Having played the guitar for a number of years, I am often asked this question by eager learners - "Should I start learning with the acoustic or electric guitar?" In this article, I'll talk a bit about both so you can come to an informed decision.
First of all, let me get something straight. The actual notes and fretboards work the same for both, so if you start with either one, its always interchangeable, although the playing techniques might differ.
Most younger players would gravitate towards the electric guitar thanks to MTV and the "cool factor". The acoustic guitar seems to have a more "folksy" image to it. Both sound very different, with the acoustic relying purely on natural acoustic principles to generate the sound, using the body of the guitar as an "amplifier". The electric guitar on the other hand needs an electric amplifier to generate sound. There are of course hybrids, but that is not relevent in this article. So, which is better for the beginner? I'll cover 3 aspects below - cost, convenience and playability.
Cost
Both are about the same, you can get really expensive custom built electric of acoustic guitars. However, the electric can start to get more expensive simply because of the tempting options and accessories like amplifiers, pre-amps, effects pedals, volume pedals, etc. The acoustic on the other hand might be simpler to start with. It plays right out of the box!
Convenience
Again the acoustic wins as you can take it almost everywhere without worrying about a power socket. There are personal practice gadgets available for the electric guitar which allows you to practice with headphones.
Playability
My personal preference here is the electric guitar. I find it easier to play, with the strings being softer and thus less effort to play.
Either way, they both should be respected and used for what they are and any good guitarist should be adept at both. For the beginner, I would prefer the acoustic as it helps a lot in ear training as you get accustomed to the vibrations of the body making the tuning of the strings are easier to detect.
My final piece of advice is to don't get too obsessed with your instrument while you're learning but focus on the music instead. Once you start to get better at it you'll know instinctively what sort of 'ax' you'll need. I've met my fair share of musicians who are so into the gear but have not improved in their skill much and on the other hand, have heard some amazing, soul-stirring music from blues masters that have played the same guitar all their life!
By Al Tan
(published at http://www.articlecity.com)
Acoustic or Electric Guitar
Why You Should Take Online Guitar Lessons
Many people want to learn to play the guitar but never get to actually commit to doing it. It's a real shame because the guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments. It has a great sound and it can be used to play almost any type of song or melody, plus it's relatively easy to carry around. With all these features a guitar has, it's certainly not the lack of desire that keeps most people from learning how to play the guitar.
In fact, in most cases it has to do with time and money. Most of us simply don't have the time to commute to guitar classes or afford to pay for a personal guitar instructor. Moreover, some schools are just not aimed at the average person who just wants to learn to play a few tunes, but rather focus on more advanced guitar courses.
The solution to all this would be teaching yourself how to play the guitar. But it does seem nearly impossible doesn't it? Well, it used to be. I mean, how is it possible to learn to play music from a book or something, right? It's not! But we're not talking about books in the first place!
We're talking about computer-based multimedia guitar courses that you can buy on the Internet. Think about it, a multimedia course will not only let you know how a tune is meant to be played, but will also allow you to record and compare your performance to the correct one. And as far as practice is concerned, you can see video instruction of basic guitar exercises and play it back as many times as necessary until you "get it".
Furthermore, a PC-based guitar course will allow you to go at your own pace which may even be faster that the pace many schools or many instructors teach their students. Add to that the fact that you'll be saving a huge amount of time and money and you have every reason in the world to try an online guitar course at a fraction of the cost.
By John Roberts
Why Play Guitar?
As a full-time guitar instructor, I am constantly faced with people in all walks of life who, for all different kinds of reasons, believe that playing the guitar will add something to their lives. Most people that are just starting the guitar for the first time are young (pre-university) although certainly not all. One of my favorite students last year was a 65-year-old retiree who wanted to learn enough to be able to start a bar band with his friends.
There is no “one” reason to play the guitar. This instrument can bring joy to everyone regardless of their primary motivations for taking it up. There’s no such thing as being too old or too musically inexperienced for the guitar either. Neither the Beatles or Jimi Hendrix could read music, and I think most would agree that they did all right without it.
Many guitarists will ask me, after their first lesson, how long it will take them to become good at the guitar. I’ve never been able to answer this question. No one can. Your success or failure in playing the guitar depends completely on the effort that you put into it. One of my favorite stories is about Eddie Van Halen: he would come home after school and pick up his guitar. He would sit at the edge of his bed and play until he had to go to sleep. Not once, not every once and a while: every day. Of course, most of us don’t have the luxury of this much time to practice, but this story helps to illustrate that success isn’t completely dependant on some inborn talent, but on hard work. There’s no easy way into it. Please, whatever you do, don’t take up the guitar if you are only going to practice the last hour before your lesson. You’ll just annoy me and you’ll never get any better.
Remember, if you go to an instructor or you take lessons online or from a book, what you learn is, for the most part, up to you. You’re the one hiring the teacher and, although you’re putting yourself under their direction, it’s your responsibility to inform them as to where you want to go. Find a teacher who will help you succeed in the style of music that you want to go into.
So, why play the guitar? There isn’t a day that I don’t wake up and am glad that music is such a big part of my life. Music has brought me more happiness than almost anything else. When you accomplish something, the sense of success becomes real, whether you’ve recorded your first song, or finally learned to play all the chords to “Smoke on the Water”. Playing music, like any other art form or skill, greatly enriches those who study it.
by George Nellas
(published at http://http://www.articlecity.com/)
Guitar-A Brief History of The Guitar
As far back as the Babylonian era there is evidence that people played small stringed instruments; instruments with a body, neck, strings and tuners. These instruments are also found in drawings from ancient Egypt dating back more than 2000 years.The predecessors of the guitar are the lyre, oud, viheula and the guitarra. They varied from having 4 single strings (the guitarra) to five and six pairs of strings (the vihuela).
