“What is the difference between a classical guitar and acoustic guitar» - This is the question that RuNet users often want to find an answer to. If we enter this phrase into the search bar, we will get many links to sites that explain the differences between these guitars. So on our website you can see two categories - and.
It's fair to say that the classical guitar is an acoustic guitar. In turn, the guitar is the most common instrument in large group plucked acoustic instruments. Acoustic guitars should be distinguished from electronic guitars by the method of converting the energy of the string into sound perceived by the human ear. Electric guitars are equipped with adapters that convert string vibrations into an electrical signal, which is then converted into sound. Acoustic guitars are a design that allows you to convert the vibration energy of a string into a sound perceived by the ear, capable of amplifying this sound and conveying it to the listener in the desired form.
The set of structural parts is called an acoustic apparatus. The acoustic apparatus of a guitar includes a body with a soundboard (membrane), string clothing and a string fixation device (neck and string tension mechanism).
The acoustic guitar group is very large. You can distinguish guitars by voice, by tuning, by the number of strings. Depending on the size and tuning, guitars can be divided into prim, tertian, quart, fifths. By the number of strings, acoustic guitars are most often found 6, 7 and 12 strings. Acoustic Bas-guitar usually has 4 strings. 4 strings is very fashionable now ukulele - ukulele.
And yet, with all the diversity, we are accustomed to stable phrases “ classical guitar" And " acoustic guitar", which means guitars for a specific purpose.
This is the common name for a modern acoustic guitar, which is used to perform classical repertoire as a solo, ensemble or accompanying instrument. We won't be wrong if we call her Spanish guitar or concert guitar. The modern classical guitar was born in Spain; we can thank the famous Spanish guitar maker for the invention of the modern guitar design. Antonio de Torres. Torres refined the design of the guitar to such an extent that it allowed the instrument to take on advanced roles as a solo instrument. Historical meaning The word concert consists of a musical work of complex form, based on a competition between solo instruments and an orchestra. Greatest Spanish Guitarist Andres Segovia brought new methods of sound production and playing techniques to the world of guitar, and also expanded the usual repertoire of the guitar with his transcriptions classical works. Segovia achieved worldwide recognition of the guitar in the field academic music. A classical guitar is equipped with synthetic strings; the guitarist plucks it with his fingernails or fingertips. Metal strings cannot be installed on a classical guitar; its design is not designed to withstand the pressure of strings made of metal alloys. The guitar has an elegant figure-eight body.
Or folk guitar Suitable for use with metal strings. It has a more rigid structure that can withstand the tension of steel strings. The neck of the guitar is reinforced with a metal anchor, and the tuning mechanics are equipped with carbide rollers. Guitars of different configurations and body sizes, such as dreadnought, grand auditorium, jumbo classified as acoustic guitars. Dreadnought and jumbo guitars were born in North America and are very popular among country singers, which is why they are often called western guitars. The sound on such a guitar is produced with a pick or fingertips. The shape of Western guitars may differ from classical guitars; a dreadnought guitar has a more rectangular shape, while the lower part of a grand auditorium or jumbo body resembles a circle.
Often, before buying a guitar, a future musician asks himself the question, which instrument to choose, an acoustic or an electric guitar? In order to do right choice, you need to know the features and differences between them. Each of them, due to the specifics of its structure, is used in different styles music, and both are dominated by different playing techniques. An acoustic guitar differs from an electric guitar in the following ways:
- Hull structure
- Number of frets
- String fastening system
- Sound amplification method
- Game techniques
For a clear example, compare What is the difference between an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar? on the image:
Housing and sound reinforcement system
The first difference that immediately catches your eye is the body of the guitar. Even a person who knows nothing about music and musical instruments will notice that an acoustic guitar has a wide and hollow body, while an electric guitar has a solid and narrow body. This is because sound amplification is happening different ways. The sound of the strings must be amplified, otherwise it will be too weak. In an acoustic guitar, the sound is amplified by the body itself. For this purpose, there is a special hole in the middle of the front deck, called “ socket", the vibration from the strings transfers to the body of the guitar, intensifies and exits through it.
