Guitar Guide Book

Acoustic Guitar Guide

The first guitars that were ever made were acoustic except that they were not called that until electric guitars came along. The sound in an acoustic guitar is made by the vibration of the strings but that alone would not be enough to be able to hear the guitar. That’s why the guitar is basically a large hollow box, so it can help resonate the sound of the strings and make the music louder. The front and back wood panels pick up the string vibrations and push out the musical tones through the sound hole, which is usually in the middle of the guitar. You can try covering up the sound hole on an acoustic guitar to see just how much volume the body of the guitar provides.

If you are playing with a band or to a large audience you can also amplify your acoustic guitar electronically. The most popular way to do this is with a Piezo pickup which is installed under the bridge of the guitar. There are also magnetic pickups that mount in the sound hole of the guitar but they are awkward and difficult to perform with. Piezo pickups come standard with most acoustic-electric guitars and are the most seamless way to plug-in. The pickup can then be connected to a PA system’s mixing board or to a guitar amplifier.

Acoustic guitars are usually made with wood and spruce is the favorite. Guitar companies have also tried making them out of steel, aluminum and plastic. Steel guitars have caught on in the blues genre. Ovation guitars are the most famous for their plastic round back panel. The strings on most acoustic guitars are steel and come in many varieties of thickness determined by the string’s gauge. Heavier gauge strings have a fuller sound but are more difficult to play with. The classical guitar is a bit different because it uses nylon strings and has a much more subdued warm sound.

Other popular types of acoustic guitars include the twelve string guitar, the acoustic bass guitar and the resonator guitar. The twelve string guitar is tuned the same as a regular guitar but each string is doubled with another tuned an octave apart. The acoustic bass has the same tuning and register as the electric bass but uses the construction of an acoustic guitar. The acoustic bass should not be confused with the double stand up bass used in jazz and orchestral music. The resonator guitar is also known as the lap steel or Dobro and it is constructed partially out of steel.

The archtop guitar is another kind of guitar that is used allot in jazz. The front panel is arched like a violin or cello. It also has similar holes shaped like an ‘f’ which are very different from the regular large sound hole in a normal acoustic guitar. Martin, Guild, Taylor, Ovation and Gibson are the most popular makers of a wide variety of acoustics. No matter what kind or brand of guitar you play the standard tuning uses the notes E A D G B and E from the lowest to the highest string.