What are the major differences between classical guitar and acoustic guitar?

2 luahw: What are the major differences between classical guitar and acoustic guitar?
I’m wanting to learn how to play guitar, just a regular guitar, but know next to nothing about it…. I’m trying to figure out whether to take a beginning classical guitar class or an intro to acoustic guitar class.
What, if there are any, are the differences between the two?
And would taking both classes be a good suggestion, or would learning both only confuse me more?

Answers and Views:

Answer by cafeene_rush21
classical would be more … classical music and intro acoustic would be learning how to play your acoustic guitar.. acoustic is just the type. i’d recommend the intro to acoustic so you can get more of a feel for the instrument, first.

Answer by Belinda
I learnt to play the classical guitar. I would expect it to be different to an acoustic guitar class. Classical guitar will concentrate on classical music and how you hold and play the guitar – technique. With an acoustic guitar class i would expect to learn several different techniques. I do not think taking both would confuse you, if you are any good, but I think I would advise taking one for a while and then add the other one. My other bit of advice would be to take the classical one first, but then I am probably a bit biased.

Answer by fdj1
well, dude it doesent really matter at your level,
just get a guitar and learn your basic’s such as
building up the finger dexterity to be able to switch between chord and what not , later
you can choose your style

Answer by Damn It MI4REAL?
There’s only one kind of guitar…

Electric…

Once you learn how to play that…

You will automatically know how to play acoustic…

Classical guitar and acoustic guitar are pretty much synonymous terms…There’s also classical music…and classical music can be played on the acoustic guitar…

Answer by Fairness Committee
Classical guitars usually have nylon strings and a wider neck. This creates a better sound, but is harder to control so you should learn on a regular one first. A regular acoustic usually has steel strings that don’t callous your hands as easily, and a narrower neck easier on the fingers. I’ve heard that the nylon strings (or catgut, sometimes) are really hard on the fingers, especially those not acquainted with guitaring.

Once a guitarist has mastered control on a regular guitar, they usually buy a classical one so their sound is clearer and more contemporary.

Answer by Zed
Hey dude! An acoustic guitar is non-electric and just relies on sound from the strings resonating in the body of the guitar.
A classical guitar is a type of accoustic guitar.

A non classical acoustic will have nylon or steel strings.
I prefer steel string guitars because I can hit the strings harder and use lots of bar and power chords.

In a classical guitar lesson you learn the classical style using an acousic guitar with mainly nylon strings usually.

Intro acoustic class will probably be into basic guitar style mainly folk as it is easy to play.
Learn this one if you want to eventuually play contemporary music-folk,rock, jazz,blues etc.

Depends which style you want to play.

Answer by MOI
There is no difference. A classical guitar class will teach techniques and “pieces” recognized. An acoustical class will just teach techniques.

If you are a good student you will go above and beyond the class. Take the acoustic class, and listen to classical guitar on C.D.

Confuse you more, no! Making you realize a pure musician always borrows from what has been done before…….you will get an A!

Another suggestion…….play an open mic at a blues jam or coffee house,…….priceless.

Answer by Aaron.L
From my understanding, a classical guitar class would really teach u everything from skills (fingering) to theory (scales, arpeggios etc) to classical music, and would eventually make u a good guitarist. Whereas acoustic, its more like a course that teach you how to play a song using the guitar (may not as detailed as classical theoritically). But of course, everything will have to depend on the guitar tutor as everyone has their own way of teaching students.

My suggestions is, if you are really into those classical thing, just go ahead with it, but it will really involve a lot of practising……or if u are learning for the sake of playing it, just go for the acoustic…….

Answer by Snack
Normally I would say take the class where you get to play the music you normally listen to . . . if you want to get exposed to another kind of music, that’s ok, but don’t take a class because you feel obligated to.

Sight-reading will come in extremely handy in the classical guitar class–but if you don’t sight-read, don’t let that stop you . . . talk to the teacher first and find out whether they require it.

Actually, that would be a good strategy in general–talk with the two teachers beforehand and see if that makes you lean towards one class or the other.

