Guitars are the most commonly liked instrument by the youth today. It may seem a deal to master learning it, but the truth is, once you know it, you start to play unconsciously. Beware! Nobody is going to want you to stop playing it. So, we thought why not tell you about some of the different types of guitars and guitar brands available. Take a look.
Because you can’t start the higher one, the list is complete with the beginners and advanced players’ choice too.
How To Choose A Guitar For Beginners:
Now, let’s brief you through how to choose the guitar.
- Decide if you want an electric or acoustic guitar and then choose if you want a nylon or steel string.
- Choose the right size, depending on if you are buying it for a kid or an adult.
- Include an electronic tuner in your guitar. Keep it tuned to the standard pitch always.
- Neck joint and heel joint should be stable and it should feel secure. The wooden bridge of the bridge should be securely glued to the top.
- The fingerboard should be in level with the top of the guitar.
- If it is an electric guitar with bolt-on necks, then make sure it should also be stable and secure.
- Also, ensure there are no finish cracks where the neck and body join.
Perfect guitar Types for Beginners, Namely.
- Acoustic Guitars.
- Electric Guitars.
- Electro-acoustic Guitars.
- Twelve-string Guitars.
- Archtop Guitars.
- Steel Guitars.
- Touch Guitars.
- Resonator Guitars.
- Bass Guitars.
- Double-neck Guitars.
14 Best Types of Guitars You Should Know:
Let’s see the Top 14 guitar types and its body shapes and sizes, which are available in India to choose your best one from the music shop.
1. Acoustic Guitars:
Talking of acoustic guitars, they are of two kinds, steel string and the next one being classical. There is a major difference between the two. There is a classical wide neck one that uses nylon strings and the other one that uses steel strings to create out a metallic sound and can be composed into different music styles and trends.
It is one of the most similar styles resembling the old school flat top guitars. The similarities both the strings have been in the fingerstyle plectrums used to play them for music. Acoustic guitars are usually hollow on the inside and have a deep tone to it. Usually perfect for strumming, this guitar is often used for country songs.
2. Electric Guitars:
This type of guitar is usually used for rock, jazz and even blues or pop music. It so happens often that the guitar is plugged into a high voltage amplifier. The purpose behind this is to achieve the desired loudness and bass. The amplification deal produces a more metallic volume with a boost and a long decay.
The electric guitar has a major difference when compared to the acoustic ones in the market, that being the strings. The strings in an electric guitar are thinner, and electric guitar is more prevalent in punk rock bands because of the perfect sound it produces.
3. Twelve-string Guitars:
The next one on this list is the category of twelve-string. This is a different version than that of the usual six-string model that you see in the market. The first strings, the odd numbers are different usually, and the second to twelfth ones, the even-numbered match the six-string model counterpart sound. The strings are played in pairs in this case and not individually like the six-string guitar. The tone that is produced is, therefore, brighter, and clear in the end. The chord progressions need thickening and practice to play this guitar perfectly.
See More: Types Of Dances In India
4. Archtop Guitars:
The type of guitar on the list here is a semi-hollow steel-string one. To make it clear to you, this one is a favourite among the jazz guitarists worldwide. While the acoustic guitar and electric archtop guitars have a similar build, they are still different internally. The inner design features an inner electromagnetic pickup. It also consists of a pot that is absent in the acoustic guitar. Archtop guitars are mainly available in two types- the full-bodied and the other one being a thin line.
You will realize that archtop guitars cost a little on the medium side, so if the jazz genre interests you, don’t compromise the guitar for a low budget one. This one’s an easy purchase.
5. Steel Guitars:
Originally from Hawaii, these guitars are different from the electric ones. This guitar brand is heavier and exists in two kinds. Placed horizontally on the player’s knees, crossways, this guitar has pedal steel, which consists of a mechanical tactic like the one present in a harp. Often, the pedals are used for changing the pitch of every single string individually. The player gets the whole chromatic scale under his grip that way. This gets us over with the description of one of the steel guitars. The second type of guitar in steel needs to be played on your lap using a solid still bar on the horizontally laid down neck. Which is why the second variation is also known as lap steel guitar.
