Types of Guitar: A Complete Guide
Janvi Arora
- 10 July, 2024
- 15 min read
Table of Contents
Have you ever played an air guitar while listening to the sweet melody of Jimmy Page’s solo on Stairway to Heaven? If so, then we are sure you must have thought about buying your own guitar and creating music that gets your name in the Rock-n-Roll Hall Of Fame.
But one of the biggest questions every aspiring guitarist has in mind before they start their musical journey is to find the perfect weapon to help them become the rock gods. For most people, there are only two types of guitars. The first one is the acoustic guitar, which is made famous by songs like Perfect by Ed Sheeran, Ring Of Fire by Johnny Cash, Mr Tambourine Man By Bob Dylan, Layla by Eric Clapton, and many more. The second most common type of guitar is the electric guitar. Each electric guitar sounds different; the sound of these guitars heavily relies on amplifiers, the strings that are being used, and the material used for making the guitar.
Apart from these two, there are several other guitar styles /genres that you can choose to begin with or inherit in your music to create a new sound. With the help of this blog, we will show you which guitar will add depth to your blues, which ones you need to use for the epic jazz session, and which type of guitar you will need for rock-n-roll. So, in the voice of Mick Jagger, let’s start this up!!
History of Guitar
There’s always some version of string instruments that have existed since the dawn of time. As a result, pinpointing the exact origin of the guitar still remains a mystery. Ancient musicians used to play strings via plectrum, which is considered an early version of pick.
According to recorded history, the guitar was formed by combining two instruments called the oud and the lute. The first ever ancient pictorial record of lute-like instruments can be found in 3500 to 3200 BCE. By the 15th century, instruments similar to the lute’s shape had begun to see a downfall in their popularity. People from Spain started to favor instruments with curved shapes similar to present-day guitars. Back in those days, they were called Baroque guitars.
By the 1790s, Spanish musicians had settled down to six strings and a standard body type, which we use right now, but those guitars were small in size. Antonio de Torres Jurado made some changes, broadening the body, thinning the belly, and increasing the curve at the waist. Also, he used machined heads instead of wooden tuning pegs. The insides of the guitars were also changed a bit as he added wooden struts to make the guitar sound more vibrant.
i. Classical Guitar: A Captivating Type of Guitar With Timeless Elegance in Every Strum
We are kicking off our list with the old-school classical guitar. This type of guitar is specifically designed to be played by classical musicians with gut strings. Musicians use classical guitar to get a richer and darker sound. One of the crucial aspects of playing classical guitar is that the strings have low tension, so it is easier to press your fingers down. As a result, classical guitars are an excellent choice for beginners.
Also, classical guitar allows you to focus on learning chords, shapes, and patterns. On the other hand, if you choose any other type of guitar, you will find yourself fighting against the instrument due to the high tension on the strings.
For a lot of new musicians, classical guitars are pretty similar to acoustic guitars. But in truth, they are not similar at all. The classical guitar is smaller than the acoustic guitar, which has a dreadnought shape. Similarly, the fretboard of a classical guitar is wider than the acoustic guitar, and you will not find fret markers along the fingerboard in a classical guitar.
Some of the songs you can play on classical guitar are Hello by Adele, Shape Of My Heart By String, Take Me Home Country Road by John Denver and others.
ii. Acoustic Guitar: A Type of Guitar with the Pure Essence of Sound
The acoustic guitar is the older cousin of the electric guitar, which offers great versatility. The sound of an acoustic guitar comes from the hollow chamber present inside it. The vibrations of the strings carry through the air which is present inside the chamber. As a result, the acoustic guitar does not require any form of electrical amplification.
The older acoustic guitars used to have nylon strings instead of steel ones, which has become a common norm. Spruce is the most popular material for making the bottom section of an acoustic guitar, and rosewood is considered to be a fan favorite for the construction of guitar’s neck.
If you are looking for a guitar that could provide strong resonance in lower-mid frequencies, which results in a more mellow tune, then acoustic guitars are the ones you should take home with you. The acoustic guitar is used by “The Beatles,” “Bob Dylan,” “Led Zeppelin,” “Pink Floyd,” and many more. Some of the most famous acoustic guitar songs that have ever been played using acoustic guitar are Masters of War, Blowin’ in the Wind, Stairway to Heaven, Layla, Redemption song, and others.
