Is Acoustic Guitar Harder Than an Electric Guitar?
Yes, it is harder to play.
1) The acoustic guitar is played with a pick, whereas the electric guitar is played with your hands. This makes it harder to play because you have to learn how to use a pick correctly, and finding the right one for you can be difficult. The strings on an acoustic guitar are also much thicker than those on an electric guitar, which means that they require more effort to push down.
2) Also, acoustic guitars are rarely used to play fast advanced chords, which is why they are so challenging. They are also harder to play on the guitar fretboard because there are no frets, so you have to be very good at music theory and how the guitar works.
So no. An acoustic guitar is not harder than an electric guitar, but it is a lot more difficult because of the mechanics you have to learn to press down the strings.
Features of an Acoustic Guitar:
Acoustic guitars are typically made of a solid body and have a soundboard that gives the instrument its treble sound. They’re often tuned one whole step lower than standard guitars with steel strings. An acoustic guitarist should learn how to tune their guitar by ear as this is the easiest way to find the note they want to play. Besides being lower in pitch, acoustic guitars are not amplified, so volume levels, distortion, and feedback are not applicable. Guitar accessories like picks are available, and there is a sound hole and a bridge to keep the strings from traveling too far.
Types of Guitar Strings:
A standard set of self-tensioning strings comprises six different sizes (in order): 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 17. Gauges 12 and 13 are used to make the tuning easier for beginners. Acoustic guitars come in many different types, shapes and sizes. These include jumbo and dreadnoughts. The most common shape used is the Dreadnought, with a type of body known as a cutaway. Other types seen include cabs, maple tops, solid tops, basses, mandolins and bass guitars.
Why Is an Acoustic Guitar So Hard to Play?
Some factors make acoustic guitar hard to play:
Thicker Strings
Acoustic guitars have thicker strings than electric guitars. Thicker strings mean a harder fret, and it also means a higher string tension.
Pointed Fret Ends
Fret ends are the index finger rests for acoustic and electric guitars. However, unlike electric guitar fret ends, acoustic guitar fret ends are pointed, which means a longer distance to move the index finger.
Fret Placement
Fret placement is another factor that contributes to difficulty in playing acoustic guitars. Fret placement is easier on electric guitar.
Hypersensitivity
Acoustic guitars are more hypersensitive than electric guitars.
Natural Vibrations
The acoustic guitar has a longer resonance, making it difficult for us to stop it.
String Action
String action is the distance between the top of the fret to the actual string. This distance is longer and higher on acoustic guitars.
Large Gauge
It becomes harder because it has a larger gauge and higher string tension than the electric guitars.
Relatively Flat Fretboard
It is a relatively flat fretboard. The strings are closer to frets, thus making a shorter distance of movement.
Higher Neck Relief
The neck relief is higher on acoustic guitar than its counterpart electric guitar.
The Necessity for Finger Picking
Because acoustic guitars are meant for fingerpicking, they have more frets, making finger movement longer.
How to Make Guitar Strings Easier to Press?
There are some things we should keep in mind while dealing with acoustic guitars. One of them is knowing the right way to hold the guitar. Holding an acoustic guitar is different from an electric guitar. We should hold it just like any other musical instrument like flute, violin or drums.
To make pressing strings easier, we should keep our fingers as close as possible to the fretboard and try to use our fingers instead of the fleshy part of our finger and thumb when using pinches and legato techniques. We should also stretch our fingers after every sound we make to avoid cramping.
We should also keep the guitar away from our bodies, especially when playing. We do not want the guitar to vibrate against the body, and it would be more difficult for us to play it.
We should try not to let the strings dangle too much, whereby they will lose their sound. The injuries caused by acoustic guitars are scratches and minor cuts on the fingers and nails.
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Conclusion
Learning to play acoustic guitar is not easy for a lot of people. However, it doesn’t mean that you’re not talented enough or have poor hand coordination. All of the techniques and factors mentioned above show that the acoustic guitars are difficult to play. To overcome these difficulties, practice as much as you can.