As a newbie, should I get an acoustic first ?

"Get one of each! They both can really rock!"

Hear! Hear!

btw, you can play really good rock on a classical too ..

"Get one of each! They both can really rock!"

Hear! Hear!

btw, you can play really good rock on a classical too ..

I couldn't agree more. Infact, that's what I do on my classical all the time. Like, playing rock and heavy metal and almost everything else, save maybe...classical. 8)

Since I am a woman which means I don't have the finger strength of you guys, so getting an electric ( planning to get a daisy rock brand) would be easy for me.

As a guy newb, I can say for sure- we don't have any finger strength either! At least not in the beginning- but it comes!

I'll repeat it- get a guitar you love, doesn't matter what kind. Get one you love, and then love playing it. I don't know if you ever get "good" enough but it's SO much fun!

Best,
Ande

I have been learning for just over a year. I started with a classical (nylon accoustic). The trouble with these is the necks are very wide and the action on mine was very high. Having said that, it did give my pinkies a chance to harden a little.

I went to buy some new strings and very bravely picked up an electric in the shop. The narrow neck and lighter action made it instantly more comfortable. A lot of sites and books I have looked at say to start with an electric for these reasons.

Recently I brought a decent accoustic (steel string, narrow neck, accoustic). I am finding it more of a challenge to get a clean sound, but I prefer playing it. I still pick up the electric from time to time though and I am very glad I went down the path I did.

P.S. There is a big difference between a classical guitar and an accoustic. There is a thread around here somewhere about it. A lot of people refer to a classical as an accoustic.

Also with the electric, I can unplug or play through head phones, so I don't disturb the whole house.

if your like me you'll end up with both, i brought a legacy eletric £99, played that for a month or so and loved it that much i brought a Fender 50's series then 6 months later a tanglewood tw155-as eletro/acoustic, may have not been the right way to do it but i love it so much and i'd only waste it on something else, at least this way i can have fun learning to do something i really enjoy and there's nothing better when i'm playing and my misses says "oh yeah that was ******** wasn't it", enjoy your journey... 8)

Hi,

I don't understand this get "both" idea??? :shock:

Why two?

Surely you'll be wanting a nylon string classical, a folk style steel string acoustic, an archtop, a solid bodied electric, a bass, and a 12 string just for starters? :twisted:

Then of course, there's clearly a difference between dreadnoughts and smaller acoustics, a cutaway or not, and what pickup to have in an acoustic/electric. And solid body electrics certainly don't all sound, feel or look the same, so at least three of them will be coveted at some stage along the way. Surely, it can only be a shortage of funds that stands between you and a set of about 10, just to cover the basics??

Am I wrong??? :wink:

Chris

I find with my students it is not the left hand development that benefits most from an acoustic, but the right.

That said, I don't particularly mind a student starting on either. What I care more about is that they practice regularly.

I find with my students it is not the left hand development that benefits most from an acoustic, but the right.
Interesting. Why do you think that's so? Is it the guitar itself or the type of music that is played more on an acoustic? What aspects of the right hand - picking skills, rhythmic ability, etc.?

I find with my students it is not the left hand development that benefits most from an acoustic, but the right.
Interesting. Why do you think that's so? Is it the guitar itself or the type of music that is played more on an acoustic? What aspects of the right hand - picking skills, rhythmic ability, etc.?

General control, the ability to control dynamics, picking technique ...

I THINK (and I stress that I really don't know) it's because many electric guitar's bridge design and body shape provide the student too easy a place to rest a hand while practicing combined with amps compressing the sound so students don't get as much feedback on their picking dynamics.

I find with my students it is not the left hand development that benefits most from an acoustic, but the right.
Interesting. Why do you think that's so? Is it the guitar itself or the type of music that is played more on an acoustic? What aspects of the right hand - picking skills, rhythmic ability, etc.?

General control, the ability to control dynamics, picking technique ...

I THINK (and I stress that I really don't know) it's because many electric guitar's bridge design and body shape provide the student too easy a place to rest a hand while practicing combined with amps compressing the sound so students don't get as much feedback on their picking dynamics.

Definitely agree, if im practicing a piece where i want some dynamic range (which is pretty much any piece I learn) i always start on the acoustic because you learn to do all the interesting things with your right hand coz you can hear the diff. Then when you go to the electric, its all still there.

General control, the ability to control dynamics, picking technique ...

I THINK (and I stress that I really don't know) it's because many electric guitar's bridge design and body shape provide the student too easy a place to rest a hand while practicing combined with amps compressing the sound so students don't get as much feedback on their picking dynamics.

Very interesting points KP.

I'd never thought about it in terms of acoustic and electric before, but anything that gets you developing control and dynamics has to be good.

I spent the first year or two on guitar floundering away trying to be "good" in a vague sort of way, without ever really understanding what "good" might be. I guess I saw it as some form of knowing more and more 'stuff' until I would eventually arrive at some place called GOOD! But I eventually came to the conclusion that (for me at least) it wasn't really about getting more and more chords under the belt, or getting faster and faster, or fancier and fancier. Instead it was mostly about timing and touch. If I could get those aspects working then I could play something that might be quite simple but still make it sound richly satisfying.

Chris