Reddit reviews Dunlop 471R3C Max-Grip Nylon Jazz III, Carbon Fiber, 24/Bag

Can't go wrong with an .88 green tortex.

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For something completely different, try out a jazz III, with max grip! https://www.amazon.com/Dunlop-471R3C-Max-Grip-Nylon-Carbon/dp/B003MXE4JU/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=jazz+III&qid=1569342697&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-4

In your case, yes, I'd recommend a guitar over a lower end keyboard that you'll find very limiting very quickly. You can absolutely learn theory on guitar, though it is a lot more well laid out on a piano keyboard and therefore easier to visualize.

But for someone just wanting to have fun, start with guitar since it will have a much quicker return on investment of your time to get to a point where you're able to have fun playing. You can quickly pick up 3-6 open position chords on guitar and play hundreds of songs probably within months... which would not be the case on piano.

I can also absolutely recommend this guitar which falls well within your budget and leaves you a little more room for other stuff.

If you want to learn theory, I would make sure you supplement you learning of basic guitar chords and strumming patterns (tons of resources everywhere online) with some actually sheet music reading using a method book like this one.

Also, if you're working out of a book like that (or doing scales or melodic playing in general) I'd strongly recommend you get a thick, hard pick like this. You'll have a ton more control and less long-term frustration.

You'll probably also want some softer picks (maybe .50 -.70mm) for general strumming stuff though, particularly early on where you won't have good control of pick distance. You can work up to using hard picks for strumming once you get a bit better hand control, but I'd never recommend a soft pick for non-strumming work.

After all of this, you can easily grab a better keyboard in the future if you want to get more serious and delve a little deeper. Even as a hobbyist the two instruments will compliment each other and the theory stuff will make more sense on piano.

The problem is, the entry point for a decent keyboard is much higher than guitar (usually $400-600). Keep an eye out for used Yamaha P series or Casio Privia keyboards. The older models are fine and can be found used quite a bit cheaper if you're lucky.

As for guitars, I'd recommend against starting electric. There are benefits (beginners find the softer action easier to deal with), but the downside is that there's a lot more gear involved and the entry level is honestly a bit higher for an electric. You probably don't want to spend much less than $150-250. Below there you start to get instruments with uneven tuning and lots of other problems. If you want to look at a guitars in the lower end, the Yamaha Pacifica is well known for being an amazing bang-for-the-buck in terms of quality and not cutting as many corners as other budget guitars.

But you have to worry about amps with electrics and very low end amps are going to be very frustrating to play with and mid-tier amps are going to add a lot of cost... so you'll be looking close the same entry point as a keyboard if you want to go electric from the start.

The acoustic Jasmine I linked is great though. The action is fairly light, the tuning is consistent across the neck and, and it holds in tune very well and the tone is very good for the price. Mine came well setup direct from the manufacturer. I bought it years ago planning to just use it as a beater and expecting very little, but I've been using it for 8 years and it continues to work well for me with the bonus of me not worrying at all about taking it outside or anything like that. Which, obviously, portable music making is the other huge advantage of an acoustic guitar.

I always go back to carbon fiber grippy jazz III picks. I've tried a bunch of high end picks like gravity, and while many of those are good for shredding I always end up going back to the jazz 3s. They are just the perfect pick.

A 24 pack of Carbon Fiber Jazz IIIs. They're 50 cents each and last absolutely ages. I bought a 24-pack about two years ago and I've still got plenty of picks in perfect condition.

This isn't true for everyone, but I suggest getting some Jazz III picks/holding you pick so that less of it sticks out to improve precision (and also reciprocally to improve muscle memory for where exactly you should hit strings laterally). In general, using shorter/thicker picks is better for single note playing.

Also, it helps to truly know the song you're playing. Once you progress, you can just instinctively infer what string pattern to hit based on the notes you know are next.

I had the same problem and solved it with these carbon fiber Jazz IIIs.

If you insist on the picks you already have, get Gorilla Snot, a resin based gunk that keeps the pick in your fingers.

not a mag, but you can't go wrong with a bunch of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Dunlop-Carbon-Fiber-Guitar-Picks/dp/B003MXE4JU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1299717346&sr=1-2