Each week I create a new guitar lesson at ActiveMelody.com and a huge majority (probably even half of the lessons) are acoustic guitar lessons. Most of the members on the site play both acoustic and electric guitar and so they love the variety. If you want to be serious as guitar player, you really do need to be able to comfortably play both electric and acoustic guitar. Be sure to check out the acoustic guitar lessons that are available at ActiveMelody.com if you haven’t already.
Should I Start With Acoustic Guitar Lessons or Electric?
One of the most common questions I hear from people that are just learning how to play guitar is, “should I start by learning to play on an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar?”. If given a choice, I would recommend the acoustic first for these three reasons.
- Simplicity – If you start with acoustic guitar lessons (as opposed to electric), you have less variables to worry about. Acoustic guitars don’t require amplifiers, cables, effect pedals, or even electricity and I think by starting organically, you learn some of the nuances that might be overlooked had you started with electric guitar.
- Cheaper – It’s typically cheaper to start with acoustic guitar lessons because you aren’t buying all the extra peripherals that are required with an electric guitar (amp, etc.)
- Makes you tougher – Ok, well maybe it doesn’t make YOU tougher, but it does make the tips of your fingers tougher (more calloused), and this allows you to very easily switch to electric guitar if you want – however if you start with electric, you’ll have a much harder time picking up and playing an acoustic because the tips of your fingers won’t have the necessary callouses
