Guitar - Photo Copyright Cameron Cassan (cc)
This article lists the different types of guitars.
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So, you’re interested in learning to play the guitar. This is not surprising, considering the amount of influence music has on today’s society. The guitar has always been a highly popular instrument to play, but did you know that there are actually a lot of different types of guitars. Let’s take a look.
Contents
- Electric Guitar
- Acoustic Guitar
- Electro-Acoustic Guitar
- Classical Guitar
- Bass Guitar
- 12 String Guitar
- Best Type of Guitar for Beginners
Electric Guitar
The electric guitar is probably the most well-known type of guitar in the world today. The vast majority of rock bands will use the electric guitar in both live and studio performances. So, how does the electric guitar work? Well, it is plugged into an amplifier that carries the sound and makes it louder. As well as this, there are many different sounds that can be created with an electric guitar. Many people find that learning to play the guitar on an electric is easier than playing on an acoustic.
Acoustic Guitar
The acoustic guitar is the second most popular guitar type. The acoustic guitar creates a much softer, mellower sound. There are a huge amount of acoustic artists in the charts today, and the majority of pop artists will use an acoustic guitar in their live performances. The acoustic is definitely the way to go if you are a fan of soft rock or pop. However, many people find this harder to learn on because the neck is generally much wider.
Electro-Acoustic
The electro-acoustic is highly popular with live performers. The reason for this is because the acoustic guitar works on the same principal as the electric guitar. It is plugged into an amplifier but the sound is not distorted, you still get that calm acoustic sound. This is the most commonly used guitar for live acoustic performers.
Classical Guitar
The classical guitar is typically much smaller than the acoustic, but it looks very similar. Classical guitars usually use nylon strings which offer a much different sound to the standard acoustic. Many people will use the classical guitars for finger picking. This is a great sound, and you don’t really get the same effect from an acoustic or an electric.
Bass Guitar
The bass guitar is an essential part of any music. The main difference with the bass guitar is that they have thinner strings and a longer scale on the neck of the guitar. Typically they have four strings, although six string bass guitar are available and widely used. The bass guitar is essentially the rhythm of a whole song. At the moment, you can get both acoustic and electric bass guitars.
12 String Guitars
Twelve string guitars are typically acoustic. Many players think that they produce a much fuller sound, although they are a lot harder to play than the standard six string acoustic. You can get 12 string electric guitars but these are usually two necks bolted together. The thinner strings on the 12 string guitar are tuned to a higher octave. This produces a much richer sound.
Best Type of Guitar for Beginners
As you can see, there are a lot of different types of guitars available at the moment. For beginners, it is usually a good idea to start with a standard electric or acoustic guitar. If you are getting a guitar for a young child (5-8 years old) it is a very good idea to get an acoustic guitar with nylon strings, as you won’t want them to come to you with bleeding fingers from metal strings!
Useful Websites
The following websites may be useful if you are looking for more info on the different types of guitars:
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