The Beginners Guitar Dilemma – Electric Or Acoustic?
When starting to learn guitar the question is often raised whether you should start on electric guitar or on acoustic guitar. For some, this will be a simple choice as they will be drawn to one or the other based on the musical genre they are attracted to playing.
But the question still stands about which is the better to learn on? Which provides a foundation in technique that will form a basis for improving guitar skills? If you are going to teach yourself guitar then which guitar type does not hide your faults?
There are pros and cons to each at different stages of a guitarist learning so any evaluation needs to take into account the short term and long term benefits of each. I started on acoustic guitar. My brother started on electric. Over the years I have mentored other guitarists who brought along to sessions whatever guitar they had to hand. What I noticed, is that you can almost tell from a guitarist\’s technique whether they started on electric or acoustic, just by watching them play.
So here are the pros and cons we saw of each approach.
Starting On Electric Guitar
Pros
* Narrower gauge strings and guitar neck make it easier to play.
* Amplification makes it easier to develop a subtlety of playing as it permits various nuances in your play (e.g. vibrato).
* It is possible to practice using earphones (neighbors will appreciate this).
Cons
* Muscle strength in the fingers does not build up as strongly as when playing acoustic.
* Using effects hides faults (string buzz, poor left hand placement).
* Strong tendency for incorrect placement of the left thumb on the guitar neck.
Starting On Acoustic Guitar
Pros
* Lower cost starting option.
* An amp is not required, so you can play and practice anywhere.
* Builds up finger muscle strength.
Cons
* Strong temptation to strum through all songs. Beginners should take the time to learn subtle finger picking styles.
* Guitar solos can get lost if playing in a group which may put off some beginners.
* Using earphones with an acoustic guitar is not an option.
From my perspective, guitarists who start out on electric build up a speed of playing (solos, chord changes, etc.) which is admirable, but it is often at the cost of good playing technique. Playing the electric guitar hides a number of faults such as incorrect placement of the thumb and not holding down strings solidly that results in strings buzzing or being muted during play (this is highly noticeable when recording an electric).
In comparison, the acoustic guitarist builds up the finger strength, learns better hand placement on the frets and fosters clear sounding play.
That said, if you can saddle the cost of buying both electric and acoustic guitars then you could balance out the beginners training on each instrument and they will benefit from both approaches.
Are you frustrated with your current guitar tuition/guitar course? Read Ed\’s review of Jamorama online guitar lessons at teach yourself guitar the modern way.
\’Aging Up\’ But Not Acting Old
Let\’s face it; we all have to grow older, at least from a chronological viewpoint. We may be doing so, but that doesn\’t mean we have to start acting like we\’re old, as a matter of fact. Look at it as \’aging up\’ but not growing old while doing so. What this means is that you\’re only young once but you can be immature forever, as the famous Australian writer Germaine Greer once said.
In that vein, consider what you might do to affirm your essential youthfulness (even if you\’re heading into your seventh decade of life) and street cred, so to speak. If you\’ve never picked up a musical instrument like a guitar, you might want to consider doing so. And don\’t worry if you\’re a southpaw because a left handed electric guitar is readily available and ready to be blasted.
It really doesn\’t matter what you do as you age up, because it\’s more important that you just get up and do something to keep moving and stay active. Your body may try to convince you that it\’s far better to sit on the porch, soaking up the sun and drying out like a raisin, but it\’s only trying to trick you into stopping whatever it is you\’re doing.
Maybe you have a touch of leg arthritis or some other ache or pain that comes and goes. That\’s still no reason to begin to think that you\’re suffering from the so-called infirmities of age. Just about every medical professional and fitness expert points out that people who fail to keep moving soon begin to start rusting, so never forget that.
If you\’re experiencing achy joints, realize that there are also a myriad of ways to help deal with that, too. Head over to that big outlet department store and pick up a jumbo bottle of Kirkland glucosamine and start taking it every day. For sure, your joints are going to be much happier with you and you\’re going to like being able to get out there and mix it up like in the days of old.
Now, you won\’t be the all-American athlete you once were but you will certainly be able to understand what George Bernard Shaw said about aging. He once pointed out that he believed that we don\’t stop playing because we get older but that we get older because we stop playing. As far as a philosophy of life goes, old George really knew what he was talking about.
Never forget that you can do plenty of things to stay young that don\’t require jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, for example. Getting up and moving around, learning to play a musical instrument and — most importantly — laughing as often as you can and with as much enthusiasm as you can can go a long way to keeping you young in ways that don\’t have anything to do with actual age.
For more information on things like left handed electric guitar, visit Electric Guitar For Sale for more product reviews.
A Cool Guitar Lesson For Relative Beginners by KillerGuitarTips.com
Hi it\’s Mike again from KillerGuitarTips.com
Over the past few weeks you will have been building up a nice little bag of tricks to use in your guitar playing and are a very small example of the unique speed learning techniques geared to bring the beginner onto great player in the shortest possible time. These techniques have taken over two decades to perfect and are due to be released in my revolutionary guitar tutoring course due to be released shortly.
You need to keep an eye on your email for the launch date of this one of a kind speed learning guitar course.
OK, let\’s start off with the business in hand.
I am going to show you a nice little tip that will project your guitar playing into hyperspace!
Taking the D major chord move it up the neck to the 7th fret whilst still playing the open D string underneath the chord (this chord is called G/D that is Gmajor with a D bass note).
Move it again up a further 2 frets (Whist still playing an open D string underneath (A/D)).
Moving on from this we will take it up to the 14th fret (octave D).
If you play one bar of each chord you will get a great sound with this superb chord sequence.
You can experiment with this shape at various positions on the neck to create your own sequence or even song!!
Before I sign off I would like to give you another nice little tip which is a top pro chord progression that uses the first and second string \”open\” throughout this four chord sequence to create a killer sound.
Let\’s give it a go…
The first chord is E maj with a difference. You are going to play this chord with its normal chord shape but slide it up to the 13th/14th fret (octive). [6th = open, 5th string = 14th fret, 4th = 14th, 3rd = 13th, 2nd open, 1st open] .
Now the second chord on this sequence uses the very same chord shape played at the 6th/7th fret and is called Aadd2. [6th = open, 5th = 7th, 4th = 7th, 3rd = 6th, 2nd open 1st open].
Then one of my favourite chords, check this, it\’s a C#m7 with a difference [6th = open, 5th = 11th, 4th = 11th, 3rd = 9th, 2nd open 1st open].
How do you like it?
Finally we will play the Badd4 chord. [6th = open, 5th = 9th, 4th = 9th, 3rd = 8th, 2nd open 1st open].
Now try this sequence using different rhythms, it\’s really cool.
Ok, I know for some of you this may sound a little technical but really its not. Just give it a try anyway but don\’t panic if you find it a little difficult as everything will be explained in my Killer Guitar Tips Home Study Course. Until next week have a great week… I\’ll catch you then.
Kind regards Mike
About The Author: Mike Jones is a Pro Guitar Tutor. Offering Guitar Lessons created to getting the beginner through to an great player in the shortest possible time, using amazing speed learning techniques developed over two decades of teaching and playing guitar as a Pro. To find out more about Mike\’s teaching techniques and receive FREE tips and tricks each week visit his website at: Guitar Course