Learn to Play the Guitar

An Introduction

The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments today. There are different kinds of guitars that are available out there for different guitar players. Guitars are different in terms of playability, overall appearance and sound quality.

Here are some of the types of guitars that guitar players or aspiring guitar players can choose from:

Acoustic Guitars

If one wants to get into the guitar world, you can start learning with an acoustic guitar.

Acoustic guitars are dependent on their structures and body shapes in resonating sounds. Unlike the more modern electric guitars, they don’t rely on other external devices in making sounds. The natural vibrations of the strings are resonated by the body of the guitar.

Acoustic guitars are generally made out of wood. The neck is usually made from mahogany and the fret board is made out of maple or rosewood. There are many kinds of acoustic guitars, here are some of them:

1) Classical

Classical guitars are very popular. They are usually the choice guitar for beginners. The strings are usually made from nylon. These are usually played in a standard sitting position and used in playing classical music. Classical guitars produce think and whole sounds which are very warm to the ears.

Flamenco guitars are almost similar to the classical guitars; however, these guitars produce crisper and thinner sounds than the classical ones.

2) Steel-top

Steel-top guitars are much similar to the classical guitar. These, however, are constructed to be more resilient. The parts of the steel-top guitar are reinforced and their bodies are significantly larger than the classical guitars. They produce a warmer tone than the classical guitar.

3) 12-String guitar

A normal guitar usually has 6 strings, but the 12-string guitar, as its name implies, has 12 strings. Each string is accompanied by another string with the same note but is usually tuned in a higher octave. This kind of guitar produces a semi-chorus effect which is very pleasant to the ears.

4) Resonator

This type of guitar is similar to the steel-top guitar, but the steel in the middle of the soundboard is used to resonate the sound from the vibration of the guitar strings. This produces a very thin and distinct sound. These guitars are usually used in playing the blues. There are also variations of the resonator guitar; the square-neck resonator guitar is played on the lap like a piano or organ. The round neck resonator guitar is played like a common guitar. Resonator guitars work very well with glass or metal slides.

5) Archtop

The archtop guitar is inspired by other instruments such as the violin and the cello. An archtop guitar usually has the f-hole design. Jazz players prefer archtop guitars. Some archtop guitars can reach prices of about $25,000 USD.

6) Acoustic Bass

Acoustic bass guitars are bass guitars without electronic pick-ups. The body of the guitar is used to produce the sounds. These are usually 4-stringed guitars but there are acoustic bass guitars which have 5 or 6 strings.

Electric Guitars

Electric guitars make use of electronic pick-ups to amplify the vibrations of the guitar strings. They are usually connected to electric amplifiers. Electric guitars usually have a solid or semi-solid body type. They don’t use the body for sound resonance and thus, they usually make very little or no sound when played without an amplifier. The concept used by electric guitars is- the energy of the strings are diverted into electrical impulses are not directly into sound to be able to achieve an amplified sound.

Electric guitars usually have control knobs for changing the volume or the tone of the guitar. There are also pick-up selectors in electric guitars. Many electric guitars use multiple pick-ups to achieve the best guitar sounds. These pick-ups gather and produce different tones from the guitar. The tone knobs are usually used to shift from a bass-intensive sound to a treble-intensive sound or vice versa.

Some electric guitars also have whammy bars. These bars are attached to the guitar to shift notes without changing the finger positions in the fret board. Whammy bars are used to produce “crying” guitar sounds. This is a very useful tool in doing rock and roll songs or even ballads. The use of the whammy bar in less expensive guitars is not advised because it may cause the strings to go out of tune.

These are some of the basic types of guitars that are available out there for everyone. Guitars are made to fit into the preferences of the player in terms of playability and sound. Choose the guitar that best fit your preferences.

The guitar is one of the most sought-after musical instruments today. Its popularity is manifested all through-out the radio stations and the music videos in MTV. Almost all types of music in modern pop culture have been influenced by the guitar in one way or another.

For people who would like to get their hands on a guitar, they must first learn the guitar lingo. The guitar lingo is made up of weird-sounding words that are unique to the guitar world.

The guitar lingo also applies to the guitar parts. You must be able to know the parts of a guitar to be able to know how to play it. Here are some of the guitar parts:

Body

This is also referred to as the sound box. This is the largest guitar part and it comes in different shapes and sizes. The acoustic guitars usually have a hollow body, while electric guitars have solid or semi-solid bodies. Acoustic guitars have hollow bodies because they rely on the body structure for sound resonation. Electric guitars use electronic pick-ups to amplify the sound.

Headstock

The headstock is the part at the end of the guitar which holds the tuning keys. It is connected to the neck of the guitar.

Nut

The nut is the piece between the guitar neck and the head. It is a small rod with indentations to hold the guitar strings in place.

Neck

The neck is the long section which holds the fret board.

Fret board

The fret board is divided into different notes by small metal rods. The number of frets in a fret board varies depending on the type of guitar and the brand. Modern electric guitars usually have 20-22 frets in the fret board.

Bridge

It is a part of the guitar’s body and it is important in sound resonance. It gives some sort of elevation for the guitar strings so they can produce nice vibrations.

