Classical Acoustic Guitars for All Levels

The guitar is now probably the overall most popular instrument in the world, and among acoustic guitars the classical guitar is probably considered the most beautiful and eloquent sounding by guitar players and fans of guitar music. These beautiful wood guitars are typically used, as their very name indicates, in what is considered to be "classical" music. For this reason, they are designed specifically with the classical guitarist's technical needs and musical ends in mind. However, they don't need to be limited to being used only in classical music, and therefore those who play the acoustic guitar would do well to know the difference between them and the more widely used steel-string acoustic guitars.

Some players of the steel-string acoustic guitar or those who have only played electric guitar have the notion that the classical guitar is not for them. They have heard how difficult much classical guitar music is, plus they may have been told that the neck is too wide and the body too small for them. But on the other hand, many beginner or intermediate guitar players might not even understand the difference between the two types of wood guitars (that's another way of referring to acoustic guitars, even though electric guitars are also constructed largely from wood). At first glance to the untrained eye, an acoustic guitar is just an acoustic guitar. But it's simply not so.

As mentioned above, one of the big differences between the classical guitar and the steel-string guitar such as a Dreadnought is the size of the neck. A classical guitar's neck is wider and a little bit more rounded in the back than the kind of acoustic guitar that you most often hear used in genres such as rock or Country. And as also mentioned, the guitar's body is smaller than the usual steel-string body. Another difference is, obviously, the strings: the steel -string acoustic guitar is so called because it is strung with steel-wound strings (usually; there are some types of strings for those acoustic guitars such as Martin Silk & Steel strings that are nickel-wound for a lighter, more ringing sound and easier string-bending); but the classical guitar is strung with nylon strings (or, if you are a purist, cat-gut strings, which was all they had before nylon was invented).

Now, the reasons behind all of these anatomical differences between the classical guitar and the other wood guitars have to do with the sounds and feel that the classical guitarist will desire. Classical guitars are intended to be played with a certain classical technique. This technique involves sitting down and propping up one foot (the same foot as the hand that is used for fretting, which for most players is the left) with a small stool. The guitar is sat upon that propped up foot's leg in such a way so that the body, and therefore the neck, will not move at all during performance. Classical guitar playing and its offshoots such as Flamenco guitar are all about economy of motion. This is a far cry from much of the technique used by rock and other non-classical guitar players and electric guitar players. They are more about power-playing and therefore their instrument can move around somewhat (sometimes purely for showmanship).

Also, in non-classical steel-string playing there is typically the tapping of the foot to help the guitar player keep the time. But in classical guitar playing, there is no foot tapping; the time is kept only by the musician's "inner metronome". Again, if the foot were tapped, the guitar would move, and this is a classical no-no.

The wider neck facilitates this non-movement of the instrument, and so does the smaller body. The classical guitar player's fretting fingers must be free to glide over the strings with grace like a classical piano player's do on her instrument. Meanwhile, the picking hand never uses a pick; the classical guitar is plucked and strummed only with the fingers (some non-classical players who use a nylon string wood guitar may use a pick, however). The wider neck allows for the wider string spacing needed for these ends.

Furthermore, there is lower string tension on the classical acoustic guitar. Once again, this facilitates the gliding motion of the fingers, and is also one of the two reasons for the nylon strings, the other being the desired more-silky sound as compared to the steel-string acoustic guitar's more metallic sound. Finally, the classical acoustic guitar's strings are not secured by pegs, they are tried on to the bridge. So if you get yourself a classical acoustic guitar, which is highly recommended to improve and expand your playing, you'll also need to learn a new stringing technique!