Top FOLK Instruments 2025

Are you looking to expand your repertoire? Maybe take up a new instrument? I’m assuming you’re already a guitarist, but maybe you aren’t! Either way, I have some good news for you. At guitarguitar, we stock a large variety of folk instruments, and a great many of them are affordable and easy to learn.

Whether you’re adept on the guitar or not, folk instruments such as the banjo, mandolin and especially the ukulele have a learning curve that is not too steep at all. With a little dedication, you’ll be able to perform renditions of your favourite songs, and perhaps even feel some inspiration to write a few of your own!

What I’ve done today is round up a selection of instruments for you to check out. I’ve got two banjos, two mandolins and a pair of ukes for you: one of each is very affordable, the other one a more expensive example for more seasoned players. These are a smattering of what we have in stock, so remember to check our entire Folk Instruments section!

The banjo is an extremely distinctive sounding instrument. A distant relation to the guitar, the banjo uses a drum head for its body, stretched over a frame that sometimes has a metal ‘resonator’ section attached for a particular tone. Banjos are used in both accompaniment and lead duties, and can be as upbeat and bluegrassy as you like, or as solitary and haunted.

4 and 5 string examples exist, and banjos tend to have their own tunings that are relatively unrelated to guitar tunings. You play with your fingers or with a plectrum, and lots of banjo players use specific thumb and fingerpicks made of metal or plastic, to get a sharper sound.

My affordable banjo pick is the Epiphone MB100. Although you may associate the brand with replica Les Pauls and so on, in fact they’ve been building banjos for a full century! Fair dos, and this Epiphone MB100 shows that they can deliver at low prices, too.

This is a 4-string model, so you don’t need to negotiate a fifth string that begins half way up the neck! The MB100 is also an open-back banjo, meaning that there’s no resonator section. This allows for a softer sound, and a much lighter weight instrument!

Deering are a famous name in banjo circles. The Deering Goodtime Two - 5 string adds in that extra fifth string and also includes a resonator for that classic metallic banjo tone. This means it’s a good bit louder than the likes of the Epiphone, and the tone itself is brighter.

There’s more to this one in general, including violin grade maple in the frame. It’s a well-built, versatile banjo that will hold its ground in a folk or bluegrass band setup.

Mandolins are small, jangly sounding instruments that are slightly smaller than a violin and played like a mini guitar. The mandolin’s 8 strings are arranged into 4 ‘courses’, so you play a pair of two strings at the same time. Mandolins are usually tuned like a backwards bass, if you follow: low to high, they are G-G, D-D, A-A and E-E.

Mandolins are very prominent folk instruments, and I guess that’s because of two things: they are very portable because they are small and light; and they are very versatile, because you can play both rhythm and lead on one. Some bluegrass players are basically shredding on their mandolins, and it's a pretty breathtaking thing to experience!

If you are unsure about life as a mandolin player, why not dip your toe into the folky waters with this inexpensive Pilgrim Redwood A-Style mandolin? The ‘A-frame’ refers to the overall design here, which is a historical style that has a teardrop shape and two f-holes. This is a great value mandolin, and will give you a good taste of what it’s like to tune up and play such an instrument.

Ozark are a good brand for supplying gorgeous looks at not-too-hefty prices. I love this amazingly retro Ozark 2255E mando! It has that real heritage scroll vibe, carved in all the right places and finished with a shade of sunburst that I definitely approve of! Talk about historic good looks?

The quality is not just surface here: those timbers are fully solid spruce and maple! This will of course make the instrument resonate more, and ‘season’ the more it’s played. The Ozark 2255E’s got the binding, the f-hole, the gold hardware and even a piezo pickup to let you take to the stage immediately!

The Ukulele - or ‘uke’ as I’ll doubtless refer to it henceforth - is a small guitar-shaped instrument from Hawaii. The uke has plastic strings and is strummed to create an instantly exotic sound. It comes in four main sizes - soprano, tenor, concert and baritone.

I’ll be straightforward with you here: ukuleles are easy to play. That’s the beauty: you don’t need to isolate yourself from life for years to become proficient, so beginners will do well quickly, and musicians who play other things already will be going fine with a uke in about half an hour.

Okay, this first choice is loads of fun and also a bit of a cheat! The Yamaha GL-1 Guitalele is like a shrunken nylon string guitar that is now the size of a baritone uke. It has six strings, tuned to the same intervals as a guitar, only everything is up a fifth so it’s A to A rather than E to E. If you can play a guitar, you can instantly play this one!

Martin, the world famous guitar makers, have actually been building ukuleles since 1916! There’s a full century of expertise behind this Martin T1K, then, and it’s a classy little guy for sure. This tenor-sized uke is made completely from solid Hawaiian koa, which is not only great for tone, but really sells the instrument’s heritage, too! It has a satin lacquer finish and a dovetail neck joint.

It’s a quality affair here, and so if you are in the market at this level, this is a real taste of the exotic.

These six instruments are but a brief taster menu to the fine fare we have available in each of our guitarguitar locations. Learning a new instrument is an excellent way to breathe life into your creativity, so maybe some of the selections today could fit that bill for you?

Maybe you already play a folk instrument? If so, please see this blog as an advert for the fact that we sell lots of folk-based instrumentation. Take this as my personal invitation to visit us and peruse our goods! Our staff are ready to help, and a new song is only a few notes away!