Which Guitar To Learn On?

Because there are many types of guitars; being Classical, Acoustic and Electric the three main ones, I wanted to have a look at what guitar is the best one for you to learn on.

Chances are that if you have asked someone if you can use their guitar for a while, it would probably be an old classical acoustic guitar or maybe a steel string acoustic. These guitars are excellent to learn on because electric guitars require things like cables, amps, speakers and power. With acoustic guitars you only need a pick.

Which guitar to learn onThe other great thing about acoustic guitars is that you can’t turn them up loud. When you are learning it is probably better to play on a guitar that isn’t going to be loud – only loud enough so your ears can hear your errors and your good performances.

If you don’t know which type of guitar you want to play on, ask yourself, ‘what kind of music do I want to play?’

Pick a song that you like for its guitar sound. Listen to the guitar sounds and only the guitar sounds. Are they clean, soft sounds? Or are they harsh, heavy or distorted? Generally, acoustic guitars are softer and cleaner. Distorted, heavy sounds come from electric guitars that are plugged into amplifiers and effects units. Can you hear individual notes being picked or are the strings being strummed hard? The harder you play, the thicker your strings need to be. You need to know what style you want to play.

OK you have found a style of music that you like. Try and find the video for that song and watch it. There will probably be a section in there where the band is playing. Look at the guitarist. Is he/she playing on an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar? What brand is it? What style? If you know the exact guitar from the video, you can ask to play it at your local guitar shop to see if it suits you.

People play guitar for many different reasons. You need to understand what it is that you want to get out of the guitar. To discover your tastes in guitar music, listening to different styles and genres. Ask musicians at music shops about what kind of guitars different bands use, or ask them what kind of amps/effects those artists use to get that sound. The answers don’t have to be exact because they will get you thinking about what you need to buy to achieve the sound you are after.

So, a lot of think to do and a lot of music to hear… That two things will help you finding out the best guitar for you! Hope this helps!

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Comments

  1. Fredrick Okaka Ouma

    exccellent mesange, the problem with me is that am a slow learner, secondly please tell me the best strings
    number that is good for me b coz i have a common quita six strings not electric. Big thanks

  2. admin

    Hey Bob, excellent comment! You nailed it with those 3 important things to have on a guitar to learn with…
    Cheers for sharing your knowledge!

  3. Bob

    Actually, a beginning guitar player is better off learning on a guitar that has AT LEAST these
    3 features: 1) The most comfortable body size and shape. 2) Has strings that are NOT too wide apart from each other and are also NOT too close to each other. 3) Has VERY LOW ACTION!! with NO buzzing. 4) Has PROPER strings!!!! ie. sizes .009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042 and are Flat Wound for best finger tip comfort. (This is critically important). It is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE for any classical guitars to have these 3 critical features. Even an extremely expensive acoustic guitar that has been set up the best it could be is still not going to be as comfortable to play as: A Stratocaster style electric guitar that has been PROPERLY adjusted and PROPERLY set up for a beginner because it can achieve ALL of the 3 critical features (and more.) You can get one for as little as $99 dollers INCLUDING an amplifier. When my website, entitled ChordMelodyNotation(dot).com is up and running it will explain, step by step, EVERYTHING that a beginner needs to do to achieve this wonderful result, all by THEMSELF “believe it or not”.

  4. Bob

    Actually, a beginning guitar player is better off learning on a guitar that has AT LEAST these
    3 features: 1) The most comfortable body size and shape. 2) Has strings that are NOT too wide apart from each other and are also NOT too close to each other. 3) Has VERY LOW ACTION!! with NO buzzing. 4) Has PROPER strings!!!! ie. sizes .009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042 and are Flat Wound for best finger tip comfort. (This is critically important). It is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE for any classical guitars to have these 3 critical features. Even an extremely expensive acoustic guitar that has been set up the best it could be is still not going to be as comfortable to play as: A Stratocaster style electric guitar that has been PROPERLY adjusted and PROPERLY set up for a beginner because it can achieve ALL of the 3 critical features (and more.) You can get one for as little as $99 dollers INCLUDING an amplifier. When my website, entitled ChordMelodyNotation(dot).com is up and running it will explain, step by step, EVERYTHING that a beginner needs to do to achieve this wonderful result, all by THEMSELF “believe it or not”.

  5. dpalmer

    I am not sure what the point is. I think everyone knows an acoustic doesn’t require an amp.

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