What you need to know to buy your first Guitar
by Sikal Tusik
When most people think of the guitar, they think of the
most common guitar used today: a six-stringed instrument
with a flat panel on the back, curved sides known as the
waist, and a long neck or fingerboard. This guitar can be
strummed to make chords with a guitar pick, or plucked
with the fingers to make individual notes.
There are other types of guitars as well, like the steel
guitar, the twelve-string guitar, and the electric and
four stringed bass guitars. These last two are found in
almost every rock band as they can be amplified
electronically. All these guitars are part of an evolution
of an instrument that was used as far back as prehistoric
times. There are cave paintings depicting Stone Age men
playing an early form of the guitar.
Buying a guitar isn't like buying a computer monitor.
Every instrument, even those of similar makes and models,
sound and feel different. If you know someone who plays
the guitar, or are thinking of hiring a guitar teacher,
bring them along when you purchase your instrument. They
will know how to get the guitar with the perfect look and
feel for you. If you must go alone, don't just purchase
the first guitar you see. Test many guitars so you can
hear and feel the difference between various types.
Learning the guitar is much easier when you have an
instrument that fits your needs exactly.
There are some decisions you can make before you even go
out to the music store. One of these will be the type of
guitar that is suitable for you as there are a number of
guitar types available.
Different guitars are manufactured to play different
styles of music, but one type of guitar is sort of an
all-purpose instrument: the classical guitar. Just about
every style of music can be played on a classical guitar.
If you are sure of the style of music you want to play,
however, you may consider buying one of the other two main
types of guitars: the acoustic (or acoustic-electric)
steel string, or the solid-body electric.
You can expect that your first guitar will cost $200-$400.
You probably shouldn't spend much more than that,
considering that you will be learning. Don't let a
smooth-talking salesperson convince you to buy the latest
model that the pros use, because at first, you won't sound
like the pros no matter how much money you spend. A few
hundred bucks will buy a sturdy acoustic guitar, which is
all your really need to learn the basics.
| Sikal Tusik is the president of Flash
Guitar - which is a
top resource for guitars on the internet. For questions or
comments about this article, please visit:
http://www.flashguitar.com |
