Acoustic Guitar Tutorial: What Acoustic Guitar Tutorial is Right for Me?

To start the introductory acoustic guitar tutorial off with, you might like to know what the difference is between an acoustic and an electric guitar.

An acoustic guitar is a type of guitar that uses only acoustic methods to project the sound produced by its strings. An acoustic guitar has a sound hole cut into its sound box and the two together acts as the instrument's built-in "amplifier". You play an acoustic guitar "unplugged", i.e. you don't need power to play it, and therefore you can play it anywhere, such as at a campsite.

There are many types of acoustic guitars, but probably the two most well-known ones are the classical guitar (the modern version of the original guitar, fitted with nylon strings), and the steel-string acoustic guitar, also known as western, folk or country guitar.

An electric guitar has no sound hole, so it needs to be connected to an external electronic amplifier with an extension chord. Electric guitars are used in popular rock music for the most part.

There is a wide variety of acoustic guitars available, but in this acoustic guitar tutorial I'm going to discuss the two most well-known types; the classical guitar and the steel-string acoustic guitar.

It is important to note that when some people talk about an acoustic guitar, they only refer to the steel-string acoustic guitar, and not the classical guitar.

Classical guitar players use the fingers of the right hand to pluck the strings, with the thumb plucking from the top of a string downward, and the other fingers plucking from the bottom of string upward. The little finger is seldom used because of its small size, although some classical guitarists compensate this with an extremely long fingernail on the little finger.

The left hand's fingers are used to change the vibrating length of a string: the finger pushes the string towards a fret to achieve this. Different tones of a single note can be produced by plucking the string in different manners and in different positions. Concert guitarists usually grow the nails on their right hand longer and file them in a special way to achieve the best sound from their guitar.

Classical guitarists play the notes from classical music pieces, usually specially written for the classical guitar. It is therefore very difficult to learn the classical guitar and in conjunction with mastering all the techniques you also have to learn to read music quite well.

Most people would probably want to learn to play this type of guitar, therefore this acoustic guitar tutorial will give more information on it than on the classical guitar.

This type of guitar is much easier to learn than the classical guitar, but initially much harder on the left hand's fingers than the classical guitar, due to the steel strings used.

The steel-string acoustic guitar is usually strummed with the right hand, either with the tips of the fingers or a pick. Strumming is a technique in which the notes of a guitar chord are played almost simultaneously by stroking the strings in an upward or downward fashion. Some guitar players also use finger-picking techniques to individually pluck the strings when playing a chord.

Steel-string acoustic guitars are generally constructed in several styles and body shapes. Here are the four major body styles:

• The Grand Concert (also called the "00", pronounced "Double-Oh") body style is the body style most directly derived from the classical guitar. It has the thinnest sound box and the smallest overall size of the major styles, making it very comfortable to play but also one of the quietest. Their smaller size makes them suitable for younger or smaller-framed players.


• The Grand Auditorium (also called a "000", pronounced "Triple-Oh") body style is very alike in design to the Grand Concert type, but slightly wider and deeper. The end result is a very balanced tone, comparable to the Grand Concert. It also has a greater volume and dynamic range, with slightly more low-end response, which makes this body style very popular. Eric Clapton's signature Martin guitar, for example, is a Grand Auditorium style guitar.


• The Dreadnought body style is possibly the most common body style. It has a deeper sound box, but a smaller and less-pronounced upper bout (the area of the sound box between the waist and neck) than most other styles, giving a somewhat wedge-shaped appearance. Its name is derived form this wedged-shaped appearance, which relates to a class of warship. The dreadnought style was designed to produce a deeper sound than "classic"-style guitars, with very present bass fundamentals. The Dreadnought body style's combination of a small profile with a deep sound has made it a hugely popular type of guitar.


• The Jumbo body style is bigger than a Grand Auditorium body style, but similarly proportioned, and is generally designed to provide a deeper tone similar to a Dreadnought body style. It was designed for a maximum resonant space for greater volume and sustain. However, this comes at the expense of being oversized, with a very deep sounding box, and therefore somewhat more difficult to play.

All of the above guitars are comparatively traditional in visual appearance and build, and are all usually referred to as "flattop" guitars. Nearly all of these are generally used in popular music genres, including rock, blues, country, and folk.

If you do not already have your own guitar, the best is to visit a large music shop, before buying a guitar, and try out the different body styles to find one that suits you.

What I have discussed here is but the beginning of an acoustic guitar tutorial. There is a lot more to learn on the topic, especially on playing the guitar.

I'm sure that your are by now eager to learn how to play, therefore you can look here for an acoustic guitar tutorial that will show you exactly what to do, from beginner to expert level, and even share a secret or two!

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