Quick Answer: Yes, an acoustic guitar is good for beginners. It’s cheaper and it’s the most straightforward way to learn a musical instrument without the need for additional accessories like an amp, cable and effects. If you want to start learning the guitar, getting the acoustic is a good choice.
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What Makes an Acoustic Guitar Good for Beginners?
Simple three words:
Handy. Cheaper. Straightforward Learning.
Since acoustic guitars have a hollow body, they are generally lighter compared to electric guitars.
Though some of them are made of solidwood, most entry-level acoustic guitars are made of laminate body.
This means that you can easily bring it wherever you want to go.
Acoustic guitars don’t have electronics onboard. If there are, for acoustic-electric guitar, there are only a few, unlike an electric guitar.
For beginners, a decent acoustic guitar without pickups is already a good guitar to hone your skills.
Lastly, when you play an acoustic guitar, you just simply need to know the chords and basic strumming or fingerpicking.
You can focus on learning guitar and develop your own playing style, rather than the overwhelming effects and adjustments needed when you have an electric guitar.
What Types of Acoustic Guitar are Available?
Generally, there are two types of an acoustic guitar — steel-string and nylon string guitars. The most common of which is the steel-string guitar.
It’s the type of guitar used for playing rock, country, bluegrass and more.
It’s the guitar that’s usually played by Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift.
Nylon-string guitars, on the other hand, is better to produce classic, folk, and flamenco music.
They have a softer and mellower tone, compared to the bright and twangy sound of a steel-string guitar.
Generally, nylon-string guitars are called classical guitars, while the steel-string guitars are called acoustic or modern guitars.
There’s another type of steel-string guitar available today, the acoustic-electric guitar.
It’s your acoustic guitar with pickups and electronics onboard.
But, it doesn’t have a complicated pickup system like electric guitars.
You can easily connect it to your amp if you want a louder sound, yet, you can also play it like your regular guitar unplugged.
Among These Types, Which is the Easiest for Beginners?
Quick Answer: The easiest and less challenging to play among acoustic guitars is the nylon-string acoustic guitar. Especially for complete beginners without any guitar experience, classical guitar is the best.
Nylon strings are softer to your hands and fingertips.
Since nylon is a softer material, it doesn’t have much tension than steel strings do.
Hence, it’s easier for you to push down the strings without the need to exert much effort. And, it’ll not sore your fingertips much.
Steel-string guitars, on the other hand, are under great tension. You need more force to make chords and fret notes properly.
So, expect that your untrained hands will be painful at first.
Your fingertips should develop a certain amount of callus with frequent practice so you can fret chords easily.
Conclusion
An acoustic guitar is good for beginners, especially that it’s cheaper, lighter, and simpler to play.
You can choose to have an acoustic guitar or the acoustic-electric which has electronics onboard.
However, for complete beginners, the nylon-string is better.
Nylon-string or classical guitar is easier to play. Hence, beginners might find it good for them because they don’t need much effort to fret chords.
Additionally, since nylon is softer, it’s more comfortable to the fingertips without aching.
However, if beginners are up to the more challenging tension of the steel-string acoustic guitars, why not?
Though classical guitars are easy and comfortable to play, it doesn’t mean it’s better for all aspiring musicians.
A good guitar for beginners should be the guitar that lets you play more.
