Electric vs. Acoustic Guitar

Should I learn to Play Electric or Acoustic Guitar?

This is a frequent question that we hear when people begin to play guitar. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference and the genre(s) of music that you are interested in playing. Below, we’ll outline some reasons why you may want to choose one or the other when deciding what type of guitar to play.

ACoustic Guitar

If you are interested in accompanying yourself while you sing your favourite Beatles or Ed Sheeran songs, then an acoustic guitar would be a safe bet. Here is a list of genres that may be a better fit for acoustic:

• Pop (Ed Sheeran, Justin Beiber, Billie Eilish, etc.)

• Folk/Country/Bluegrass (John Denver, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash etc.)

• Classical/Flamenco

• Singer/Songwriter

• Campfire versions of songs

  • Note: Any classic songs can be played and covered on acoustic guitar, even if they were originally played on an electric guitar. The nice thing about an acoustic is that you can bring it anywhere and it doesn’t require power.

Electric Guitar

If you are interested in playing rock music or want complete control of your volume, then an electric guitar may be a better fit for you. An unplugged electric guitar can be whisper quiet for practising in your bedroom at night, or it can be plugged in and cranked up loud when you want to rock out or join a jam session. Below are some genres that are better suited to an electric guitar:

• Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Modern Rock (Led Zeppelin, Metallica, White Stripes)

• Metal

• Blues (B.B. King, Eric Clapton, etc.)

Learn to Play Guitar

If I have an electric guitar can I still learn acoustic songs, or vice versa?

Yes. Most of the time you can play a Metallica riff on an acoustic guitar or an acoustic Ed Sheeran song on an electric. The main difference will be there are some techniques that are more commonly found on either the electric and acoustic respectively. For instance, because the strings on an electric guitar are lighter we typically do a lot more bending and vibrato which is much better for soloing and can sometimes be impossible on acoustic. Because of the heavier strings on an acoustic we typically don’t do bending and will opt for sliding instead, and focus more on strumming and fingerpicking techniques. With some of the new generation of acoustic guitar players (Sungha Jung , Mike Dawes etc. ) we are starting to see a lot more percussive slap and pop techniques that would not be nearly as effective on electric guitar.

Guitar Lessons at Blue Guitar Studio in Vancouver

Learned guitar techniques and skills are mostly going to transfer. If you decide on getting one type guitar now and another type of guitar later, most of the techniques you learn on one guitar will transfer over to another. You may just need to add a few things to your tool kit but the basics of technique remain the same, and our instructors are happy to fill in any knowledge gaps during guitar lessons.

So there you have it! Ultimately, it’s up to your genre preferences, how portable you want to be, and what your budget looks like. But rest assured that learning to play on one type of guitar versus another won’t greatly impact your ability to learn guitar and play the songs you love.

Book a Guitar Lesson

If you’d like to learn more about guitar and start playing your favourite songs, send us an email and we’ll be happy to get you booked in for a first lesson! Blue Guitar Studio also offers lesson discount packages and our instructors are excited to get you playing whatever guitar you choose.