When I started with my first lessons I realised that I was entering into a world that I knew very little about. I had never really given any thought to the instrument other than loving the sound and wanting to be able to play like Bob Dylan. I knew nothing about guitars or guitar strings and had absolutely no idea about how to play the guitar.
The word guitar covers such a huge range of models and styles that it is difficult to know where to begin. Different people each have a different idea when they hear the word - maybe they think of Eric Clapton or Jimmy Hendrix or perhaps they have more of an image of a gypsy jazz guitarist playing in the open air whilst the colourful gypsy dancers click castanets. Do you think of Ralph McTell perhaps singing folk songs, or some delicate classical picking? The list is endless but the instruments remain very similar.
There are the two basic categories - acoustic guitars and electric guitars. Their names really are all that you need know to be able to tell them apart. Acoustic models are usually hollow bodied so that they are more resonant but that is not to say that all electric guitars are solid bodied! That would be too easy! The majority of them are solid bodied though, and it is just a small proportion which, often called semi-acoustic, are hollow bodied but still use an electric pick up to relay the sound through an amplifier.
When it comes to strings, you will find that most guitars, not bass guitars, but just regular ones, use six strings. There are twelve string versions where the strings are duplicated. This gives a bigger sound and is usually played by strumming rather than picking as is the case with a mandolin, which also has duplicate strings.
The body is nearly always made of wood. Solid for an electric and hollow for an acoustic and this is often the difference between an expensive and a cheaper instrument. The type and quality of the wood can make a big difference to the resonance and quality of the sound produced.
The neck, where you will find the frets, is also usually wooden and marked with raised frets marked at semi tone intervals. This is where the pitch of the note is altered by using the fingers to hold down a particular string at a particular point on the fret board.
As you can imagine, electric and acoustic guitar strings vary in their design. The first will nearly always use steel strings and the latter either nylon or a mix of nylon and steel. One thing that has to be understood by anyone learning to play is that these do not last a life time and will start to show their age and wear and tear takes it's toll. When this happens you will notice that they give a much duller sound and sometimes buzz. This is when they need to be changed.
You can buy guitar strings online but if you are unsure about changing them then you may be best to take the instrument to your local store to have them changed. There is sometimes a small fee for this but it can make a lot of difference. Anyone more experienced will know that you can get cheap guitar strings from the internet as they will know exactly what they are looking for.
I spent many hours re-stringing my guitar in the beginning and it never actually occurred to me to ask the shop to do it for me! I also spent a lot of time thinking that I was a "natural" and obviously would not need any lessons! I could have saved a lot of time and energy.
You can find out more about playing the guitar at the GuitarStringNotesInfo website.
Joanna is a mother of two adult daughters and is now working with children in Paris, France. She has worked as a freelance writer for many years and now contributes to the new website I Have Very Tired Parents! http://www.ihvtp.com/ Here you can find a growing number of articles regarding all aspects of child care and parenting from pregnancy and infertility right through to teens, as well as some great deals on a variety of childcare related products.
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