WEBVTT 00:00:04.942 --> 00:00:09.908 Hi, how you doing? Justin here. In this lesson today we are going to be checking out the 00:00:09.908 --> 00:00:15.275 different types of guitar that exist in the world, well, just the three main types, 00:00:15.275 --> 00:00:19.287 and talking about the pros and cons of each one. If you are a beginner guitar player looking 00:00:19.287 --> 00:00:22.104 to buy your first guitar, what sort of things you should be looking for. 00:00:22.104 --> 00:00:28.447 So there are three main types of guitar. The one that I am holding in my arms now is a 00:00:28.447 --> 00:00:34.303 steel string acoustic guitar which is what most guitar players think of when they think of 00:00:34.303 --> 00:00:39.608 an acoustic guitar. The other two types of guitar are an electric guitar and a classical guitar. 00:00:39.608 --> 00:00:44.273 Classical guitar is also a type of an acoustic guitar as well so we end up in this 00:00:44.273 --> 00:00:50.051 funny area where these things are not falling into one of the three categories. But those are the most important three. 00:00:50.051 --> 00:00:53.043 Now when you are choosing which one of them you are going to play there are a few 00:00:53.043 --> 00:00:57.657 things that set it off straight away. If you want to play rock guitar get an electric guitar. 00:00:57.657 --> 00:01:03.394 Full stop. Easy. Done. Sold. If you have got not very much money to spend and you are 00:01:03.394 --> 00:01:08.074 looking at as cheap a guitar as possible get an electric guitar. I know that sounds kind of funny, 00:01:08.074 --> 00:01:11.893 like oh it's an electric guitar. It has got more fancy stuff in it but actually the 00:01:11.893 --> 00:01:17.371 problem with acoustic guitars, especially steel string acoustic guitars, when they are 00:01:17.371 --> 00:01:21.592 really cheap they are really difficult to play. They have got what is called a High Action, 00:01:21.592 --> 00:01:25.287 that means the strings are quite far away from the fingerboard, usually. 00:01:25.303 --> 00:01:30.358 So they are really really difficult to play barre chords on. They tend to not sound very nice as well, 00:01:30.358 --> 00:01:35.343 cheap acoustic guitars, because they are made of laminated wood and my general opinion is 00:01:35.343 --> 00:01:40.644 that if you have got not very much money an electric guitar is a far better way to go. 00:01:41.674 --> 00:01:45.433 If you want to play classical guitar you should definitely buy a classical guitar. 00:01:45.463 --> 00:01:52.512 Hey, a little bit obvious there Justin, thanks. But it is true. You don't really want to be trying to play 00:01:52.512 --> 00:01:57.160 classical music on a steel string guitar or an electric guitar. That said I am not 00:01:57.160 --> 00:02:01.192 really a classical guitar teacher. I don't cover classical guitar as part of my course. I 00:02:01.192 --> 00:02:06.427 don't really think it is the best, most fun thing to learn guitar on a classical guitar 00:02:06.427 --> 00:02:10.077 because it is all about learning to read notes and playing one note at a time and stuff. It 00:02:10.077 --> 00:02:13.154 is a bit easier to just get going if you are playing chords and stuff. 00:02:13.154 --> 00:02:19.463 Anyway, this is a steel string acoustic guitar. The things to look for when you are 00:02:19.463 --> 00:02:24.059 checking out an acoustic guitar is 1) does it sound nice? The best thing you can do when 00:02:24.059 --> 00:02:27.769 you go shopping for a guitar is take somebody who knows what they are doing. 00:02:27.769 --> 00:02:31.174 Take somebody who has played guitar for a bit, who can strum a few chords, who can have a 00:02:31.174 --> 00:02:34.765 listen to it and see if they like the sound of it. If you are a complete beginner and know 00:02:34.765 --> 00:02:39.033 nothing you kind of have to rely on the sales people and a lot of the time they are full of 00:02:39.033 --> 00:02:43.038 it and don't really tell you the truth because they are trying to sell you something. 00:02:44.100 --> 00:02:49.946 On the website there is a link from BC-102 which will give you some links to some 00:02:49.946 --> 00:02:56.902 products and stuff and some stores that I recommend. But the big thing that you are looking for here on a steel 00:02:56.902 --> 00:03:02.092 string guitar is that the action is not too high. That is the distance here between the string and the fret. 00:03:02.092 --> 00:03:11.015 When you press the string down you probably don't want it to be more than like 3 or 4mm at the twelfth fret. 00:03:11.784 --> 00:03:18.283 Definitely not 5mm or more because you will get them that high on a cheap guitar. 