Classical and pop guitar techniques are different–in classical, the thumb of the fretting hand stays on the center of the back of the neck at all times, while the strumming hand uses no picks, just long fingernails.

This differs from blues guitar, where the thumb of the fretting hand often loops around the upper edge of the neck to help fret notes on the bottom string. As for the strumming hand, in popular styles, it’s usually holding a pick.

The actual instruments are different, too. A classical guitar uses nylon strings and has a wide neck (to help play individual notes). A country/folk/blues guitar uses steel strings (for increased volume) and has a narrow neck (to make playing chords easier).

This sounds like an argument to stick to one class or another–but actually, taking both classes may help you appreciate and enjoy the differences! All depends on what you’re up for 🙂

Answer by chris g
I’d recommend the classical lessons, at least long enough to play scales and a few dozen different chords in different keys and to be able to read some sheet music.

It would help to take some ear training somewhere along the way, but that can wait til later.

This will appear to be the slow road to playing, but one of the things classical guitar teaches you is how to play without straining your muscles–I’ve know heavy metal players who gave themselves carpel tunnel and had to stop playing–
And the theory part will help you understand why some chord patterns work better than other ones.

After you’ve been studying for a while, you might be able to arrange for your teacher to give you some instruction in other methods.

As well, you can then join with some of the other students and have practice sessions at somebody’s house…or garage.
“We are genetically predisposed to forming garage bands,” as it turns out.

In addition to formal lessons, there are a lot of tools available today, either on the internet or on cd’s, dvd’s, books, etc., to help you learn.

When I play, I use finger picking techniques I developed from some simple classical instructions, and play a kind of Scruggs banjo roll on the acoustic with three fingers and my thumb or by holding a pick and using the two free fingers.

One fun activity for the years to come is to spend some time at music camps like the Puget Sound Guitar Workshops, The B.C. Bluegrass Workshops, and at local ones in your area. There are workshops like this for every style of playing you can imagine.

A really useful tool to pick up is a small digital recorder, or ‘field recorder,’ which can play WAV format or MP3’s at reduced speeds without changing the pitch so you can hear exactly what notes are being played.
You can also load in MP3 or WAV recordings and play along.
One such recorder is the Boss BR recorder shown here:
https://www.bossus.com/?pg=1&tmp=157

Another small one like this is the Edirol R-09, but I don’t yet know if it has the time stretch feature:

BTW, you can get under-saddle pick-ups installed in both classical/ nylon stringed guitars and steel string acoustics. Or buy them already done.

In practicing, slow is fast. Play the piece slowly until you get the fingering right, then play it at the right speed.

How long should you practice each day?
Until you fingers bleed. 🙂 At least that’s what I did…

Answer by dansinger61
The differences between the instruments are as follows:

A classical guitar is shorter, with a wider neck. It uses nylon strings rather than steel strings, which give it a warmer, more intimate sound. The shorter, wider fretboard allow for more complicated fingerings. For a beginner, the wider fretboard allows the fingers to “space out” a bit more, making it somewhat easier to learn the various chord shapes, and the nylon strings are a lot easier on non-calloused fingers.

The differences in style are as follows:

Classical guitar technique is much more based on individual notes (melodies and counter-melodies), and rhythms as opposed to chords. A classical guitar is rarely strummed; rather each individual note is picked by placing the right and left hands very precisely. Acoustic technique will concentrate on chords, and on possibly on single note melody lines.

All that being said, for a beginner I would recommend an introductory acoustic guitar class, but I would recommend that you buy a low cost classical guitar to take the course. The acoustic class will teach you all the basics, such as the location of the notes on the fret board, the chord shapes, and how to coordinate your left and right hands.

With this basis, you can then decide to move forward with more advanced acoustic techniques, or to move to classical.

Answer by conchobor2
Either would be good, but it will depend what type of music you ultimately want to play.

I majored in classical guitar and can tell you it is a dicipline.

If you want to really know music,understand the guitar, geta classical guitar and learn that.

If you want to just play some music and have agood laid back time, get a steel-string acoustic guitar and take the beginner acoustic guitar course.