ANATOMY OF A GUITAR AND TYPES OF GUITARS

PARTS OF THE GUITAR: ELECTRIC

ACOUSTIC GUITAR

ACOUSTIC - BACK

TYPES OF GUITARS

ACOUSTIC STEEL STRING Steel string acoustic guitars have a distinctive sharp sound and can be strummed for playing rhythm in a wide range of popular music genres, including country, pop, and rock. These guitars can be played with fingers or played using a plectrum (pick). Acoustic Steel-Stringed Guitars can be 6-string or 12-string guitars. These guitars have a wide variety of sound variations from a brassy, folk style to a fuller, more driving sound. The quality of the guitar, body shape and the types of wood used each combine to determine where the instrument falls along the spectrum. YouTube Acoustic Steel String

Classical Guitars YouTube - Classical Guitar - Joaquin Rodrigo Youtube - Flamenco / Classical Classical guitars are the father of all guitars. They have been used for many genres and all kinds of music. Classical guitars come with nylon strings which give the guitar a unique and colorful sound. The sizes of classical guitars have been standard for many years. The guitar is able to produce various sounds even with the use of fingernails. Classical guitars are designed to enable full musical arrangements to be performed on a single instrument and are usually played fingerstyle, where the fingers are used to pluck the strings.

ELECTRIC GUITARS Electric Guitars include solid bodies and semi-hollow bodies, which provide a warmer, more well-rounded tone than their solid-body cousins. Electric guitars require an amplifier to produce sound properly as there is no soundboard to produce sound on the guitar. The 2 main styles are that of: Youtube - Electric Guitar Fender guitars and Gibson Les Paul Guitars.

Steel Guitars Youtube - Steel Resonator Steel guitars acquired their name because they are literally made of steel. These types of guitars are played horizontally. A guitar player may place the guitar across his knees or legs or on a stand.

ARCHTOP GUITARS An archtop guitar is a steel-stringed acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with blues and jazz players. Typically, an archtop has: F-holes similar to members of the violin family. Youtube - Archtop

RESONATORS (“STEEL PANS”) A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more metal cones (resonators) instead of the wooden soundboard (guitar top/face). Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than conventional acoustic guitars which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion instruments in dance orchestras. They became prized for their distinctive sound, however, and found life with several musical styles (most notably bluegrass and also blues) well after electric amplification solved the issue of inadequate guitar sound levels.

LAP STEEL GUITAR The distinguishing feature of a lap steel guitar is that the strings are raised at both the nut and bridge ends of the fingerboard, typically to about half an inch. This makes the frets unusable, and they may be replaced by markers on some guitars. A metal slide is used for chord and note production. Youtube - Lap Steel

PEDAL STEEL GUITARS The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal slide (the "steel") to stop the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. The instrument is placed horizontally on a stand, with the strings facing up towards the player, and is typically plucked with fingerpicks. The pedals below are used to change the pitch of its strings while being played. Youtube - Pedal Steel

ELECTRIC BASS GUITARS Electric Bass Guitars provide the heart-pumping, chest-thumping drive of genres like rock, dance, techno, funk, hip-hop and rap music. These guitars normally have 4 heavy strings and a longer neck than other guitars.

ACOUSTIC BASS GUITARS Acoustic Bass Guitars are the warmer, fuller, mellower counterpart to their electric cousins. These wide-bodied guitars are used for accompaniment in ballads, certain types of fusion music and in jazz, though a stand-up bass is more common.