Three Types Of Guitars

CLASSICAL I like this one for finger-style playing.	ACOUSTIC I like this one for general purposes.	ELECTRIC I like this one for playing barre chords.

But many players, me included,	use any and all of the three	for multipurpose playing.

So What Are Some Differences?

CLASSICAL

This guitar has a wider neck than the other two,
and the strings are farther apart.
This makes it nice for playing notes and arpeggios
with the fingers of the right hand,
instead of with a pick.

The strings are wound around cylinders
in oblong openings in the head,
and the tuning pegs extend backward.

ACOUSTIC

The width of the neck and the spacing of the strings
are between those of the other two.

The strings are wound around posts
and the tuning pegs extend up and/or down,
with no openings in the head,

ELECTRIC

The closest strings and narrowest neck
belong to this guitar.

The heads come in a variety of shapes;
this is probably the most iconic.

The opposite ends of the strings,
farthest from the head,
cross over a bridge.

On a CLASSICAL guitar, knots are tied in the strings to
secure them. These strings are made of nylon, but the
lowest-pitched ones are wrapped with metal wire.

On an ACOUSTIC, pegs wedged into holes in the body secure the strings.
These strings are made of steel, giving them a brighter sound than nylon.

On an ELECTRIC, additional adjustments can be made to shorten
or lengthen the strings, thereby tuning not only the open
strings, but fine-tuning the pitches farther up the fretboard.

An ELECTRIC needs pickups to
read the vibrations of the strings
and send them to an amplifier.
An ACOUSTIC has a tone hole and
hollow body to accomplish amplification,
but it can also be fitted with a pickup
to help us hear it over the drums!

~ FURTHER READING ~

These are the most basic and common guitars, but there are other types. Take your pick.

Now it's time to take your pick in another sense. Maybe.
Some people exclusively use the "soft" surfaces of the fingers;
Others play using their fingernails either for note picking or strumming.

Here are just a few of the variations on standard guitar picks.

First of all, they come in varying thicknesses.

Some are textured, to help keep them from slipping through your fingers.

There are artistic designs. Variegated ones are easier to find when you drop them on the floor.

Many are used for advertising.

Front = play on words; Back = quote from scripture.

The thumb pick is supposed to work without you having to grip it so hard.
I had a student who used this kind because of an old hand injury.

This is an unusual shape. Any of the three corners can be the "business end."

Speaking of unusual shapes . . .

This gives new meaning to the term "guitar pick."
(Notice the notes, including a half note with a backward head and a flag!)