Does playing a lot of acoustic, make you a better electric player?

[solspirit]

I think it might.

 

[larryguitar]

It strengthens your hand(s) for sure, but I feel like you lose a little touch when switching back to electric after a long stint of playing acoustic; I usually have to work to regain my dynamics on the electric a little.

But then, I'm terrible on either, so what do I know?

Larry

 

[Mincer]

I think they have a different vocabulary and a different history. I also don't think you need strong hands to play guitar- most people work way too hard and use too much force for everything. Kind of like playing piano vs synth. You don't have to be strong to play piano, and strong hands might actually hinder your playing on synth.

 

[zionstrat]

I find that they strongly reinforce one another...

I'm far more focused on dynamics on acoustic and tend to do more complex stuff on electric.

So when I switch, I tend to carry over whatever I've just been doing onto the other instrument type.

Perhaps most important, I play heavy strings on electric and light on acoustic, which means I'm playing the same gauge string all the time. As a result, it's really easy to go back and forth and all the heavy bending on electric helps retain strength when I'm not playing accoustic.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Don't know. Never played an acoustic

 

[jeremy]

i think there is some benefit, yes. putting your hands on the strings is better than not any day

 

[GuitarStv]

There's a lot of general overlap, but I tend to view playing acoustic very differently than electric. Open chords, open strings, and fingerpicking all get more play with acoustic - riffing and lead lines, bending, tapping, and smaller chord shapes all get more use with electric.

FWIW, on a decent playing and properly set up acoustic I don't find there being much difference in hand strength. I usually use .10s or .11s on my electrics and .12s or.13s on my acoustic.

 

[Securb]

In my opinion, acoustic guitars force you to focus more on picking and fingering dynamics. Also, I tend to focus more on chord structure on the acoustic. Most of my songs, no matter how heavy they are, tend to start on the acoustic guitar and then are transferred to the electric. Also, when I was playing live more, I would warm up on the nylon string classical. The wider neck and higher action made switching to the electric a breeze.

 

[Chistopher]

It helps you to become more well rounded. Forces you to think about things in new ways. A lot of the cliche electric guitar techniques (endless sweep picking, over the top boomer bends) don't work on acoustic so you're forced to learn how to make your playing actually interesting.

 

[Chistopher]

Don't know. Never played an acoustic

You've never played an acoustic and you know zero music theory. Can you read tabs? :bigthumb:

 

[ehdwuld]

I agree with Bruce

Forces you to fret properly
Because no distortion

The effects and such cover up a lot of technique errors

Acoustic is more intimate

 

[GuitarStv]

Acoustic is more intimate

You might be using the soundhole wrong.

 

[beaubrummels]

Does playing a lot of saxophone make you a better flute player?

 

[jeremy]

maybe?

 

[Phantasmagoria]

You've never played an acoustic and you know zero music theory. Can you read tabs? :bigthumb:

Take a wild guess :laugh2:

If I need to pick something out I use my ears ..like with everything else/-

 

[Phantasmagoria]

It helps you to become more well rounded. Forces you to think about things in new ways. A lot of the cliche electric guitar techniques (endless sweep picking, over the top boomer bends) don't work on acoustic so you're forced to learn how to make your playing actually interesting.

You forgot (7 not 8) finger tapping :laugh2:

 

[Chistopher]

Does playing a lot of saxophone make you a better flute player?

Depends. If I can barely play hot cross buns on the flute and then over the course of several years become a virtuoso on the saxophone, learning every aspect of musicianship along the way, I will likely come back to flute leaps and bounds better.

 

[Securb]

Does playing a lot of saxophone make you a better flute player?

Playing a lot of sax would make you a better guitar player. Exploring music expands your musical knowledge and understanding of theory. I can say with all conviction that the time I spend on the piano, mandocello, bass, or mandolin definitely makes me a better guitar player.