Welsome to today's blog! You are circling around the notion of taking up the guitar. Good for you! But something is bothering you. Every year, around this time, that age-old question rears its head once more to trouble and taunt the good people of this land. The question, of course, is what to learn guitar on:acoustic or electric?
Seeking answers can be the stuff of eternal torment! Such decisions! Fear not, gentle beginner-guitarist: I have wisdom to impart! My years of service both on the shop floor and behind the scenes have given me a lot of experience in this area, and I'm more than happy to share these insights with you. What I don’t have, I must confirm, are any set-in-stone answers. What I can do, though, go through the various pros and cons of the acoustic and the electric guitar, and then talk through how you might make your own decidsion about all of this. I can guide you, pointing out the benefits and drawbacks to both paths, but the decision ultimately lies with you.
Read the whole blog or use the Contents section below to jump the parts that matter most to you. Some of the info will repeat itself a little, but that all just helps it to sink in. Let's go!
Essential Tips For Buying Your First Guitar
For many who are new to guitar playing, it would seem that the acoustic guitar is the de facto first choice. We’re not saying that this should necessarily be the case but let’s look into it. Acoustic guitars are complete in and of themselves, requiring no additional equipment in order to function. No amp, no cables, no electricity. This certainly makes acoustic guitar playing a simple prospect: you pick it up and you play it! Electro acoustic guitars that plug into amps do of course exist, but they are somewhat beyond the scope of this article.
Acoustic guitars are almost always physically bigger than electric guitars. They need the large hollow bodies in order to make the sound happen via resonance and projection of soundwaves. In practical terms, this means that the right arm will have to reach over the body slightly more than with an electric.
Acoustic guitars generally have more tension in the strings than electric guitars. This means that the strings are altogether tighter and less malleable, making them slightly harder work on the fingers. This is especially true with beginners since they have yet to develop the necessary callouses on their fingertips. Hey, it needs to happen eventually!
Things You Didn't Know About The Electric Guitar
As to whether you go for steel or nylon strings, we have actually dedicated another entire blog to that subject! For the purposes of this article we are assuming steel strings but to summarise: nylon strings are easier on the fingers but often have bigger necks and also give a specific sound that may or may not prove to be what you’re after.
So, acoustic guitars are a simpler proposition and are slightly tougher on the hands. Sonically, if you like predominantly acoustic music, this is a no brainer! Lots of songs translate well onto acoustic guitar anyway and if you want to sing songs and write your own, the acoustic guitar is likely to be a good fit for you.
But what if you love Rock guitar riffs? Wild sounds? Metal? Posing? All of the above are more achievable with an electric guitar. To be clear, the actual principles of playing are exactly the same so you won’t be ‘losing out’ on anything whichever way you go. Whatever you learn on an acoustic can be brought across to the electric and vice versa, with the exception of obvious things like whammy bar dive bombs and feedback (don’t worry about these terms just now!).
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So why pick an electric guitar over an acoustic? Well, firstly, they are most definitely easier to play on. They have slim bodies, thinner necks and the strings are much less rigid. All of that makes electric guitars far more ergonomic.
They are also, let’s face it, more exciting. Yes they are! There is no thrill quite like playing a note or chord on an electric guitar and hearing it coming out of an amplifier. Even after decades of playing, this does not get old! Electric guitars are available in a wide range of styles and colours so there is more excitement and personalisation in choosing one. This refers to beginner models, too: they look, sound and feel close enough to the famous models to make the experience of learning fun, encouraging and authentic.
What else? Well, the chances are, most of your experience of hearing guitars has been electric guitars. Whether you’ve grown up listening to Green Day, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin or Queen, it’s likely that your mind throws up images and sounds of Rock Stars onstage blasting away on an electric guitar. Realising this is important because an acoustic guitar will simply not fit in with this interior expectation and some enthusiasm may be lost. At this crucial early stage, this is not what we want!
Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide
So, what are the downsides of picking an electric guitar? Well, the guitar by itself won’t do a whole lot. Contrary to what some people expect, you can hear an unplugged electric guitar, it just doesn’t really sound like much. So, you’ll need a guitar amp and a guitar cable at least. Probably a strap too in order to play standing, let’s keep it real. These all add to the cost, though you can buystarter packages from us at some pretty great prices! For perspective, starter packages were roughly the same price back when I began playing guitar and when I began, Kurt Cobain was still alive! Okay? These packs are great value!
Anyway, you’ll need to plug into an amp and dial in sounds which is extra stuff to learn and account for. It also means you’re pretty much rooted to whichever spot you plug your amp into, making mobility a hassle unless you unplug everything and trail it around with you.
Aside from that, there isn’t really much in the way of downsides to choosing an electric. We aren’t going to warn anybody about loud amps annoying the family/neighbours either because A: turning it up loud is awesome, and B: at least amps CAN be turned down: acoustic guitars are gonna be pretty loud no matter what, until you learn how to control your playing dynamics. At least a volume control is an option!
Acoustic Vs. Electric Guitar: A Beginner's Guide
There are a few fairly significant differences between an acoustic and an electric guitar. Physically, the biggest difference lies in their overall design. Acoustic guitars are hollow, and are built with large bodies. This is where the sound is created after playing a string, and the top of the guitar (the front of the ‘face’ if you prefer) has a soundhole to let that sound come out.
Electric guitars, on the other hand, are nearly always solid (there are exceptions), and their sound has less to do with the instrument’s physical properties as the electronics built inside the instrument. Electric guitars don’t make a particularly loud or resonant sound on their own, since they’ve been designed to work with an amplifier.
Acoustic guitars use different strings to electrics, and often have slightly wider, thicker necks. This sometimes means that electric guitars are easier to play, since their necks are typically slimmer and the strings are less ‘tight’ feeling.
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Acoustic guitars are self-sufficient: they create their own sound and require no additional equipment in order to fully function. Electric guitars, on the other hand, require an amplifier and cable, not to mention electricity!
In terms of similarities, the major one is the fact that you play them in pretty much the same manner. Sure, they feel a little different due to neck dimensions and string tension (acoustics are somewhat ‘stiffer’ in feel), but in terms of forming a chord and strumming it, the two are the same.
The musical knowledge you apply to the acoustic guitar will remain the same on the electric guitar. The same frets will correspond to the same notes, so you can take what you've learned on one type of instrument and apply it directly to the other.
Les Paul's 'log': A One Of A Kind Guitar
You also tune them the same way, using the same methods. The songs you want to play will work equally on an acoustic as on an electric, though of course some styles are more suited to one type of guitar over the other!
Fundamentally, we are talking about to different variations on the same instrument. You can strum on both, play leads on both, create rhythms on both, write songs on both and develop techniques such as slide playing and alterante tunings on both.
As mentioned, since both types of guitar utilise the same tunings and general operation, you can pretty much play whatever styles and genres you want on either. That said, some genres are definitely more suited to acoustic guitars, and others work better on electric guitars. Here’s my opinion on how these genres sit, bearing in mind that there will often be ‘crossover’ genres like indie-rock music, for example.
Who Invented The Electric Guitar?
As you can see, there
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