An electric guitar does not need this, since the principle of sound amplification is completely different. On the body of the guitar, where the “socket” is located on the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar has magnetic pickups that capture the vibrations of the metal strings and transmit them to the reproducing equipment. The speaker is not installed inside the guitar, as some might think, although there have been similar experiences, for example soviet guitar“Tourist”, but this is more of a perversion than a full-fledged electric guitar. The guitar is connected by connecting the jack connector and the input to the equipment with a special cord. In this case, you can add all kinds of “gadgets” and guitar processors to the connection path to change the sound of the guitar. The body of an acoustic guitar lacks the switches, levers, and jack input that an electric guitar has.
Hybrid types of acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar can also be connected to the equipment. In this case, it will be called “semi-acoustic” or “electro-acoustic”. An electro-acoustic guitar is more similar to a regular acoustic guitar, but it has a special piezo pickup that performs the same function as a magnetic pickup in an electric guitar. A semi-acoustic guitar is more similar to an electric guitar and has a narrower body than an acoustic guitar. Instead of a “socket”, it uses f-holes for playing in unplugged mode, and a magnetic pickup is installed for connection. You can also purchase a special pickup and install it on a regular acoustic guitar yourself.
Frets
The next thing you should pay attention to is the number of frets on the guitar's neck. There are much fewer of them on an acoustic guitar than on an electric guitar. The maximum number of frets on an acoustic is 21, on an electric guitar up to 27 frets. This is due to several factors:
- The neck of an electric guitar has a truss rod that gives it strength. Therefore, the bar can be made longer.
- Because the body of an electric guitar is thinner, it is easier to reach the outer frets. Even if an acoustic guitar has cutouts on the body, it is still difficult to reach them.
- The neck of an electric guitar is often thinner, making it easier to reach the frets on lower strings.
String fastening system
An acoustic guitar also differs from an electric guitar in that it has a different string fastening system. An acoustic guitar has a tailpiece that holds the strings. In addition to the tailpiece, an electric guitar often has a bridge, which allows fine adjustment of the height, and in some types, the tension of the strings. Additionally, many bridges have a built-in tremolo arm system, which is used to produce a vibrating sound.
Game techniques
The differences do not end with the structure of the guitar; they also concern the techniques of playing it. For example, vibrato is produced on an electric and acoustic guitar various methods. If on an electric guitar vibrato is produced mainly by small movements of the finger, then on an acoustic guitar - by the movement of the entire hand. This difference is present because on an acoustic guitar the strings are tighter, which means it is much more difficult to make such small movements. In addition, there are techniques that are generally impossible to perform on an acoustic guitar. It is impossible to play on an acoustic by tapping, because in order to get a sufficiently loud sound when performing, you need to significantly increase the volume, and this is only possible on an electric guitar.
Many beginning guitarists, when choosing a guitar, do not know which instrument to choose. They wonder - What is the difference between an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar?? Which is better to choose? There will be no lessons in this article, we will just talk about the differences between these tools.
Of course, the most important difference between an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar is the sound. The electric guitar is more often used for rock music (and its many genres).
Electric guitar and acoustic guitar come from the same instrument - the guitar. But, despite this, they have different structures and different purposes.
How to turn an acoustic into an electric guitar?
An ordinary acoustic guitar, if desired, can be turned into an electric guitar, although not completely. Let's start with the fact that in music stores Semi-acoustic and electro-acoustic guitars are sold.
It is similar to an acoustic, but it has a special piezo pickup, with which such a guitar can be connected to a computer.
This type of guitar is acoustic. But it is used at concerts, because it can be connected to equipment, so the sound will be loud and will be heard by the audience. If desired, using the equipment, you can attach various effects to an electro-acoustic guitar.
