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ACOUSTIC GUITAR VERSUS ELECTRIC GUITAR AS A BEGINNER


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Which instrument should I practice with as a beginner?  It's easier to learn the chords on my electric guitar, but I pay for it, when I use my acoustic guitar.  It seems like I am starting over.

Thanks,

Bruce Taylor

 

 

Learn and Master

Session 2

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Hi, Bruce! Welcome to our little guitar family! I can relate to what you're experiencing. The lower tension on an electric is really seductive. I see you are in Session 2, so I presume you are just starting out. Unless you want to play electric exclusively, my advice is to do the bulk (80%) of your practice on your acoustic for now. Strengthen those hands. But before you play another note on it, make sure that it has been professionally set up. It is money well spent.

I always start my practice with my warmups, exercises, and scales with my steel string acoustic. After a rest, I work on fingerstyle, which requires some tough stretches, on my nylon. Only when I've done all that do I pick up my electric. Then it feels like a reward of sorts for my left hand!

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Thanks, Diane.  Glad to be starting this journey with a guitar family I can relate to and gain encouragement from.  You're correct the electric guitar is really seductive.  I just wanted to make sure I approach learning the guitar the correct way.   I love the way the acoustic sounds.

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Welcome Bruce!

I agree with what Diane said above. It is nice to have an acoustic and electric available. For example - the electric will come in handy when you are starting barre chords. My current guitar instructor is working me through some barre chord lessons (some of them are 32 bars long) that include chords all over the neck. Even though I have been playing for 5+ years, I simply can't do an hour of these exercises on my acoustic (despite the fact that it is set up with fairly low action). However, I still play my acoustic regularly so my hands won't get lazy.

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I started on acoustic but reasons for using an electrical below

https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/what-s-the-best-guitar-for-a-beginner-bc-010

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My first guitar was an electric because I wanted to play electric guitar. I later bought an acoustic but my heart is in playing electric guitar. I think it is worth bearing in mind which instrument inspires you to play and therefore learning and practicing will be more enjoyable.

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Easiest on the fingers is a nylon string.. although most classicals have wider necks.

Just keep switching on both electric and acoustic 

It gets better with time 

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On acoustic you could go to .010 - 0.46  instead of .012 - 0.54.

 

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Bruce- Welcome aboard and to the family! A few words of advice:

1. Enjoy the journey of learning to play guitar- it is not a race. You will get frustrated during the journey and the process, please realize that this journey is best accomplished with PATIENCE, CORECT PRACTICE AND PERSISTENCE!

2.  Follow along with "guitar gathering.com website. Plug in to the "Live Lessons". Do not be afraid to ask questions and learn from all the students mistakes and lessons learned.....these are invaluable. When you hit the wall (which you will) don't get frustrated at yourself, remember, we have all been where you are starting and we have all experienced the rewards and pains. Everyone is great at sharing and helping. This is what makes this forum so valuable! 

3. Realize that you are your own unique self and that we all have opinions and learn lessons with a different time frame and perspective....one size does not fit all. Use all the tools and don't be afraid to experiment. Steve emphasizes to learn from all the resources you can. Caveat here.......have a plan for success and follow the plan making necessary adjustments along the way. Above all, try and keep it FUN remembering that you wanted to learn guitar to play MUSIC. There are a million rabbit trails that you can get involved in during this journey. There will be a correct time to venture off and learn the other dimensions of music, i.e., Recording music, writing songs, finger picking, jazz, blues, rock, folk, bluegrass, etc....you get the picture! Ask questions and others will help guide you.

4. Goooooooooooo Sloooooooooooooooooooooow when you are first learning new concepts and disciplines. Speed will come with time and practice. This course has been designed to give you the foundation to build your musical chops. Take your time and do it right. Try not to take short cuts. At the same time there is a balance of practice, skill levels and shifting gears. There are times when you will wonder when to move on to the next skill or lesson. Steve gives you bench marks, when you have theses levels under your belt, do not be afraid to move on. We all seems to want to perfect the skills at the lesson level we are in and sometimes that hampers us from moving forward. Remember that the foundation is being laid as you move from one lesson to the next and you will continue to hone your skills as you move forward. 

5. Slay the dragon Bruce, don't be afraid to take the adventure, and above all HAVE FUN MAKING MUSIC.

There is so much more.......How did the man eat the elephant? One bite at a time!

Enjoy my friend!

Mike (aka Popeye)

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I'm going to piggy back on this thread...

 

I currently have an acoustic guitar I'm learning on, I haven't really look at the material ahead too in-depth, but is there a point where the session/lesson/material is more applicable to the Electric guitar rather acoustic (before session 15 Electric guitar)? I assume I'm nowhere near that point and I will probably buy one before that point anyway, but I was curious.

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Bruce, I agree with everything posted here. In my case, I started with a classical guitar because I was warned about the sore finger tips. After a few months into the course, I was disappointed in the sound of the instrument, so I purchased an acoustic guitar with 10 - 47 strings. As the lessons progressed, so did my confidence and I purchased a 12 string acoustic with 10 -47 strings. Now I was getting a handle on the "folksy sound" and the call of the "rock/jazz sound" entered my head. I purchased an electric guitar, strings 10 - 46. Can you catch the drift of what is happening here?

As you learn and develop skills, your needs will change in line with what type of sound you wish to achieve. (and of course the size of your wallet). To keep things simple I have stayed with the same string gauges throughout.

I wish you great happiness in your journey to achieve a terrific skill which will give you hours of frustration but immense satisfaction. Enjoy the ride.

Henk

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Bruce,

Great advice and encouragement from everyone!  Enjoy the ride, and discover the potential joy that comes from within you from making music.  You can share your musical journey with others; however, you are the master of your ultimate path and success that comes with it.  You can strive to be the next Eric Clapton, or simply enjoy sharing your music with family and friends.  That's the real beauty music and playing any instrument has to offer anyone willing to take up the challenge.   Best of luck in your journey.

Bryan

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