Pick-up

The pick-up is an electronic device which acts like a microphone. It picks up the vibrations from the strings and converts these vibrations into electrical impulses. They are usually found in electric guitars

Amp / Amplifier

The amplifier is like a speaker box where the sounds of the electric guitar come off.

Capo

This is a device which is attached to the fret board. This thing allows a player to play the same chord structures but on a different key.

Listed below are some of the different words that one might encounter in learning how to play the guitar.

Riff

Guitar riffs pertain to musical pieces which are parts of a song.

Reverb

It is added to the sound of the guitar through an effects box or through amplifiers to make the sounds a little bit more natural.

Tablature

Guitar tablatures or more commonly known as guitar tabs are written music for guitars. It is similar to musical pieces (with notes and other musical symbols) but the notes are translated into guitar frets. It’s a useful tool in learning how to play the guitar.

Vibrato

It refers to a guitar technique where the string is slightly bended in a fast rate to make a longer resonating sound.

Arpeggio

This refers to a technique where one takes out notes from a specific chord. He can then use these to make an adlib lead technique or add to the rhythm of the song.

Pick

This is the small device which guitar players use in striking the guitar strings. It is usually made of plastic.

Whammy Bar

This is an attachment to the bridge of electric guitars which can be used to bend the pitch of the notes. One can pull the whammy bar to be able to make his guitar “cry.”

Plucking

It’s a picking technique where a player does not strum the strings all at one but hit the strings one by one to be able to get a softer and more defined tone.

Palm mute

This is a technique where a player uses his picking hand (usually the right hand) to mute the strings while strumming to be able to get a distinct tone. It is very popular in the punk rock world.

The world of guitars is composed of many other new words. One must be able to master these or at least have an idea of what these are to be able to appreciate the wonderful instrument that is the guitar.

Guitars have been used with so much diversity in many musical forms. The instrument is known by many as a classical solo instrument and the basic musical instrument in rock music.

In a previous post we looked at the “lingo”. Now, let’s apply some of what we learned and get acquainted with this magnificent instrument. Here are its parts:

1. Headstock: This is found at the edge of the guitar’s neck. It is tailored with the instrument’s head for adjusting the pitch.

2. Tuners: The tuners keep the strings of the guitar stretched beginning at the base down to the knobs. Tuners likewise allow the guitar player to alter or modify the pitch either flat or sharp, depending on the player’s choice of music.

3. Nut: This is a tiny strip of hard medium or material which supports the strings in the intersection whereby the “headstock” meet up with the “fret board”. The strips can be made of plastic, bone, graphite, brass or any hard medium and indented so as to secure the stings in position. The nut acts as one of several endpoints assisting the tension of the string.

4. Fret board: Also known as the fingerboard, it is a lengthy wood plank inserted with frets of metal that composes the top of the guitar’s neck.

The fret board of a classical guitar is flat and is a little curved diagonally on an electric and acoustic guitar. The curve is calculated by the radius of the fret board that is the range of a “hypothetical circle” of which the surface of the fret board makes up a segment.

The smaller is the radius of the fret board, the more that the curve is evident. When a string is pinched against the board, the string’s “vibrating length” is shortened thus creating a higher pitch sound or tone.

5. Frets: These are strips made of metal, particularly nickel alloy set in alongside the fret board that are positioned in points in conjunction with the string’s length that mathematically divides it.

When the strings are pushed down from the rear of the frets, this cuts the string’s length of vibration to give off different tones or pitches.

6. Neck: The neck is composed of the guitar’s fret board, frets, tuners, truss rod and headstock; all are fastened to long extension made of wood. Usually, the wood that is used for the fret board will be of a different kind from that used on the remaining neck parts.

The firmness or stiffness of the guitar’s neck in accordance to its body is one determining factor of whether it is of good quality or not.

7. Body: The acoustic guitar’s body is an echoing cavity projecting the vibrations through the guitar’s sound hole which enables the audio of such instrument to be clearly heard even with no amplification.

In acoustic guitars, its body is a big determining factor in the overall sound it produces. The soundboard or guitar top is a delicately engineered and crafted component that is usually made out of red cedar, spruce or mahogany.

This very thin slice of wood, generally measuring only 2 - 3 mm thick, supported by different kinds of internal brackets, is the most pronounced and important element in influencing sound quality.

Most of the sound is produced by the guitar’s top vibration as the momentum of the vibrating cords is transmitted to it.

8. Pickups: This is what really amplifies the cords sound. Most guitars have one to a maximum of three pickups. The kind of pickup is reasonably important, depending on a particular sound that you are aspiring for.

9. Pickguard: Commonly called the scratch plate, is a plastic guard or any laminated medium which protects guitar’s top finish.
The pickups as well as almost all electronics in other electric guitars are framed and inserted atop the “pickguard”. On “acoustic guitars” and several “electric guitars”, the pickguard is directly inserted to the top of the guitar, and on guitars having carved tops; the “pickguard” is raised.

10. Bridge: On acoustic guitars, the key objective of the guitar’s bridge is to hand over or shift the string’s vibration to the “soundboard”, which then shudders the air within the guitar, thus increase and strengthen the sound created by the cords or strings.

Go ahead, explore the parts of your guitar to better acquaint you with this wonderful instrument, test it too and see where it will take you. Enjoy!