Oh well, just a short intro, my dad brought home a Yamaha classical guitar. I thought of giving it a try so I started learning using Justin online videos, the very first 'D' chord is so freaggin hard to play lol. Am I the only one who feels that the guitar is so "anal" forcing my fingers to act unnaturally? The worse part is actually the 3rd finger resting on the 'e' string unknowingly just by a slight bit and causing the sound either not to appear or appear in a weird tone. I have a question to ask, are the differences for the string spacing between classical vs acoustic very different? I wanna know if acoustic vs classical setup is better for a beginner to learn the very basic stuffs. Btw, I don't really fancy classical music just that the very first guitar that appeared in my house happened to be a classical guitar lol.
Learning learning learning...
- Thread starter WBWB
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LadyInTears
Well-known member
aiya... very quickly everything will feel natural, fretting doesnt happen overnight
the acoustic vs classical dilemma is very personal, im more comfortable on a classical but if you've a well set up acoustic you might find it easier to play with it's slimmer neck
the acoustic vs classical dilemma is very personal, im more comfortable on a classical but if you've a well set up acoustic you might find it easier to play with it's slimmer neck
Fretting IMO easier for classical when you're new lol but I may be biased since I started with it when I was in school.
Really depends on what type of songs and style you want to play though...I mean you can play the pieces on either but it will sound hugely different. Are you interested in fingerstyle like Tommy Emmanuel, Kotaro Oshio, Sungha Jung etc? Or Strumming? Flatpicking?
As for string spacing ya, but there are acoustic with wider string spacing as well which is useful if you like fingerstyle...
Really depends on what type of songs and style you want to play though...I mean you can play the pieces on either but it will sound hugely different. Are you interested in fingerstyle like Tommy Emmanuel, Kotaro Oshio, Sungha Jung etc? Or Strumming? Flatpicking?
As for string spacing ya, but there are acoustic with wider string spacing as well which is useful if you like fingerstyle...
I wouldn't even think of what style to lean towards to yet, probably too early for now. Target is to get the basics right and be able to play something decent out of it lol. Even if I'm given a $10k guitar now, it will become a $2 toy guitar in my hands xD.
Since I am so fated to meet this pretty worn out classical guitar, I will stick with it for the time being for the basics but classical is definitely not my vege in the long run. Most likely will be investing in an acoustic real soon once I feel more comfortable in playing the guitar.
Since I am so fated to meet this pretty worn out classical guitar, I will stick with it for the time being for the basics but classical is definitely not my vege in the long run. Most likely will be investing in an acoustic real soon once I feel more comfortable in playing the guitar.
Guitar is very unnatural in the beginning. I play both guitar and piano, and piano is so much easier in the beginning. Both have their own difficulties when you're playing at an intermediate to advanced level, but there's much lesser things to worry about in the beginning.
With some practice, it will become very familiar, even if you can't play solos all over it. You will find that after some time what's limiting you is not how unfamiliar it feels, but your fingers just aren't fast enough or independent enough to do what you want.
In any case, if you intend to go into acoustic, you should know that it is a slight step up in terms of difficulty as compared to the classical guitar, because there's a smaller margin of error before your guitar produces unwanted harmonics, etc. Fretting on an acoustic and electric will also be more painful until you build up calluses on your fingers.
In terms of the classical vs acoustic argument, I think it's mostly interchangeable. You can play fingerstyle classical pieces on a traditional acoustic guitar, which has less finger space. It'll be harder (or MUCH harder depending on the piece) and more frustrating, but doable. You can also play 4-chord pop songs on a classical, but you'll get a much mellower sound which you may or may not like.
Don't worry about picking a style. It sounds like it's a major decision that you'll have to make in the beginning, but you'll find that you tend to seek out music you enjoy as what you wish to learn to play, unless you're with a guitar teacher who gives you recommendations (which you may or may not like).
With some practice, it will become very familiar, even if you can't play solos all over it. You will find that after some time what's limiting you is not how unfamiliar it feels, but your fingers just aren't fast enough or independent enough to do what you want.
In any case, if you intend to go into acoustic, you should know that it is a slight step up in terms of difficulty as compared to the classical guitar, because there's a smaller margin of error before your guitar produces unwanted harmonics, etc. Fretting on an acoustic and electric will also be more painful until you build up calluses on your fingers.
In terms of the classical vs acoustic argument, I think it's mostly interchangeable. You can play fingerstyle classical pieces on a traditional acoustic guitar, which has less finger space. It'll be harder (or MUCH harder depending on the piece) and more frustrating, but doable. You can also play 4-chord pop songs on a classical, but you'll get a much mellower sound which you may or may not like.
Don't worry about picking a style. It sounds like it's a major decision that you'll have to make in the beginning, but you'll find that you tend to seek out music you enjoy as what you wish to learn to play, unless you're with a guitar teacher who gives you recommendations (which you may or may not like).