Getting started Guitar guide for beginners

The first guitar of six strings was invented in 1779 by Gaetano Vinaccia in Naples in Italy. In the 1850’s, Antonio Torres Jurado in Seville invented the first Classical guitars or Spanish guitars. Electric guitars, introduced in the 1930s, used an amplifier and a loudspeaker that both made the sound of the instrument loud enough for the performers and audience to hear. Early amplified guitars employed a hollow body, but solid wood guitars began to dominate during the 1960s and 1970.

So there are different types of guitars that are available today and each of them plays very differently. Some are easy to play and some are difficult to play. Now the question that comes to our mind is: What kind of guitar should I go for? Do I have to buy my own guitar? How much should I spend? Should I buy a second hand or new? Does the guitar I choose to learn match my taste and choice. These thoughts will make a profound and long-lasting difference to the guitar journey.

Types of Guitars You Should Know: The main classification of the guitar can be made based on its construction and design. Thus it can be broadly classified into a) Hollow sound body type b) Solid Built type design, which can be used for acoustic, electric and bass forms of playing. All conventional acoustic guitars generally have hollow wooden bodies and six strings. The shape of the guitar and the resonance in it causes sound amplification. The electric amplified guitars are the one of the most widely-used solid body guitars. The body is solid in design, and is sleek, making it easy to transport around. The common parts of guitars are head, tuning machine, neck, fret board, body and bridge etc.. Some of the distinctive types of guitars can be: 

Classical Guitar: The classical guitar, also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music. An acoustic instrument with strings made of gut or nylonis a precursor of the acoustic and electric guitars which use metal strings. Classical guitar is derived from the Spanish in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, which later evolved into the seventeenth and eighteenth century and now the modern classical guitar in the mid nineteenth century. The classical guitar is a fretted musical instrument that usually has six strings. It is typically played with both hands by strumming or plucking the strings with either a guitar pick or the fingers of one hand, while simultaneously pressing the strings against the frets, with the fingers of the other hand. The sound of the vibrating strings is projected by means of the hollow chamber of the guitar. This guitar is widely used for country songs, art songs, classical songs, romantic songs, and jazz, blues, emo, rock, bossa, samba as well gypsy type of music.

Acoustic Guitar: Acoustic guitar has the steel strings which are louder and brighter, and it is a much more versatile instrument to play. Be it Folk, rock, jazz, pop, blues, country; acoustic guitars have it all covered. The types of acoustic guitars in the market have as much to do with the way they look and as they sound. A good acoustic guitar is a joy to play and you can learn almost every style of modern playing with that. So it sounds like the obvious guitar to start with as the sound of the vibrating strings is projected either acoustically, by means of the hollow chamber of the guitar. When purchasing an acoustic guitar, visual appeal is usually the first element that a person notices and is attracted to. Popular acoustic guitars are, Parlour acoustic guitars, Jumbo acoustic guitars, Round-shoulder Dreadnought, Grand auditorium acoustics, Givson Hummingbird, Flamenco, Little Martin, Martin Smith, Ketostics Kapd, Oscar Schmidt, Micheal Kelly, Solomon Phidelity, Cavan, Kadence, Donner, Ibanez guitars are few types of acoustic guitars to choose from the list.

  Electric Guitar: Electric guitars are fantastic and fun to play as long as you can hear them without disturbing others, which is very remote. Some kind of amplification is needed or software with a decent audio interface and headphones. The electric guitars are in one way much easier to play with their low string action. At the same time, the narrow fretboards require a higher level of skill to allow precise fingering and avoid inadvertently muting some strings. The electric guitar has a major difference when compared to the acoustic ones in the market, that being the strings. The strings in an electric guitar are thinner, and electric guitar is more popular in funk, rock, rap, pop, jazz, blues and emo disco bands because of the perfect sound it produces. The guitar is used in a wide variety of musical genres worldwide. 

Electro Acoustic Guitar: Electro-acoustic guitars (semi acoustic) are acoustic guitars that have a microphone built into them so they can be plugged into an amplifier or a PA system wherever needed. Electro-acoustic guitar has a huge hollow sound box and it is placed in the centre to produce enough sound. That way, there is no amplifier needed to boost up the sound when you are playing in a small room with less people. Electro-acoustic guitars, sometimes also called hollow bodied electric guitars, occupy something of a middle-ground between acoustic guitars and electric guitars. Electro acoustic guitars are ideal for beginner guitarists and singer-songwriters who want something to strum or finger pick their songs on. They are not so ideal for players looking to bust out big, screaming, distortion heavy solos. Some notable models of electro-acoustic guitars are the Givson, Ketostics, Fender Telecaster, Yamaha, Kadence, Donner, Fender, Taylor Baby, Cavani, Humair, Hertz, Martin Smith etc..

  Resonator Guitar: A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones. Resonator guitars are distinctive for not having a regular sound-hole instead they have a large circular perforated cover plate which conceals a resonator cone. The cone is made from spun aluminium and resembles a loudspeaker. The vibrations from the spider are projected by the cone through the perforated cover plate. The most common resonator guitars have a single cone although the original model patented in 1927 by John Dopyera had three and was called a tri cone resophonic guitar. Resonator guitars are loud and bright. They are popular with blues and country guitarists and can be played with a slide or conventionally. Resonator guitars are of two styles: Square-necked guitars played on, and round-necked guitars played in conventional guitar style. 

