In the previous article, Solguitar has introduced to you a list of guitar, including acoustic guitar types, all kinds of electric guitar, etc. To make things easier for the beginner like you, this article we will summarize 5 most basic types of guitar you should know.
That is: Classic, Acoustic, Bass, Electric and Acoustic-Electric. Each type of guitar has different sound quality and is used to play different types of music.
1. Classical Guitar
This type of guitar is the first invention of the Modern Guitar. Initially, the strings on classical Guitar is made of catgut, but over time it has been changed to the current nylon as the present. For this reason, the classical guitar is often called nylon string guitar using manual or nylon-string Acoustic Guitar.
Classical guitar is used to play classical Spanish music, the other classical music, pop, folk, Latin, and jazz. Nylon strings also help players easily to practice the newer techniques. The artists who play classical guitar need to have fingernails on the right hand longer and depending on which type they will play, they shape the nail as is recommended. Shaping nails and nail length allows players to complete the extremely complex music because Music for Classical Guitar is the most difficult type of all guitar music.
This guitar playing method is based on a combine of the notes hit on the tracks by the rules of rhythm, beat, pitch and certain length. The difference is that when playing classical guitar, you do not need to sing, but the notes you play out has shown that tune. Classical Guitar requires you to understand about music theory, as well as the pressing methods in each chord. If you understand this, then basically you can already play solo your favorite song.
2. Acoustic Guitar
Although classical guitar is one of Acoustic musical instruments, but Acoustic Guitar still has own characteristic. The big difference between Classical Guitar and Acoustic Guitar is that Acoustic Guitar use metal strings, while Classical Guitar use nylon strings. This helps create the sound played by Acoustic Guitar sharper and louder than nylon strings.
Steel strings should never be used on a Guitar that is designed for nylon strings and vice versa. Large steel strings are tenser than nylon. So, if you insert a steel string on nylon string guitar, it will be easy to warp or break the neck of the guitar.
Acoustic guitars are wonderful instruments for folk music, ragtime, blues, pop and many other types of music. This is also a very common type of guitar to play modern church music. Like classical guitar, the vibration of the soundboard generates sound of the acoustic guitar, especially the surfaces.
Singing Guitar: This is the guitar playing method that is commonly used in the youth today. This is the type where guitar players have to combine playing guitar with singing. The left hand will be used to press the chord (also called GAM), while the right hand will be used to play by following the tune.
To be able to play this type, at least you need to understand basic music theory, learning about the beat and move the chords back and forth in a clever way. Singing and playing require your creativity and alternative to be relatively large, this type is very suitable for the party, birthday, and camp indispensable…. where the singing is necessary.
3. Electric Guitar
Next, Solguitar will introduce to you one very common type of modern musical instruments, which is especially used rock. That is electric guitar!
Electric guitar is a kind of guitar that makes sound does not depend on the guitar body, but largely depends on electrical equipment. Because the guitar body does not affect the sound, so that the electric guitar is usually designed with solid guitar body, not empty like Acoustic and Classical guitar.
Thanks to solid body, electric guitar is designed with many more different, richer, more diverse shapes.
Electric guitar fret board is narrower than the Acoustic Guitar. This makes the electric guitar become the easiest instrument to play in all kinds of guitar, especially easy for people with small hands. The strings are not as tense as Acoustic Guitar’s steel strings but are a little bit tenser than nylon strings.
Some kind of electric guitars have different parts that you can not see on the Acoustic guitar – which is also known as a cantilever or “whammy bar.” Electric guitar has whammy bar (device mounted on the bridge – is used to change the pitch of the guitar sound by pulling or pressing the bridge) brings very interesting experience for you.
However, the cheap whammy bar makes your guitar tone deflected and you have to adjust constantly. Therefore, unless you have enough money to buy a guitar for about $ 500 – $ 1000, you will certainly have a good-qualified whammy bar. If you have less, when you do not have enough money, you should not buy an electric guitar with whammy.
The new young sound, and excitement created by the whammy bar will bring nothing but disappointment if you constantly have to adjust the guitar.
The guitar has fixed bridge will be more stable when there is a whammy bar add-on, constantly pulling up and down to change the pitch of the guitar sound, so if your style of music is not necessary to use the whammy bar, it is best not to buy electric guitar with built-whammy.
However, the guitar has good quality whammy, they are always designed to easily control the sound, do not allow the sound to play wrong frequencies and it is also quite stable, so if you really want an electric guitar with full features, you have to have enough money to own it.
The music genre
Electric guitar is used to play most of modern musical genres, including rock, heavy metal, blues, country, and jazz. Since it has no hollow on the body, electric guitar players will have to buy the amplifiers. The electric guitar artists usually use pedals to change the guitar sound as desired.
We will move to Acoustic – Electric guitar and bass guitar.
The bass guitar is one of the variants of the electric guitar; the fret board is longer and the guitar strings are thicker. Traditional bass guitar has only 4 strings but the modern bass guitar can have 5-6 strings, based on custom design. Like the electric guitar, this is the guitar that has solid body design and the strings generate sound by the amplifier.
The sound of the bass guitar is lower than the normal 6-string-guitar. String (E) of Bass guitar is an eighth-note duration lower than the string (E) of the normal 6-string guitar. Including open strings:
– 4 strings: Strings (E), (A), (D), (G)
– 5 strings: Strings (E), (A), (D), (G), (B) or (A)
– 6, 7, 8 strings:
And bass guitar has some particular techniques that are different from the normal guitar. In some bands, bass guitar, drums are responsible for keeping the rhythm for all the performers. Bass Guitar is used with the most modern musical styles including rock and roll.
Acoustic – Electric is a variant of Acoustic guitar, and it is installed more pickups and amplifiers. This design allows the player to use the guitar in any situations, from a solo practice to a performance on stage.
When being used as an electric guitar, the Electric-Acoustic is like an electric guitar, and the pickup also miss the vibration of the Guitar body. When being used as an Acoustic Guitar, it sounds like any other Acoustic Guitar but not too loud. The body of Acoustic Electric is usually thinner than other Acoustic guitar types.
Each guitar has its own beauty; the key is that you have to identify what you want to study and to have a certain determination. You just have to be patient, because after the period of initial difficulties, you will find yourself more passionate and feel that learning Guitar is really not difficult at all.