A semi-acoustic guitar looks more like an electric guitar. But the sound in it is produced (as in acoustics) using cavities inside the body. Instead of a rosette (the round hole in an acoustic guitar), a semi-acoustic guitar uses holes called "f-holes" (so called because they look like English letter f).
This type of guitar is usually used in such styles of music as blues, jazz, and ron'n'roll.
Separate pickup for acoustics
You can also connect an ordinary acoustic guitar to the equipment (for example, to a computer). For this purpose, there are special pickups that are attached to the body of the guitar in the socket area.
You can read more about this in the article "". In this way, the guitar is connected to the computer, and through special musical programms You can add any effect to the guitar, for example, distortion (as in an electric guitar when rock or metal is played).
Which guitar should you choose?
Of course, first of all, if you are asking the question “Which guitar to choose - acoustic or electric?”, then you need to understand for what purpose you are purchasing the instrument. If you just want simple songs, then get an acoustic guitar. There will be less hassle, you won’t need any equipment, you can take such a tool with you anywhere. And, of course, you’ll spend less money.
Also, if we talk about acoustics, there are two types of such guitars: acoustic and classical guitar. These are all acoustic instruments, but they have differences. You can read about it here: "
Acoustic guitars are the general name for a class of instruments that is further divided into two subtypes: classical and acoustic guitars. What are their differences, what types of acoustic guitars are there, and also what is best to play in what styles, we will talk in this article.
Classical guitar
This is a guitar with a wide neck, full-size (4/4) body and nylon strings. Classical guitars for children have a smaller body (1/2 or 3/4). You can also sometimes find a classical guitar with a lower cutaway in the body for easier access to the upper notes.
Classical guitars gravitate towards certain styles of music and performance styles. On classical guitar Sounds good classical music and flamenco, as well as art song. For training in music school It is also best to buy a classical guitar with nylon strings, and select its size according to the age and height of the child.
Keep in mind that a classical guitar cannot be fitted with steel strings. This can lead to guitar failure because the body is not designed to handle the increased stress on the neck that is created by metal strings.
Acoustic guitar
If the production of classical guitars adheres to certain standards, then the approach of manufacturers to acoustic guitars is more free. Today, even the once existing “standards” of case types are seen differently by each manufacturer. However, to make it easier to navigate acoustic guitars, we will describe their main types.
Dreadnought (aka Western) is one of the most popular body types for acoustic guitars. The large body allows you to make the sound loud and rich, with pronounced low and high frequencies.
The jumbo body is larger and more rounded. Jumbo is best suited for accompanying music because its sound is dominated by low frequencies.
Folk is almost no different from classical guitar. Guitars with this body lack deep low frequencies, but they compensate for this with an expressive midrange and bright top end. They are popular in country and folk music as a solo instrument.
The acoustic guitar is widely used in playing a wide variety of musical styles- rock, jazz, blues, folk and others.
Twelve string guitar
A twelve-string guitar has six paired rows of strings tuned to unison or octave in classical tuning. The sound of the guitar is more voluminous, deep and bright. The instrument is more difficult to care for and tune, and the manner of playing it is also somewhat different. Speaking about twelve-string acoustic guitars, it is necessary to clarify that such guitars are not suitable for beginner guitarists.
Seven string guitar
Standing apart from the classical and acoustic guitar is the Russian seven-string guitar, which became widespread in Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries. The classic sound of Russian romance can only be reproduced on seven string guitar. The main difference of this instrument, in addition to the number of strings, is the different tuning: “D, B, G, D, B, G, D.”
Semi-acoustic and electro-acoustic guitars
Acoustic six string guitar, equipped with a piezoelectric pickup is called electroacoustic. Inside the electro-acoustic guitar there is a preamplifier with tone controls that are output to the body. The housing also has a socket for a jack plug, which is connected by wire to the amplifier. They perform with an electro-acoustic guitar big concerts with classical or bardic works.
