There are several different types of guitars that each have their own genres and sound. If a novice walks into a guitar shop looking for that first guitar, the salesperson will inevitably ask What kind of music do you want to play? The answer to that question will lead the salesperson to suggest the right guitar(s) for the job.

Acoustic Guitars are hollow-bodied guitars that are unamplified by design, though electronics are often added to send the acoustic signal to an amplifier. The difference between an acoustic and an electric guitar, however, is that one can play an acoustic guitar without amplifying the signal and get the same basic sound. An electric guitar sounds thin and twangy unless the signal is amplified. Different types of acoustic guitars follow:

Classical Guitars, also called nylon-stringed guitars, are suited for classical and Flamenco-style playing, but can also be used for ballads. These guitars deliver warm, full-bodied sound for running arpeggios, chord plucking, and nail strumming. The necks are wider than other guitars so those with short fingers might find a classical guitar challenging.

Acoustic Steel-Stringed Guitars can be 6-string or 12-string guitars. These guitars have a wide variety of sound variations from a brassy, folk style to a fuller, more driving sound. The quality of the guitar, body shape and the types of wood used each combine to determine where the instrument falls along the spectrum.

Elvis Presley gyrated his way to fame with an acoustic steel-stringed guitar in hand, followed by 1960s folk groups like the Mamas and the Papas, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and Donovan. These guitars were also featured by famous rock legends like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jethro Tull, and more recently, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow, the Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge. Some acoustic steel-stringed guitars have electronics on board to amplify their signals for recording or gigging, but they shouldn’t require electronics to sound good.

Acoustic Bass Guitars are the warmer, fuller, mellower counterpart to their electric cousins. These wide-bodied guitars are used for accompaniment in ballads, certain types of fusion music and in jazz, though a stand-up bass is more common. An acoustic bass guitar might be typically kept by a working bassist as a secondary guitar for use in certain songs within his or her band’s repertoires.

Electric Guitars include solid bodies and semi-hollow bodies, which provide a warmer, more well-rounded tone than their solid-body cousins. Electric guitars require an amplifier to produce sound properly.

The electric guitar shot to fame with the help of rock pioneers like Chuck Berry and anthems like his own Johnny B. Goode. The ripping, irresistible licks and hooks of the electric guitar booted the 1960s folk scene out the door and ushered in the age of rock n roll. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton’s Cream, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin’s Big Brother & The Holding Company were just a handful of bands that epitomized the wide-ranging sound and appeal of electric guitars.

In the 1970s rock legends like Led Zeppelin and The Who picked up the gauntlet, and it’s been one long electric ride ever since. Imagine Metallica playing Until It Sleeps with classical guitars and you can see how important the right guitar is for the right genre. If it’s blues, disco, techno, funk, R&B, hip-hop or rap you like, the electric guitar is a signature sound.

Electric Bass Guitars provide the heart-pumping, chest-thumping drive of genres like rock, dance, techno, funk, hip-hop and rap music. Picked, plucked or slapped, the bass guitar pounds out the low notes that rumble through your bones and vibrate your solar plexus. Try doing that with an unplugged acoustic bass!

Guitar lessons are commonly offered in many local music stores and also from independent teachers. Online guitar lessons are also available. If you’ve always wanted to play, there’s no time like the present!