6. Resonator Guitars:
The particular guitar types unique in every sense. The usual soundhole present in most guitars is missing in this one. It is bigger and has a circular plate instead of the soundhole, which does the job of hiding the resonator cone well. The cone acts like a loudspeaker manipulating the audio now. The cone is made of spun aluminium. This guitar because of this feature tends to release a very different bright and clear sound, which can be heard equally well in large rooms and a live performance in the open air. This guitar is most preferred by country music artists and blues singers but has found popularity in mainstream music these days as well.
See More: Types of Musical Instruments
7. The Electrifying Bass Guitars:
Bass guitar is a classic type of guitar that is as popular as it gets. These guitars are characterized by wide-scale length thick strings. This isn’t just for no reason at all, of course. The behaviour pattern noted by the guitar sound is that it provides the player with a variety of notes, which happen to match the lowest four strings. This holds even when the guitar is pitched in an octave lower. There are two types of bass guitars- the electric bass and the usual acoustic one. The normal guitars usually have four strings, but fifth and sixth strings are equally accessible.
8. Double-neck Guitars:
This guitar looks nothing like the ones on this list. It happens to have two different diverse guitars in the same body. There is a standard conventional neck holding the six strings and then there is another twelve-string one. The combinations are different as well, and the same body serves as a resonating centre in this case. The guitar is usually useful for cases where you need to keep changing the notes and a single guitar cannot cover it all. Rock guitarists often pick this one as a favourite for their live performances or when the guitar player needs to work on a multi-guitar track at the same time in a recording.
9. Playing It The Classic Way:
This guitar’s origin can be traced back to Spain and back then, this was the only guitar used to play conventional music with a classical background. This falls under the types of guitar for beginners.
The guitar’s main characteristic is that it is constructed using wood, and a big sound box is placed in the lower half of the guitar, which is designed like a female torso. The sound box is hollow and the string above it was once strung using gut strings. With the advancement in the musical equipment however, nylon strings are now used. They produce a different calmer sound, which is also slightly muted. The music is sweet and ideal to be placed in the classical genre. One thing to note however is that metal strings should never be placed on a Spanish guitar.
10. Flamenco Guitar:
The main difference between a Flamenco guitar and the classical Spanish one that you get to buy in the market is that in a Flamenco fret board of the guitar is wider. That is where the difference ends. The guitar is picked mostly by country users who need to work on a long variation of notes and is meant for the advanced learners.
11. Semi-acoustic Guitar:
For a semi-acoustic guitar, there is a huge hollow sound box. The electric guitar body has this box placed in the centre to produce enough sound. That way, there is no amplifier needed to boost up the sound when you are playing in a small room with less people. In this case, the soundbox is usually metal; therefore, the quality and depth of sound produced by an acoustic guitar aren’t achieved in this case.
See More: Different Types Of Painting
12. Red Neck Guitar:
The brand of guitar us the redneck guitar that is designed with two separate necks which come together to share the same body. While this design allows versatility, it also brings the model close to the double neck guitar. The red neck guitar has a different combination of strings in addition to the six and twelve in case of the double-neck one. There is a bass one and a fretless neck as well in this case if you ask for it. This guitar is used to add flexibility to the player, particularly when he is playing solo.
13. Hollow Body Electric:
There is a resonating chamber in the body for this guitar type, and jazz musicians most often use this guitar. The body is solid in design, and is sleek, making it easy to transport around. An amplifier can be kept around sometimes if needed.
14. Dobro:
Dobro once upon a time in the 1930s happened to be a guitar company but it is now more of a lap steel resonator guitar combination. This is a different brand of guitar that is almost rare.
Now that you know the different kinds of available guitars, it is time you grade yourself from beginner to advanced learner to help you pick the right choice. The different types and brands of guitars designed are the ones in constant use and have proven the money’s worth. While investing in some of them could be tough, some types of guitars just cannot be done away with.
