Guitars: Should I Start On Electric or Acoustic Guitar?

I have been getting a lot of great questions from students and families about guitars and more specifically which is better for a beginner: an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar. As a disclaimer, guitar is not my primary instrument. I learned the basics in undergrad and picked up a lot of tips from friends over the years. To help me with this blog post, I asked several guitar-playing friends for advice. Bob Papken mostly plays acoustic guitar, including 12 string, and he plays in venues around Western Maine. Mike Dean is versatile on both electric and acoustic, he has taught guitar lessons in the past and has played in several area bands. His specialty would be blues and jazz styles. Mike Tuell also plays both electric and acoustic. His specialty would be rock and he plays in several area bands. Josh Hunnewell teaches music at Mattanocook High School in Lincoln. I first met him when he was majoring in classical guitar at UMaine. I owe these players a big thank you for their help.

For this post, I’m going to try to start with big picture and then go into more fine details. Both types of guitars have more or less the same structure. 6 strings with the same letter names (traditionally tuned E-A-D-G-B-E from low to high). The larger part of the instrument is called the body with the long neck connected. On the neck are lines going across called frets. Both guitars are played the same way and the music would be written the same way (either tablature, traditional notation, or chord symbols) regardless of which type of guitar.

Now, for some overall differences. Acoustic guitars have a soundhole. Similar to violins or cellos, this soundhole allows the sound to resonate and be heard. Most electric guitars are solid body (meaning no holes; there are exceptions but we will stick with the simple answer). Because of the soundhole and resonating nature of the acoustic guitar, the body of the acoustic is larger and thicker than an electric. However, because the acoustic is mostly hollow, it weighs around 5 pounds compared to a solid electric guitar that would weigh around 8 pounds.

Another difference is that acoustic guitars usually have wider necks and fretboards and the strings are higher from the fretboard. Speaking about strings, some acoustic guitars use nylon strings (we would usually call these classical guitars) and some acoustic guitars use steel strings. CAUTION: a guitar meant for nylon strings should not have steel strings as the tension could break the neck off. Electric guitars use some type of steel strings as the sound is picked up by magnetic pickups. Electric guitar strings are lighter and take less force to push down. On average, acoustic strings tend to be a little more expensive to replace than electric strings. Because of the increased height and weight of the strings on an acoustic, it takes more force to push the strings down. My friends tell me that it makes the acoustic more revealing to sloppy technique than the electric.

One of the biggest sound differences between the two types of guitars is how the sound is amplified. Most acoustic guitars can only get so loud. Playing solo or for practice, an acoustic guitar can be heard fine without any amplification. In order to be heard well in a group of mixed instruments, an acoustic will need to be at a microphone or use a soundhole pickup (average cost about $40) which attaches to the soundhole under the strings and can connect to an amplifier. Some acoustic guitars are actually built for cables to plug in and have volume controls included. All electric guitars are designed to plug into an amp and have volume and tone controls. The ability to connect to an amp gives the player much more range of volume. A lot of families get scared when they think of how loud an electric guitar could play, but most amps have a headphone feature, so a student can practice silently, whereas an acoustic guitar will still be heard even when practicing quietly. My guitar-playing friends have said that amplifying an acoustic risks more feedback than when amplifying an electric.

On average, considering the price of just the instrument, electric guitars are a little more than acoustic guitars. The biggest price difference is that to be heard, an electric guitar will require an amp, while an acoustic guitar does not require an amp to be heard for practice or solo performing in a smaller room. However, in a school band setting, when many instruments are playing together, even acoustic guitar players may want to explore amp options.

Another type of guitar that we have not yet discussed is bass guitar. At first look, it is very similar to electric guitar. However, it has a longer neck and only 4 strings. The nice thing is that the name of the 4 strings are E-A-D-G (just like the lowest 4 strings of a guitar). Basses have frets like guitars and the letter names of each pitch would be the same as a regular guitar. The difference in sound (one octave lower) has to do with the length of the instrument and thickness of the strings.

For ease of reading, I created a chart to compare the guitars.

I would recommend visiting a local music shop like Mark’s Music in Brewer, Northern Kingdom Music in Bangor, or Knapps Music in Bangor. Other options if you don’t mind traveling farther are Mainely Music in Ellsworth, Musician’s 1st Choice in Augusta, or Perkins Music House in Skowhegan. By going to a music store, a student can get to hold and feel what different guitars are like. There will also be experts in the store that play themselves and are very knowledgeable.

I will end this post with some listening suggestions to help get the sound idea of the differences among these instruments. Acoustic- Ed Sheeran (Perfect or Thinking Out Loud), Goo Goo Dolls (Iris or Name), Don McLean (American Pie). Electric guitar- Jimi Hendrix (Purple Haze), Eric Clapton (Layla), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin). Electric Bass- Sheryl Crow (almost anything she does), Joe Osborn (you might not recognize his name. He was a session musician and played on hundreds and hundreds of recordings like California Dreamin' by The Mamas and the Papas and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel), and Verdine White of Earth, Wind, and Fire (they have some really funky basslines like Let's Groove and September).

I hope this information is helpful for you! Please e-mail me at marell@veaziecs.org if you should have any questions!