A guitar with acoustic cutouts in the body and electromagnetic pickups is called semi-acoustic. This type of guitar is more likely to be an electric guitar, but nevertheless, it can be played without an amplifier - although the sound will not be too loud. You can rehearse and practice on such a guitar without equipment. musical works, but during performances you will still have to connect it to an amplifier and speakers.
Materials
Different parts of the guitar are made from different types of wood. The classic layout is as follows: shells - mahogany or cedar; top - spruce; the back is mahogany or cedar; neck - mahogany or cedar; The fingerboard is rosewood or ebony.
Today, manufacturers experiment a lot with tree species. Here are the main rocks from which guitars are made and their characteristics:
Red tree - general form wood, which includes both cheap and expensive species. Mahogany has a reddish hue with open grain and large pores.
Cedar is a grayish-colored wood with large, wavy grains and medium-sized pores.
Spruce - tree light color with small fibers and small pores, soft in the core and hard in the frame.
Rosewood - exotic wood Brown with reddish-pink veins, dense in structure and with small pores.
Ebony is a dark-colored wood sometimes with yellowish stripes (Tiger Stripe), dense in structure and with very small pores.
Reference article based on the expert opinion of the author.
When potential students contact me, they usually provide some brief backstory about what brought them to the teacher. All these stories are quite different, however, during their professional activity I began to notice in them common features. In this article, I would like to dwell on one of the situations often described by potential students: “I really want to learn how to play the electric guitar, but I have a problem. I have never played an acoustic (classical) guitar, but many people say, and I myself have read various articles that Before learning to play the electric guitar, you need to master the basics of acoustic or classical. But acoustic or classical guitars don’t attract me at all, but the electric guitar is the opposite. How critical is the lack of ability to play the acoustic (classical) guitar in order to start learning the electric guitar?”
The fact is that the classical guitar, acoustic guitar and electric guitar are three completely different musical instruments, differing not only in sound, but also in their functionality. Consequently, they also differ in sound production techniques. To make it clearer, I will give a couple of analogies as examples. If a person wants to learn how to drive a car and comes to a driving school for this purpose, it is unlikely that the teachers there will offer him training in riding a motorcycle or a dump truck. Despite the fact that these types of transport travel on the same roads, they are still fundamentally different from each other. In the same way, people who want to take up boxing will most likely not turn to a Greco-Roman wrestling coach, since it is obvious that the two are absolutely different types martial arts And if these statements raise virtually no doubts in anyone’s mind, then with guitars the situation is completely different.
Unfortunately, quite a large number of people really do not understand the difference between a classical, acoustic and electric guitar. Of course, quite a lot of people are aware that the above tools have little overlap. However, among them there are those who are convinced that you cannot start learning to play the electric guitar without learning to play the acoustic or classical guitar. With all responsibility, I can assure you that these beliefs are purely a stereotype and do not represent any informational value. Following these unfounded speculations is a grave mistake that will lead to nothing but wasted money and time. Where does this stereotype come from is the second question. Someone read it on the Internet, someone guessed it themselves, someone was explained this by a teacher who is either incompetent and himself believes in this nonsense, or is simply a fraudster trying to keep his student for as long as possible at any cost.
In fact, there is not the slightest connection between an acoustic, classical and electric guitar, except for the number of strings (and even then not always). As mentioned earlier, each of these musical instruments has its own specifics and functionality, which impose on it certain features, expressed in the technique of sound production. That is, if a musician is good at, for example, an acoustic guitar, this does not mean that he will be able to master the electric guitar or classical guitar without preparation.
