Guitar Basic Info

Types of Guitars:

The most common types of guitars are classical guitars, steel-string acoustic guitars, and electric guitars.

Classical Guitars

By the name alone one can assume classical guitars are used in ‘classical music’, though they are also heard in many other genres as well.  These guitars have a wider neck than their acoustic guitar relative and use nylon strings instead of metal.  Classical guitars are also referred to as Nylon String Guitar or Spanish Guitar. Though classical guitars are mainly heard in classical and spanish music some pop artists such as Jason Mraz have incorporated classical guitars in much of their music.

Steel String Guitars

These types of guitars are the most commonly played acoustic guitar, they can be heard densely in country music, and acoustic rock music.  They are known for there metallic sound which is heard in a lot of popular music today.

 

Click Here to see a comprehensive list of other types of guitars

Electric Guitars

Want to rock?  This is the guitar for you!  Similar to the steel string acoustic guitars,  electric guitar also use all metal strings, but because they not hollow they do not project sound far and sound best when plugged into a guitar amp.

Buying Guide

What Guitar to buy for a beginner?

If you are new to playing guitar I would recommend purchasing an acoustic guitar and specifically a classical guitar instead of the steel string guitar because the strings are much easier on the fingers due to the fact that the strings are made of nylon instead of metal.

Yamaha C40II - Classical Guitar ($149.99)

This is a great starter Classical Guitar and yamaha is  reliable brand. If you are looking for a guitar for a smaller kid yamaha makes a similar classical in 3/4 size!

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Yamah FD01S - Steel String Guitar (149.99)

This is a good price for a steel string acoustic guitar with solid spruce top, which will only sound better with age.  If you are wanting/needing a guitar with a pickup, for a little over $300 you can buy the Yamaha FSX800C or Yamaha FGX800C.

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Squier Strat by Fender - Electric Guitar ($209)

This is a good beginner electric guitar and if you follow the link bellow it gives you multiple options in colors. From sunburst (imaged above) to black, surf green to red, and more!

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Online Resources

Guitar Tuners

First thing you need to learn before learning to play guitar is how to tune your guitar to the correct notes.  Here are a few Guitar tuners I have used.

Guitar Tuna (Free)

Free Tuner App for both the Android, Apple and Window markets

Guitar-Tuner.org (Free)

This site teaches you how to…

Tune your acoustic, electric, bass guitar or ukulele
with Microphone or by Ear

 

Snark SN5X Clip-On Tuner ($11.95)

If you are wanting a physical tuner for guitar than I would recommend checking out the Snarky tuners. They can just attach to the headstock of your guitar and are ready to tune!

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Learning to Play

Ultimate Guitar (Online FREE / App Purchase)

With a 800k+ catalogue of chord charts and tabs this site is the best resource for learning new songs plus it’s free to use.  The app is a great resource as well though it is not free like the online version.

Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book 1 ($6.99)

I use this book in conjunction with other resources for many of my beginning students.  It’s inexpensive and easy to understand.  For $4 more you can purchase this book with a CD and get access to the online resources through the Hall Leonard website.