukulele chords for beginners: the four shapes and how to sing while playing them Ukulele Chords for Beginners (Four Shapes, Then the Real Wall) Four chords make the doo-wop loop behind a thousand songs. The real wall is strumming while singing. easy ukulele songs for beginners using C Am F G chords Easy Ukulele Songs for Beginners (Four Chords, a Whole Songbook) Four chords, a whole songbook. Start with You Are My Sunshine. ukulele chord shapes are the guitar's top four strings renamed Ukulele vs Guitar: Which Should You Learn? A uke's chord shapes are the guitar's top four strings renamed, so starting small isn't a detour.

Flutes with no wrong notes

real playable pan flute vs wall-art bamboo pipes A Pan Flute for a Beginner (Curved, 15 Pipes, and Go) Curved, 13 to 15 pipes, from a real maker. If it's sold as wall art it plays like wall art. native american flute keys compared: higher keys, key of G default, low-key stretches A Native American Flute for a Beginner (the Key Is the Decision) Cedar, key of G, and pentatonic tuning means there are no wrong notes.

Lessons, sorted honestly

what happens in a first singing lesson for a beginner Singing Lessons for Beginners (Nobody's Going to Laugh) A first lesson isn't an audition, and a choir is a free way to start. how to choose a violin teacher: the audition you hold Violin Lessons for Beginners (the One Instrument That Earns Them) The rare instrument where a teacher earns the rate. Don't quit violin, quit your teacher. what age kids can start music lessons, by instrument and stage Music Lessons for Preschoolers (What Age, What Kind, What Money) Before about five, lessons means group music play. The private-lesson sweet spot is five to nine. when to add private lessons for a band kid: the trigger list Lessons for Band Instruments (Beyond the Band Room) School band IS lessons. Private is a supplement you add when a specific trigger fires.