By the nineteenth century the guitar, having six single strings became universally accepted. Geared metal tuners replaced the violin style tuning pegs and the frets originally made from gut were changed to wire. More and more music was being written and performed specifically for the guitar and the interest in the instrument continued to grow.
The classical guitar as we now recognize it is generally attributed to the modifications by Spanish luthier, Antonio de Torres (1817 - 1892). He standardized the string length to sixty-five centimeters and placed great emphasis on the top soundboard in the production of tone as well as perfecting the fan-bracing under the soundboard.
Gibson http://www.gibson.com/
In the very late 1800's Orville Gibson designed the steel string acoustic patterned after a violin. It had an arch-top and f-shaped sound holes similar to a violin. With the steel strings and the larger body the guitar had more volume than the classical guitar.
About forty years later in 1936, Gibson introduced their first electric guitar. It was the ES-150, which was an arch-top guitar with their hexagonal pick-up. Some jazz musicians still consider this as the best pick-up for jazz.
In the late 1930's Les Paul was playing a modified Gibson ES-250. He began working on Sundays at the Epiphone Guitar Company factory in 1941. There he experimented with his prototype electric guitar, “the Log” that he made from a 4” x 4” block of pine with a bridge, pickups and a tailpiece. This new instrument produced a rich, sustained tone. In 1942 he presented his “Log” to Gibson where they laughed at and belittled his guitar calling it a “broomstick-with-pickups.”
In 1949 Gibson added two new guitars to their lineup; the ES-5 which was the first three-pickup guitar, and the ES-175, with its sharply pointed cutaway. In 1958 Gibson debuted the semi-acoustic ES-335 which was an instant success. Other “icon” Gibson guitars such as the Flying V, Explorer, Moderne, SG and the Firebirds followed during the next decade. (More on Gibsons guitars under Les Paul)
Fender http://www.fender.com/
In 1947 Leo Fender introduced the “Broadcaster” which later became the “Telecaster®.” The Telecaster® was the first solid body electric guitar to be mass-produced. Incidentally, during the same year Leo Fender introduced the Fender Precision® Bass. Previously bass players played the big upright bass.The significance of these instruments cannot be overstated. It is this combination of the electric guitar and the electric bass that gave small combos the ability to have enough volume to be heard. It is the combination of guitar, bass and drums that is the core of the modern combo or rock band.
The Fender “Stratocaster®” was introduced in 1954. The “Strat®” included three single coil pickups, body contours and a deeper cutaway as well as the addition of a vibrato (whammy bar). It is without a doubt the most popular and influential electric guitar of all time.
Fender expanded the guitar line in subsequent years to include the Mustang, the Jazzmaster and the then, top of the line Jaguar. Fender also introduced a complete lineup of amplifiers including the Fender Champ, the Super Reverb, the Twin Reverb, the Bandmaster and the Showman. Leo Fender’s contribution to guitar making is as Henry Ford’s to the auto industry.
Les Paul
With the success of Leo Fender's Telecaster®, the head of Gibson (M.H. Berlin) called to get “that guy with the broomstick-with-pickups back.” Les Paul was contacted by Gibson and in 1952 the Gold Top Gibson Les Paul was introduced. This guitar featured a mahogany body with a maple top, Kluson tuners, two P-90 pickups and a trapeze bridge/tailpiece. The “Les Paul”, by 1954 had spawned into a family of four models; the Junior, Special, Standard and Custom. In 1954 Gibson introduced the tune-o-matic bridge on their top models including the Les Paul Custom. These are still the standard Gibson electric guitar bridge.The Humbucker Pickup
One of the characteristics of the Fender single coil pickups as well as the P-90’s and other single coil pickups such as the Alnico (aluminum/nickel/colbalt alloy) is the presence of s 50/60 cycle hum. In 1955, innovator Seth Lover wrapped two single coil pickups opposite each other to cancel the hum. The resulting pickup is the famous Humbucker. Although the patent was applied for in 1955, it was not granted until 1959. Remakes of these pickups are generally referred to as PAF’s (patent applied for).
Martin http://www.martinguitar.com/
Although the Martin Group had been building guitars and other musical instruments for a number of years, in 1931 the Martin Guitar Company began producing the models D-1 and D-2 steel-string, flat-top acoustic guitar under their own name. The D-1 was destined to become the D-18. The Martin Dreadnougt, which is the size of the standard acoustic guitar, quickly became the preferred instrument of country, folk and bluegrass players.Martin maintained steady growth throughout the years but in the 1970’s there began a tremendous interest in the acoustic guitar which somewhat paralleled the “soft-rock” and the “unplugged” eras and still continues. Martin guitars feature quality of materials such as Sitka Spruce and Indian Rosewood and exhibit craftsmanship to aspire to. They have five famous Dreadnougt models D-18, D-28, D-35, D-41, D-45 as well as numerous smaller sized guitars.
Conclusion
There are many other guitar makers that have revolutionized the music industry such as Rickenbacker, Gretch, Guild and more recently Godin. However, the impact of Fender, Gibson and Martin have been undeniable and phenomenal. They have been and frequently still are the “measuring sticks” against what other brands are measured.
(published at http://www.5-easy-guitar-lessons.com/)