If you are new to acoustic guitar, it is best to start learning guitar chords and strumming patterns, as they allow you to accompany singers and other band members when they perform. Apart from this, acoustic guitar is considered to be one of the best guitars that you need to begin your musical journey. Still, you need to pay attention to theory as it will help you learn where your fingers need to go on the fret and for what reason.
An Acoustic guitar can be used for playing Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, Hotel California by Eagles, Wonderwall By Oasis, American Pie by Don McLean and others.
iii. Electric Guitar: A Type of Guitar that Unleash Sonic Brilliance with this Dynamic
The electric guitar produces some of the most unreal sounds; some musicians play it like it’s an extension of themselves. The body of an electric guitar is made from wood, and several other small parts, including pickups, and steel strings. You must purchase an amplifier and a guitar tuner when buying an electric guitar. This is because of the fact that the electric guitar does not have a hollow chamber present in the body. So, musicians need an external device that can amplify the sound of the electric guitar.
The electric guitar has pickups that convert the vibrations of each string into an electric signal. The electric signals are then sent to the amplifier via a shielded cable. From here, the amplifier will process the electrical signal in order to convert it into sound. Both the tone and volume of your guitar is adjusted during this process.
As a result, lots of artists say that the electric guitar can only be considered a musical instrument when it is plugged into the amplifier. On the other hand, you can only use an electric guitar without an amplifier if you are practising and don’t want others to listen to its sound.
Furthermore, with an electric guitar, you can also plug in headphones during your guitar lessons. Due to the presence of steel strings, it is much easier to hold barre chords, and it is much easier to learn different strings on this type of guitar because pickups and amplifiers are all the source of the sound you can quickly find your mistakes while playing it.
Lastly, electric guitars don’t have a hollow chamber and have a thinner neck in comparison to acoustic guitars. Thus making it a lot easier to carry around during your music shows. But in addition to carrying an electric guitar, you will also have to take an amplifier with you in some situations. So keep that in mind. Also, here are some songs that you can practice on electric guitar Come As You Are By Nirvana, Iron Man by Black Sabbath, Rock You Like A Hurricane by Scorpions, Back In Black by AC/DC and others.
iv. Bass Guitars: A Powerful Type of Guitar With Rhythmic Foundation.
Without the Fender Bass, there’d be no rock n’ roll and no Motown. The electric guitar had been waiting around since 1939 for an excellent partner to come along. The two became one to produce an electric rhythm section, and that changed the music industry forever. Bass guitars have four strings compared to six strings of any typical guitar.
In addition to this, the strings of bass guitars are a lot thicker, which allows them to hit lower notes, giving more depth to the music. When you start taking top bass guitar online, you will find out that a bass guitar is an accompaniment instrument that supports the melody along with the rhythm of a song. Still, if you are learning bass guitar after understanding acoustic guitar, you can apply the same scales in different ranges, guitar chords, and similar music theory during your practice session on bass guitar.
For most people, the bass guitar comes as a second thought, an overlooked instrument. But bass is said to be the most critical instrument in the entire band. You will find bands having more than one lead guitarist; sometimes, even the singer will use an electric guitar to create an extra “oomph” in a live set.
On the other hand, there’s going to be a single bass guitarist with his four-string bass having his own electrifying presence in the band. Bass guitar is the one instrument that brings the ensemble together. Some of the famous bass guitarists that are known throughout the globe are John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Lemmy of Motörhead.
With the knowledge of bass you can become a better musician, a better arranger and composer. Besides this, without a bass any song is going to feel soulless, thus, every band needs a bass guitarist. There’s no other instrument that could make your bandmates give the nickname of Neanderthal.
Electric bass guitars shaped the early days of rock’ n’ roll with genre-defining sounds. Electric bass gave lots of heft to the low-end rumbling which is commonly present in bass that the electric guitar was missing. This resulted in vibrations reaching the far end of the overcrowded concert halls, making the seats rattle with the sound of live music. Since the 1950s, the electric bass guitar has been a staple sound in funk, rock, metal, pop, and even country music.
There are many reasons for you to start your music career with bass guitar. First and foremost, every band is looking for a great bassist as they are responsible for giving a harmonic foundation that keeps the sound of different instruments in the band together.
