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OBJECTIVES:

  1. Learn the parts of the guitar and their functions.
  2. Learn common brands that are respected.
  3. Learn the differences between the acoustic, electric and acoustic/electric guitars.

The Acoustic Guitar

acoustic guitar

THE NECK OF THE GUITAR

The neck is your left hand's playground. It is usually made of a hardwood. It can be glued or bolted into the body. Or it can extend from the body as one piece.It also contains a "truss-rod" which can be accessed through the sound hole (J) and adjusted if you find it's out of line. It's usually best to leave any adjusting to a professional, though, you could do harm to the guitar if you haven't much experience with working on guitars. These are it's parts:

A. Headstock: the headstock is the part of the guitar that holds the tuning pegs. It comes in all shapes and sizes.

B. Nut: this is the piece on which the string pass over to attach to the tuning pegs.

C. Fretboard or Fingerboard: This is the part where the magic is made. It consists of usually from 20 to 24 frets (see H). The fretboard is made of hardwood usually and it is a separate piece laid on the neck. It also usually contains pearl "inlays" that reference the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, etc. frets. We'll get into "why" later.

G. Tuning Pegs / Machines: When you are looking for a guitar, make sure that these turn smoothly and evenly. If they don't, they probably are not of very good quality. Grover tuners are a respected brand you can't go wrong with, but a bit pricey. All in all, if you buy a decent guitar, the tuners that come with it will be good.

H. Frets: The metal strips that lay across the fingerboard are your frets. These are what determine your tones. When you press the string to the fingerboard down between these frets and pluck or strum it, you get a tone. Where you press on the fingerboard determines your note.

THE BODY OF THE GUITAR

D. Upper Bout: This part is the front circle of the guitar. It's primary purpose is for resting the guitar on your leg. Generally it doesn't affect the tone of the guitar much. It is also where the neck attached to the body.

E. Bridge Pins: these pin the strings into bridge to keep tension on them.

J. Sound Hole: All of your sound comes out here. On acoustic / electric guitars, pickups may be placed inside here to pick up the vibrations of the strings and electrify the guitar.

K. Bridge: This is where the pins hold the strings in place on the body of the guitar.

If you want to learn more about guitar and really have an easy to use method of becoming a better guitarist, I recommend trying either Learnandmasterguitar or Dan Denley's Amazing Guitar Secrets. These are both top notch guitar learning products. You can't go wrong with either of them so check them out!

The Electric Guitar

electric guitar

THE NECK OF THE GUITAR

Essentially the electric guitar has the same parts as an acoustic but some variations are there.

A. The headstock is pretty much the same but many times you will see all 6 tuning machines on the top of the headstock.

B. The nut on some electric guitars are "locking." This means you can use a whammy bar or your fingers to bend and pull the strings without it going out of tune because there are bolts at the nut that lock the strings in place.

C. The neck on an electric generally is thinner and narrower than an acoustic neck.

D. Strap pegs are common on both guitars so you can stand and play. It's a good idea to get locks so

 

Strings

There are many differnet types of strings out there. But you have to buy electric guitar string for electric guitars and acoustic guitar strings for acoustic guitars. If you have a classical, or nylon string guitar, you have to buy nylon strings, otherwise go with steel strings or nickel wound strings.

A good way to extend the life of your strings is to wipe them down with a clean rag after each use.

Some respected brands are:

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Guitar Theory

Elements of Music Composing for guitar