When I first learned how to play the guitar, I didn’t have guitar lessons, and fell into some bad habits. Although I’m now a competent guitarist, if I could start again with the knowledge I now have, I know I would improve at a much faster rate than I originally did. When beginner guitar players ask me what kind of guitar to buy (acoustic, electric, classical?) I always recommend an acoustic or an electro acoustic guitar and give the following advice.
The type of guitar you’ll need really depends on what you’re going to use it for. Do you just need a standard acoustic to play at home, or do you need an electric or semi-acoustic to perform in bars or clubs?
Most guitarists, when they first decide to learn, want to play like their favorite rock band. This is fine, and in fact it’s a good thing because it encourages more people to learn this brilliant instrument.
What it also means is that, after somebody’s made the decision to learn the guitar, 9 times out of 10, the guitar they’ll choose is a brand new electric. My suggestion, however, is this:
When you’re starting out, buy an acoustic or an electro acoustic guitar instead of an electric model. If you’re a total beginner, at first it can be really hard (and frustrating) to produce a nice “clean” sound when playing a sensitive electric guitar through an amp. This can really hinder your progress because if you’re unable to produce that clean sound, your learning of good technique can suffer.
An acoustic guitar is also usually a little more difficult to play at first than its electric counterpart. This can be a beneficial when you already know how to play quite well.
The problem is that, learning on an easy instrument means that it’s much harder to then swap instruments and play a variety of different music. If you learn on the acoustic when you’re starting out, it will be much easier later on to learn a diverse range of music on many different guitars.
In spite of this advice, if you really want an instrument that you can plug in and play loud, you may want to consider either an electro acoustic guitar or a semi-acoustic guitar. The electro acoustic model differs to a standard acoustic guitar only slightly, in that it also contains a “pickup” to capture the sound from the strings and send them to an amp.
This isn’t the same as a “semi-acoustic” guitar; they’re similar to standard electric guitars, but their hollowed-out bodies allow the instrument to be played without the need of an amplifier.
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, this is just a little basic advice. Nothing can really beat going to a shop and trying the guitars. If you have a friend who also plays, bring them with you; it can be helpful for someone who knows how to play to give you a demonstration.
If you can’t find a guitar-player in your circle of friends, then try to use a small music shop instead of a larger chain. The staff in a large store often won’t have the time to sit there and demonstrate guitars to a beginner. However, smaller music shop owners are usually happy to do this, and it can be a great benefit when you are trying to decide which acoustic or electro acoustic guitar to purchase.
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