This one calls both for musical knowledge and understanding of family dynamics and the psychology of a 14-year-old boy. (I have a bit of the first two, but almost none of the last.)
My little brother started learning guitar a few months ago. He’s been using my stepmom’s crappy old classical guitar, but has been saving up to buy his own guitar. His parents made him study piano when he was younger, but he hated it, and they eventually let him quit. It left him with a decent ear and basic understanding of music, and I think the main reasons he hated it so much were 1) his teacher, who was a strict, crusty old Russian lady who believed in discipline rather than encouraging love of music for its own sake; and b) my stepmom, a classically trained pianist who nagged him to death to practice, and would literally hang over his shoulder counting the beats and criticizing him every time he made a mistake. (Upon watching this, I begged my dad to buy the poor kid a metronome, but to no avail. Dad doesn’t have a clue about these things.)
Anyway, fast-forward a few years, and my little brother, who has just started high school and is rapidly becoming a typical image-conscious, girl-crazy teenager, finally convinced his parents to let him take guitar lessons. He’s stuck with it so far, and I think at least part of the reason is that he’s convinced musicians get all the girls. In this vein, Dad told him that if he stuck with it, he could buy a guitar. Of course my brother thinks electric guitars are cooler, and wants one more than life itself. Dad and stepmom think an electric guitar will make him into a lazy musician, and that he should buy a decent acoustic and be well-founded in the classics before he runs off imitating a metalhead or something.
I have played acoustic for a while now (not very well; it’s purely for fun, and I don’t practice enough), so everyone is looking to me for advice. (Plus I may still be young enough and therefore cool enough for my brother to listen to me over his parents, so they’re hoping I can talk some sense into him.) The problem is that I’ve never played an electric, so I can’t knowledgeably comment on the pros and cons. I know the setup on an electric is lower, and I know Dad is afraid that my brother practicing with an amp will drive them all bonkers in their smallish NY apartment, and I know my brother wants to be cool and is not terribly concerned with being a solidly trained musician. Dad had suggested an acoustic electric, which sounded like a decent compromise to me, until I asked my guitar teacher about it last night.
My teacher, much to my surprise, said he should do either acoustic or electric, but that he’s never seen a beginner do well with an acoustic electric. He said not to worry about whatever crap my brother is listening to now, because his ears will mature as he matures (which I tend to agree with); he said he was into all kinds of musical crap when he was a kid, but eventually expanded his tastes into jazz, classical guitar, and pretty much everything under the sun, and went on to get a degree in jazz studies with a strong side focus in classical guitar, and is now a rather well-rounded professional musician. Unfortunately, he had to run off before we could finish the conversation, but can anyone else expand on that idea and/or offer other opinions?