00:03:18.283 --> 00:03:24.220 So I wouldn't be looking at really cheap steel string acoustic guitars, but you can do if you want. 00:03:24.220 --> 00:03:28.805 You can get a thing called electro acoustics as well which is an acoustic guitar with a 00:03:28.805 --> 00:03:35.208 pick up system, which this is. I have got a volume control and stuff here. This guitar has 00:03:35.208 --> 00:03:38.821 got a microphone built into it. You don't really need that when you are beginner. 00:03:38.821 --> 00:03:44.359 If later on if you are going to do gigs and stuff you can retrofit it later. You can get the electric 00:03:44.359 --> 00:03:49.539 system put in afterwards. Or you can buy yourself another guitar, a better guitar 00:03:49.539 --> 00:03:53.802 maybe. So if you learn on one guitar you can get a fairly cheap one to learn on. 00:03:53.802 --> 00:03:58.893 you can decide that you are a professional now and you want to go and do a gig then buy another guitar. 00:03:58.893 --> 00:04:01.723 I would be more inclined to do that than spending a whole lot of money, 00:04:01.723 --> 00:04:05.540 especially on a budget guitar you don't want to waste money on an electric system 00:04:05.540 --> 00:04:09.439 because it is a budget guitar. The electric system is not going to be very good either and 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.540 it is going to take more money away from just having a nice guitar in the first place. 00:04:12.540 --> 00:04:15.381 So that is a steel string guitar. 00:04:18.596 --> 00:04:26.080 OK, this is a classical guitar. These are quite easy to play. I learned on a classical guitar. 00:04:26.080 --> 00:04:30.440 Also called a nylon string acoustic because the strings are not metal any more, we are 00:04:30.440 --> 00:04:34.406 talking about nylon. They used to be made of cat gut believe it or not. Definitely glad 00:04:34.406 --> 00:04:38.885 my cat wasn't around in the days when they did cat gut guitar strings. 00:04:38.916 --> 00:04:45.206 Anyway, the strings are made of nylon now so you don't have to worry if you are an animal liber (animal rights person). 00:04:45.206 --> 00:04:50.366 These can be quite cheap. I started off on a Yamaha GC-100 I think, or a 110. 00:04:50.366 --> 00:04:56.661 And it was a fantastic guitar. It didn't cost very much. Yamaha make really good nylon string acoustics. 00:04:56.661 --> 00:05:01.769 I highly recommend them. I don't play them any more but for a beginners 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:05.823 guitar they are really wicked. Don't worry about getting one with an electric system, you 00:05:05.823 --> 00:05:12.732 don't need it. They are slightly wider in the neck here. The width of the neck can be 00:05:12.732 --> 00:05:21.663 considerably wider. 10mm wider I suppose, so quite a lot. So a nylon string guitar can 00:05:21.663 --> 00:05:27.113 be great for people with really big hands as well. That is a really helpful thing there if 00:05:27.113 --> 00:05:31.509 you have got big hands. The strings as well are a little bit further apart so it can make it 00:05:31.509 --> 00:05:36.161 a little easier to fret your chords out when you are starting for a big handed dude. 00:05:36.161 --> 00:05:41.526 You will have a little trouble getting further up the fingerboard here because you don't have any 00:05:41.526 --> 00:05:46.227 access to the higher frets which could cause you problems, but probably not. 00:05:46.227 --> 00:05:52.325 A lot of children learn on these because of the nylon strings. They are a little softer on the 00:05:52.325 --> 00:05:58.034 fingers. I don't really recommend it. The one thing they are really good for is people 00:05:58.034 --> 00:06:02.194 with really big hands, a classical guitar is great for that. Or really young children if they 00:06:02.194 --> 00:06:06.909 are worried about playing on the metal strings and the skin on their fingers is too soft. 00:06:06.909 --> 00:06:11.704 Generally nice. They don't have the same sound. 00:06:13.842 --> 00:06:15.765 Classical guitars have a very different sound 00:06:15.765 --> 00:06:18.910 . . . 00:06:18.910 --> 00:06:21.872 To a steel string acoustic guitar. A lot more suited for 00:06:21.872 --> 00:06:26.348 . . . 00:06:26.348 --> 00:06:28.655 That kind of thing. Or you know 00:06:28.655 --> 00:06:30.993 . . . 00:06:30.993 --> 00:06:35.301 For doing that kind of guitar, more so than for strumming along. 00:06:35.301 --> 00:06:38.747 They don't tend to sound so good when they are strummed. So that is a classical guitar. 