subject: Acoustic Guitars: The Foundation Of Guitar Playing [print this page] In the old days, acoustic guitars were used as a musical tool to accompany a singing voice or another musical instrument. Gradually, the rhythm of music evolved into riffs that only the guitar can produce, and eventually the once accompaniment tool became a stand-alone instrument that carries the melody. Today, every musical genre known to man can be played with the use of an acoustic guitar. Basically, acoustic guitar serves as the foundation for all guitar playing.
Whether you are a new or seasoned guitar player, you may not be entirely clear with what type of acoustic guitars you are strumming. The terminologies that people use are often confusing. There's the flattop, classical guitar and dreadnought to name a few, but it doesn't make any difference whether you are using this or that. These days, players at all levels are crossing the limits between the styles of music and the guitars they are using.
Nowadays, it is common to see a country player wielding a solid wood acoustic guitar, or a rock star playing a Hawaiian guitar. Bottom line here is that whatever type of guitar you are using, as long as you are happy with it, it doesn't really matter what music that acoustic guitar was intentionally made for. Every guitar is the same, they produce vibration through their strings; the only difference that an acoustic guitar has that makes it stand out from the rest is that it produces music in an acoustic method. Basically, the string of an acoustic guitar displaces small air, gives it a distinct and not too loud, which in turn can be amplified with the use of pickups and microphones, or by exerting force while strumming.
Both historical and modern acoustic guitars have differing designs and construction. Some are created to clutch steel strings like the flattop acoustic guitar, while there are guitars made to clasp nylon strings like the classical guitars. There are also guitar styles that got their construction designs from other stringed instruments such as the flamenco and archtop guitars. Regardless of their construction and design differences, each of these guitars produced high quality sounds.
It should be noted that acoustic designed guitars were originally made without any sound amplification capabilities. Because of such drawback, they were not often used before to compete in large bands and orchestras or during presentations with several numbers of attendees. The introduction of acoustic electric guitars is perceived as the most viable solution for this issue. These instruments mimic the original form of an acoustic guitar and were fitted with their own electronic amplifiers.
Acoustic electric guitars provide various benefits that cannot be derived from ordinary acoustic designed guitars Other than their amplification abilities, these guitars are also designed to reduce pickup dragging. They are also easier to control in terms of volume and tone. Generally, acoustic designed guitars, no matter what type or form, remains as the most preferred stringed instruments by many musicians.
