Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

[Ben1962]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

I think playing on an electric acoustically is ok once in a while, but too much leads to sloppy string noise and the like. Why play like that 6 months and then plug into an amp and all you hear is a bunch of string noise because you never learned proper muting? IMO, playing clean should be the goal, so why learn something twice because of poor technique that you ingrained for months?

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

Acoustic guitar is a different instrument to me from electric guitar and requires different technique. There is some overlap, but the geometry, setup, string tension, thickness, sustain, sound is significantly different that I have to play them differently. (Even electric to electric can be that way and acoustic to acoustic.) Not all music that is possible on acoustic is possible on electric and vice-versa. So if you want to be a violin player, don't buy a mandolin, and vice-versa.

 

[6stringerguy]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

If you want to play death metal no, flamenco yeah.
But seriously if you are open to playing any instrument other than electric be it piano, bass, acoustic or drums it can give you a different perspective in terms of writing songs and that can be invaluable.
It can help you be a more rounded player but if you don’t have any desire to do it then don’t because it’ll just be a waste of time.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

There are bigger differences between an acoustic guitar and an electric than between a trumpet and a tuba.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

There are bigger differences between an acoustic guitar and an electric than between a trumpet and a tuba.

As someone who plays acoustic guitar, electric guitar, trumpet, and tuba, I call b.s. on this statement.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

As someone who plays acoustic guitar, electric guitar, trumpet, and tuba, I call b.s. on this statement.

I'll admit, it was a bit of an exaggeration, how about grand piano and synthesizers?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

I think playing on an electric acoustically is ok once in a while, but too much leads to sloppy string noise and the like. Why play like that 6 months and then plug into an amp and all you hear is a bunch of string noise because you never learned proper muting? IMO, playing clean should be the goal, so why learn something twice because of poor technique that you ingrained for months?

Well, at a certain level, you can practice on an unplugged electric and retain your good technique and great tone. Maybe not at the beginning, but after 30 years? Yeah, you'll be fine.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

I think playing on an electric acoustically is ok once in a while, but too much leads to sloppy string noise and the like. Why play like that 6 months and then plug into an amp and all you hear is a bunch of string noise because you never learned proper muting? IMO, playing clean should be the goal, so why learn something twice because of poor technique that you ingrained for months?

Well, at a certain level, you can practice on an unplugged electric and retain your good technique and great tone. Maybe not at the beginning, but after 30 years? Yeah, you'll be fine.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

Yes......certainly practicing unplugged on an electric does a similar thing to playing an acoustic - focussing your skills on clean fretting and fingering of notes and chords. 'No amp involved' takes away the significant crutch of overdrive/distortion or even the compression of amplifier clean out of the equation.

 

[Ben1962]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

I would say more like the difference between a driver swing and an iron swing in golf

 

[Aceman]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

Sometimes I like to work on a manual typewriter. My boss makes faces when she walks by, but it sure does expose my sloppy technique and help me sharpen my skills.

I’m goofing. I don’t think you get to be Al Di Meola by only ever playing an electric with 9’s.

No - but you can get to be Yngwie....so, yeah...

 

[Aceman]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

Yes......certainly practicing unplugged on an electric does a similar thing to playing an acoustic - focussing your skills on clean fretting and fingering of notes and chords. 'No amp involved' takes away the significant crutch of overdrive/distortion or even the compression of amplifier clean out of the equation.

I don't know....I think there is a whole art to playing distortion that you would never learn on an acoustic.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

I don't know....I think there is a whole art to playing distortion that you would never learn on an acoustic.

Absolutely.

I had a helluva time adjusting to electric after years of acoustic. Like beaubrummels said, they are really completely different instruments that happen to be similarly set up.

 

[Jacew]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

I started out with poorly set up steel string acoustic, and that definitely helped with stenght and got my fingers used on playing. Electric felt like breeze to play later on, though I couldn' really play it that well and had to take quite some time to learn out of using excessive force.

I think playing on an electric acoustically is ok once in a while, but too much leads to sloppy string noise and the like. Why play like that 6 months and then plug into an amp and all you hear is a bunch of string noise because you never learned proper muting? IMO, playing clean should be the goal, so why learn something twice because of poor technique that you ingrained for months?

Actually I believe in the opposite. To get electric sound great unplugged you have to be much more careful with string noise and the like, because you don't have amp, speakers etc, to filter it. I used to spent lot of time playing electric unplugged in my early years for various reasons, and I think that greatly improved my touch. I learned that way how to make note "sing" instead of just playing it. I've also never broken a string playing, which I think is due to that.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

No - but you can get to be Yngwie....so, yeah...

Exactly. There’s no one right path. There is no should.

 

[Ben1962]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

As a guy only playing 3 years or so, I couldnt disagree more. I hear people saying distortion covers up sloppy technique, I totally disagree. Bends can sound terrible and all that string noise, notes bleeding into each other. Take the Sweet Child o mine beginning. With bad technique, you can hear the notes bleed into each other. You arent going to hear that unplugged. Different strokes I guess, for newer players they should be able to hear EVERYTHING if they want to play clean. Playing unplugged for extended periods will lead to slop, no doubt in my mind

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

Here's what I think. If something uses techniques that make it sound better played acoustically practice it acoustically, if it's meant to be played with disorted electric, play it distorted electric, if it's meant to be played clean, play it clean. That's how you'll get the most out of practicing them.

 

[Ben1962]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

Makes total sense to me. I look at it this way. When you play an electric with some gain at high volumes, you have to have control over all 6 strings if you want to play clean. You can play an E fretted, and you will hear sympathetic resonance of the low and high E ringing out right with it. I I mean resonance in its true meaning, not some mumbo jumbo some marketing team uses. I aspire to play clean as possible and its harder to play clean with gain. I play with gain anyway, thats what I like. Now you can use modulations to hide garbage technique, but I will always practice with gain and hear what I'm doing. Guys here playing 30 years may not have to, but I do

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

I started by learning cowboys chords on a classical guitar and eventually moved on to a generic Ibanez looking HS strat.

I still miss the bridge humbucker neck single coil ness


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AlexR]

Re: Should every guitarist start on an acoustic, even bound for electric?

As a guy only playing 3 years or so, I couldnt disagree more. I hear people saying distortion covers up sloppy technique, I totally disagree.

As you improve you will quite quickly see that the reverse is true. The noises from poor shifting between notes and damping is small beer by comparison to the assistance overdrive/compression gives to flubbed or poorly fretted notes.