Differences between guitars in terms of sound production techniques
How does an electric guitar differ from an acoustic and classical one? Let's take, for example, such a parameter as the purity of sound production. An electric guitar, unlike an acoustic or classical one, is essentially a hypersensitive instrument, since in the vast majority of cases it is used when playing with overdrive. It is so sensitive that it requires constant total control over the damping of unnecessary strings. Pronounced dirty playing on an acoustic or classical guitar involves a direct attack of extra strings instead of/together with playing strings. With an electric guitar everything is much more complicated. Even if the pick hits the playing strings perfectly accurately, the extra strings in the absence of jamming will still resonate, which will instantly be heard from the speaker of the combo in the form of a heap of dirt and all sorts of overtones. That is why one of the main problems encountered on the path of beginning electric guitarists is clean sound production. On acoustic and classical guitars, such situations are also possible, but it will not be as obvious to people with undeveloped hearing. To learn to hear the resonance of adjacent strings on acoustics and classical instruments and the overlap of dissonant (dissonant) notes caused by collateral vibration of extra strings, you need some experience in playing these musical instruments, which beginners, of course, do not have. Consequently, your hands will work in a completely different mode when playing different types of guitars.
Obviously, you shouldn’t count on playing the electric guitar cleanly while learning only classical or acoustic guitar. This absolutely does not mean that an electric guitar is better than an acoustic or classical one - they are just different. But which one is better (or rather, it would be more accurate), everyone must decide for themselves, relying solely on taste (musical) preferences. There is no other way to answer such a subjective question.
On the versatility of teachers
The example with clean sound production is just one of many parameters, one way or another, interpreted in their own way when playing different types of guitars. And each parameter makes significant adjustments to the technique of playing these instruments. I personally felt the significance of these differences in 2003, when, having studied classical guitar for three years with one of the best teachers in Russia, Leonid Reznik, I was unable to master the electric guitar, having spent a lot of time on futile attempts to independently master this musical instrument. . Subsequently, between 2004 and 2006, I managed to pass full course learning to play the electric guitar from one of the best and most sought-after teachers in Moscow, Yuri Sergeev.
In life, I always try to be wary of one-size-fits-all solutions. No matter how wonderful modern smartphones are, they will never record sound as well as a separate good microphone will do, they will never take photographs as high quality as a decent one will do. reflex camera, will not sound the way an adequate acoustic system would, etc. No matter how cynical this may sound, in my opinion, the situation with specialists is similar. The more versatile a specialist is, the worse he performs each of his functions. This applies to both musicians and teachers. However, there may be exceptions to this rule (and I know people who have demonstrated this by personal example), but they are only possible if a number of certain requirements are met.
Of course, one of necessary requirements is the ability to play with dignity musical instrument. But, as you know, a good musician is not always a good teacher. In my understanding, the competence of a teacher lies, first of all, in the presence of a program for teaching him to play exactly the musical instrument whose lessons he offers. Let me remind you that under training program In my understanding, this means a whole complex of educational and methodological elements, the implementation of which is aimed at achieving specific results in mastering a particular musical instrument. It is not difficult to guess that since classical, acoustic and electric guitars are so different from each other, then the programs for learning to play these instruments will have little in common.
Quite a long time ago I decided to connect my professional career with the electric guitar. Several years ago I managed to compose and skate my training program, which is the basis of my current teaching activity. Training program development in my understanding, it is painstaking work that requires a certain amount of time, teaching experience, a stable flow of students, collection of statistical data, systematic analysis of the results obtained, on the basis of which the program will be modernized, etc. and so on. In my deep conviction, in order to teach on another musical instrument, without turning into another “universal” specialist in the bad sense of the word, you will need to go all this way from the very beginning.
Conclusion
It is no secret that the work of a general worker is paid much less than the work of a narrow-profile specialist. Coincidence? No, rather an objective pattern. A boxer should teach boxing, an instructor with a category “B” license should drive a car... Absolutely, music and even more so teaching activity is no exception here. Therefore, if you want to learn the acoustic guitar, I strongly recommend that you contact an acoustic guitar teacher. If you want to learn classical guitar, look for a teacher who specializes in classical guitar. And if you dream of learning to play the electric guitar, then I am at your service!
