How To Play The Guitar Now

Most people especially beginners really want to learn on how to chose the best guitar. Basically you will need to  learn what guitar works for you, one that you feel comfortable with. Though, take note that it doesn’t really matter much when you are still starting out. Just focus on finding an appropriate guitar, it may not be the best, just make sure it helps you to start learning. Read the tips below to help you find the right one.

First, what is a guitar

A guitar is a stringed instrument that is usually played with fingers or a pick. It mainly consists of a body and a neck to which the strings lay. The most used are 6 strings but there are guitars using 7 strings. Guitar has been there for ages and the two main types are your acoustic and electric guitar.

Acoustic Guitar

Hollow bodies have been in use and started for about a thousand years already. The three types are the classical guitar with nylon strings, the steel string acoustic guitar and the archtop guitar. You can make a sound audible enough for you to be able to play it as a stand alone. Once you vibrate the strings through strumming or picking, the sound gets amplified by the hollow body, which acts more like a resonance chamber. You can also connect it to amplifiers or microphones to produce larger sounds for a wide range of audience.

Electric guitar

Electric guitars basically uses electricity to create sound and to do this you’ll need to connect it to a speaker or amplifier. It was created after the acoustic guitars, in fact it was introduced recently to the world, just about 1930s. Electric guitar unlike acoustics rely on amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone, that’s why it’s pretty hard to play and listen if you don’t have your own amplifier. It generally uses a solid body instead of hollow body. This is because solid bodies effectively reduce noise and feedback when connected to an amplifier or speaker. Though some electric guitars have semi-hollow bodies that still work great with amplifiers and have subtle acoustic feel at the same time. Electric guitars are widely used nowadays and it can be associated with almost any genre. Basically, it’s hard to create a distorted sound with an acoustic guitar due to strong chance of feedback on hollow bodies. This in turn makes electric guitars favorable for rock, pop, modern and other genres that uses distortion and other sound effects.

Enough with the basics, who needs them anyway? But seriously you will have to check your guitar first to see if it works best for you here are some major things you need to watch for.

The sound

It should be able to create good sound and of course be  able to  stay in tune.  A guitar is pretty useless if it doesn’t do both! Remember that if you have an electric guitar or even acoustic guitar with output jacks, it should play well when connected to the amplifier. Give the time to check each string if they sound evenly and if there is no muted or obstructed sounds. Tuning can be done by the personnel in the store. You can check if it works well when you allow them to strum or you can even strum it yourself, then afterwards check the strings again if they still sound evenly and in tune.  It maybe best to compare it with a tuning device or a simple organ playing the string notes E, A, D, G, B  and E (standard tuning) and make sure the guitar remains in tune.

The action

Action is the height of the strings compared to the level of the fretboard, usually measured in the 12th fretboard area. It affects the way you play for the higher the strings to your neck, the harder it is to play and to form chords. Going on a very low attack will also compromise the sound, so it is not advisable as well. There is actually a sweet spot for both acoustic and electric in which you can place 2 standard size picks on top of each other and insert it in a flat position on the 12th fret. The strings should allow you to insert the picks, which means that it is not too low and you should also note that the strings are not touching the pick yet, but they are not that far either. This sets a good action that allows easy playability without straining your fingers.

It is good to check the action of the guitar when buying a new one, especially the acoustic. It is usually hard to adjust the action afterwards for it is more on the physical aspect of the guitar already. Take note that higher actions may signify a broken acoustic guitar or when the neck leans too forward due to a crack or other deformities. In electric guitars however, actions can be raised or lowered depending on your taste. Higher action guitars are usually set to improve the tone of guitar, more on that later.

You’re overall likeness and feel!

The way you feel about your guitar actually matters! You don’t just get guitars that you don’t love. Though take note that even if you have a low budget guitar there is no reason why shouldn’t love it.  Buying cheaper guitars when you are starting out is actually a strategic move. Sooner or later you can start buying a new guitar once you truly learn it and see its importance in your life. But for now, it is pretty good to buy cheap ones first to see if it works out. It is also important that you buy the next guitar when you truly know how to play already. There will come a  time where you can differentiate sounds and have your own genre or style. This will then be the perfect time to choose a lifelong guitar. But for now, as long as it passes the test above, that it can be played, it can be well tuned, it can create sounds clearly or good enough, then you have  a perfect beginner’s guitar. Love it and take care of it for this guitar will be your partner.

It is best to emphasized that the type and quality of the guitar doesn’t matter much for now, what is best is that you start practicing and playing. You may even borrow one, trust me it’s not about the guitar but the skills that you can carry around.