00:06:41.547 --> 00:06:45.443 OK, the last type of guitar we are ging to have a look at is an electircal guitar. 00:06:45.443 --> 00:06:54.509 Now this is a Fender Stratocaster which are a really good, standard electric guitar. They sound 00:06:54.509 --> 00:06:58.326 good, they are quite versatile. They are thousands of different types of electric guitar 00:06:58.326 --> 00:07:02.977 and the one you choose is really up to what you like and what sort of sound you want to 00:07:02.977 --> 00:07:08.642 get. What guitar players you think look cool or whatever. There is not really a big deal about electric guitar. 00:07:08.642 --> 00:07:13.226 But there is some big deals on electric guitar when you are considering buying one when 00:07:13.226 --> 00:07:18.209 you are a beginner. In fact I really recommend getting an electric guitar as a beginner 00:07:18.209 --> 00:07:23.875 guitar player for a few reasons. First of all they are easier to play. Generally the strings 00:07:23.875 --> 00:07:28.126 are closer to the neck so it is easier to press down the chords. The neck is a little 00:07:28.126 --> 00:07:32.343 thinner which for most people is an advantage when they are trying to stretch out for 00:07:32.343 --> 00:07:38.175 chords it is a little bit easier to start off with. They are a little bit quieter. You can still hear an electric guitar 00:07:38.175 --> 00:07:42.843 without an amplifier. Don't be under the impression that you have to buy an amplifier if you get an electric guitar. 00:07:42.843 --> 00:07:46.742 You don't. You can play acoustically. You are not going to be very loud, which is 00:07:46.742 --> 00:07:50.553 maybe a good thing for you neighbours when you are learning guitar. But you will hear, like, 00:07:50.553 --> 00:07:54.042 . . . 00:07:54.042 --> 00:08:00.147 Perfectly audible for you to hear while you are playing, no question. So 00:08:00.147 --> 00:08:05.060 getting an electric guitar is good for that as well. There are some really good quality budget electric guitars 00:08:05.060 --> 00:08:11.849 around. The Yamaha Pacifica is the one that springs to mind. Ibanez do some really good budget electric guitars. 00:08:11.849 --> 00:08:17.639 Fender Squires are OK, there have been a few quality control issues in the ones of seen 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:22.043 lately of their really cheap ones. I definitely like the Pacifica's. I don't have a deal with 00:08:22.043 --> 00:08:29.574 Yamaha. I think they are really good, cheap electric guitars. Pretty decent sound, play well. 00:08:29.574 --> 00:08:36.941 So my personal recommendation is that if you are going to learn guitar and you are just 00:08:36.941 --> 00:08:42.015 starting out, you don't know what sort of guitar to get, get an electric guitar. Simple. 00:08:42.015 --> 00:08:45.303 Don't worry about an amplifier and stuff yet. Save that for a little bit later when you 00:08:45.303 --> 00:08:49.433 know what you are doing, what sort of sound you want to make and stuff. Don't worry 00:08:49.433 --> 00:08:55.367 about anything fancy, just standard Yamaha Pacifica or a Squire Stratocaster or I don't 00:08:55.367 --> 00:09:00.304 know what the Ibanez one is called. Whatever. Any of those. Again, there will be some 00:09:00.304 --> 00:09:05.042 links on the website for some specific guitars which I would recommend and why. 00:09:05.042 --> 00:09:12.011 I just wanted to discuss with you the pros and cons between an electric, a classical and a steel string guitar. 00:09:12.626 --> 00:09:18.072 Another thing that you might see is a semi acoustic guitar or a hollow body electric guitar. 00:09:18.072 --> 00:09:22.401 Which are like regular electric guitars but they are mainly 00:09:22.401 --> 00:09:26.798 used in jazz. Their bodies are a little bit thicker and they are actually hollow inside. So 00:09:26.798 --> 00:09:29.785 they are somewhere in between an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar, but in my 00:09:29.785 --> 00:09:35.467 opinion more in the electric guitar family. Not a bad thing. If that is what tickles your fancy then that 00:09:35.467 --> 00:09:41.283 would be a good thing. Otherwise just get yourself a nice, simple electric guitar and off you go. Instead of 00:09:41.283 --> 00:09:46.473 spending too much time thinking of what guitar to get think a lot about doing loads of 00:09:46.473 --> 00:09:50.953 practice and getting good real quick. Much better idea. OK. Hope that has helped you in 00:09:50.953 --> 00:09:56.640 your dilemma a little and I shall see you for another lesson very soon. Bye, bye.