  Hawaiian Guitar: Hawaiian guitar is a six-to-eight-string electric guitar, fretted with a piece of metal or bone to produce a whining, glissando sound. It is played in a horizontal position usually resting on the performer's knees or on a stand. Steel guitar refers to a method of playing on a guitar held horizontally, with the strings uppermost and the bass strings towards the player side, and using a type of slide called a tubular steel piece above the fingerboard rather than fretting the strings with the fingers. The instrument's ancestry is traced to the Hawaiian Islands in the late 19th century after the Spanish guitar was introduced there by European sailors. However, Hawaiian guitar often refers to slack key guitar, played in the conventional or Spanish position, using a conventional fretted guitar. These are typically used in blues or rock music. Popular Hawaiian guitars are, Rose Wood, Kohinoor, Imperial Valley, Yamaha, Givson, Ibanez, Fender, Epiphone, Signature, Sonido and Ashton etc..

Four Stringed Guitar:  Bass guitar is a classic type of guitar that is as popular as it gets. These guitars are characterized by wide-scale length of thick strings. The behaviour pattern noted by the guitar sound is that it provides the player with a variety of notes, which happen to match the lowest four strings. This holds even when the guitar is pitched in an octave lower. There are two types of bass guitars, the electric bass and the usual acoustic one. The normal guitars usually have four strings, but fifth and sixth strings are equally accessible. Bass guitar strings can really influence the tone and feel of your instrument. Whilst bass strings tend to have a longer lifespan than many others, choosing the right set of strings to begin with is crucial for determining the sound of your bass. 

Twelve Stringed Guitar:  This type of guitar is usually used for rock, jazz and even blues or pop music. This is a different version than that of the usual six-string model that you see in the market. The strings are played in pairs in this case and not individually like the six string guitar. The tone produced is brighter, and clear in the end. The purpose behind this is to achieve the desired loudness and bass. The amplification deal produces a more metallic volume with a boost derived

Double Neck Guitar: This guitar looks to have two different diverse guitars in the same body. The combinations are different as well, and the same body serves as a resonating centre in this case. The guitar is usually useful for cases where you need to keep changing the notes and a single guitar cannot cover it all. Rock guitarists often pick this one as a favourite for their live performances or when the guitar player needs to work on a multi-guitar track at the same time in a recording. Double neck guitar is the most common type of multi-neck guitar. It can be found as an electric or acoustic guitar. Today, the most common type of multi-neck guitar is the double neck guitar, of which the most common version is an electric guitar with twelve strings on the upper neck, while the lower neck has the normal six. Combination of six-strings and bass guitar are also used, as well as a fretless guitar with a regular fretted guitar, or any other combination of guitar neck and pickup styles. These type guitars are generally used in jazz guitar, blues and rockabilly as well as in rock music. 

Now, let’s understand how to choose the guitar:

Not surprisingly, we have established that each type of guitar has its good and bad points. Initial decision is to opt for an electric or acoustic guitar and then choosing from nylon or steel string is the next step. For instance, if you are aiming to eventually play electric guitar, you can choose an acoustic with a narrow fretboard, thin neck and cut-away body around the fourteenth fret. This gives you the feel and function of an electric guitar without annoying the rest of the house. If you really want to play a nylon string acoustic, buy a very good one that will last for decades. Choose the right size, depending on if you are buying it for a kid or an adult. Include an electronic tuner to your guitar as it is very useful. It is always necessary to buy a product which justifies price, size, as well as it’s resonate quality and other factors too. So below are the few factors you may need to keep in mind while choosing the best guitar.

Choose the guitar that interests you more:

Always go with your interest than anything and make sure that you are serious about learning. Just because you were getting the product at a low price that doesn’t mean this is what you need. No two guitars can give the same sound. So always choose a kind of guitar you are most interested in playing at your comfort.

Choose the size and type of guitar: 

There are many best guitar brands in India for beginners which offer various products in various sizes. So it is becoming crucial to choose the right size for you. A guitar which is too long or too short can affect your performance. It is necessary for your shoulder and arm to reach over the guitar so that you can perform more comfortably without pain. Generally a small sized guitar for children and a full-sized guitar for adults, advised.

Don’t fall for Big Brands:

Well, that is the major factor that plays a role while purchasing your favourite guitar. Never fall for the big brands in comparison to minor brand names. The reason is what you get from big brands is the price of quality and hence over priced due to their professional level and market acceptance. But for smaller brand names the overall product price is of the instrument reasonably kept. In the end, you end up paying extra for a brand name while the quality of product purchase at the local market and from brand, could be the same. Never go for the products which are available at low prices and are commercial for good sounds. Even if you buy the product priced higher, it will be worth buying if the quality factor is great.

Choose a guitar according to colour and finishing:

Visual appearance also matters. When it comes to buying a guitar, with the sound you need to focus on appeals as well. It motivates you to play and practice even more. If a product is not visually appealing, then it can lessen the interest of the guitarist and can affect the performance as well.

Quick check points: 

• Here are some of the factors you should always follow before making any purchase.
• Tuning machines of the guitar you buy should operate smoothly.
• The neck joint should feel secure and safe.
• The string weight should be low at the nut area above the first fret.
• The wooden bridge should be strongly glued with the body.
• Overall finish and cracks should not be seen.

Which type and how much do I need to spend? 

You need not spend too much, but as a beginner you do need to get a guitar that is super-playable, will stay in tune and is in otherwise good working order. Some affordable guitar brands you should check out in the Indian market are: Yamaha, Kadence, Donner, Givson, Little Martin, Cavani, Martin Smith, Hertz, Humair, Ketostics Kaps, Redwood, Farida, Jixing, Medellin, Zabel, Honver, Cort and Ibanez. Price ranges from Rs.4500 – 30000 depending on the quality. There is always a temptation not to spend too much money on your first guitar in case you change your mind and stop playing. Cheap guitars can have a high distance between the string and the fretboard which makes pressing the string can be poorly set down making it tough work for novice players as strings rattle and buzz.  However, budget guitars can be more difficult to play and you will begin to think it is all too hard, but a better instrument will be easier and encouraging.