There are two types of bass guitars; the first one is a solid body, which is similar to an electric guitar. Then, there is a semi-hollow option, which is quite similar to an acoustic bass. This type of guitar will work with an amplifier while giving you the choice of using full-on amplification or going with the resonance of an acoustic bass.
v. Resonator Guitar: Vintage Tones Resonate in this Unique Type of Guitar
Resonator guitars are musical instruments that sometimes feel too mystical to be true. Only a few people know how to use a resonator guitar properly. A resonator guitar’s basic working depends on metal cones, also known as ‘spun,’ that are placed inside the body to process the sound produced by the strings and then amplify it. Due to the presence of metal cones inside, we get that specific bite and sound from these types of guitars.
When a string vibrates, the sound travels through the bridge and goes to one or more spun metal resonator cones, leading to a sound that is hard to replicate in any other form of guitar. Besides this, the sound coming out of a resonator guitar is generally high and clear in comparison to an acoustic guitar. This also explains the need to use resonator guitars; during the mid-90s, before the invention of amps and electric guitars, musicians brought out resonator guitars to feed louder crowds with their musical brilliance.
A resonator guitar can be made from both a wooden and metal body, but in every resonator guitar, you will find one thing in common: the use of metal cones inside the body to make the guitar come alive. The number of cones inside a resonator guitar ranges from one to three. More metal cones elevate the overall volume and the complexity of the sound from the instrument.
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Square neck resonator guitar
There are two distinctive types of necks in resonators; the first one is a round neck, which is quite similar to the traditional guitar necks used for creating that old-school sound of blues. Some of the popular songs that used round neck resonator guitar were Heavy Delta Blues by Justin Johnson, House Of The Rising Sun by Andy Hall, Drop Down Mama by Mike Dowling and many more.
The second is the square neck resonator, which has a much larger neck, and the bottom of the neck is completely squared off, the squared neck resonator is a popular choice for bluegrass musicians such as Roy Hood, Sun House, Pete Red and Scrapper Blackwell. The square neck resonator guitar is played by laying the instrument flat on the lap, a method known as lap steel.
vi. 12 String Guitar: Harmonic Richness Defined in this Exceptional Type of Guitar
A 12-string guitar is a guitar with, yep… you guessed it, with 12 strings. The 12-string guitar hides in music studios, rehearsal rooms, and other dark corners of the musical industry. These guitars will give you the sound of shimmer and sparkle simultaneously, as though two completely separate guitars are being played in unison. The shape, size, fit, and finish are exactly similar to a 6-string guitar, with only one big difference: having twice as many strings.
Playing a 12-string guitar will be twice as complex as playing a 6-string guitar. Well, the answer is no; surely you must dedicate many hours to practising. Still, the spacing between the strings is much narrower. As a result, if you try to play one string you will end up catching two or three. So in order to get familiar with this instrument you must take step-by-step guitar lessons to find the acoustic brilliance when playing it.
Amidst reading guitar tabs and chord shapes, you will find learning a 12-string guitar is quite similar to that of a 6-string. The difficulty arises when you start learning barre chords, as they require you to use twice as many strings on the fret as usual. Thus, you must understand how to use open-position chord shapes or even capo to play barre chords. One of the great examples of how one should use a 12-string guitar to create a rhythmic tone can be heard in Bon Jovi’s ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive.‘
Conclusion
Okay, this article has gone too long, but what can we do? There’s so much to talk about the greatest musical instrument in the world. Sometimes, we wonder what would have happened had Beethoven gotten his hands on this magnificent instrument.
Well, that’s a story we will tell in some other blog; right here, we end our meaty discussion on types of guitars and how they can be helpful for beginners. We hope you enjoyed reading all the quirky details of these six different types of guitars. You can choose any of these six guitar types to start working on achieving your goal of rocking the world.
But before you make the final purchase of your guitar, you should first examine that guitar with the technician; they will make sure that the instrument you are buying, whether it’s electric, acoustic, or even bass, is performing at its peak condition. At the same time, they will ensure all the little things in the guitar aren’t having any funny business causing a rattling sound. In addition to this, a technician will also personalize your instrument according to your playing style and preference.
Now you have the weapon of your choice to select, and once you are done with it, the only thing that remains is learning. That’s where Torrins instructors are available for your help, and we have a team of rockers with great experience in guitar lessons. They will teach you from the basics, such as how to tune a guitar, to playing complete songs like ‘Highway to hell,’ ‘Black Bird’ and many more on guitar.
We hope to see you join our global community of learners soon. Until then, keep rockin’ and ‘don’t stop believin’ in yourself.
