Acoustic Guitar Tunes

The classical guitar is a distinguished member of the guitar family frequently used in classical music. An acoustic, or wooden, string instrument having strings made entirely of nylon or gut, it’s a good precursor to the classic and contemporary electric and classical guitars, both of which utilize hollow metal strings. While it shares some characteristics with the other instruments mentioned, the classical guitar has certain distinguishing characteristics that set it apart.

Classical guitar players use nylon strings, as opposed to steel strings, as the strings tend to last longer, which enables them to be used for a longer time. The standard length of strings for a classical guitar is sixteenths of an inch, and the strings themselves are usually a quarter of an inch in diameter. It is also common for the strings to be tuned using steel toned pegs, rather than flat top (or “flat” as it’s commonly called in guitar notation).

Another distinctive characteristic of the classical guitar is that it contains two courses of woodwind strings (three in all). In contrast to the single-strummed acoustic guitar, the classical guitar contains two courses of melody strings. These allow the guitarist to vary the tone and melody of their instrument, by either slightly lowering the pitch of one course, or by raising it slightly. This characteristic is not found in either the acoustic or electric guitar.

One of the key differences between the acoustic guitars and the classical guitar, comes from the tunings. The classical guitar employs open strings (with open strings, the notes are farther away from the guitar neck), while the acoustic guitars use closed strings (closest to the guitar neck). This difference in tunings enables a guitarist in the classical style to play notes that may be played nearly whole octaves higher or lower than those available in an acoustic guitar. Of course, this also means that a guitarist playing in the classical style must be accustomed to more fretted (fretted) notes, as fretted notes are nearer to the guitar neck. There are some examples of open tunings in both styles of guitar, including the fifth and fourth keys on the acoustic guitars.

Another key difference is that classical guitarists often use nylon strings (as opposed to steel strings). The nylon strings give a finer and warmer tone than steel strings, as well as a wider range of warm tones. The acoustic guitars use steel strings which produce a sharp, thumpy sound. The nylon strings provide a silky, mellow sound that some guitar players find more desirable.

The standard tuning on a classical guitar is E A D G. On the acoustic guitars, the first string is tuned to E A D G C, with the second string tuned to G C E. The thirds, second and fifth strings are tuned to A D G C, and the fourth string (the lowest string) is tuned to A D G C. As for the tuning of the electric guitar, the first string is tuned to A E G C, the second string to G E A D, the third to G E A D, the fifth to A D G C, the sixth to A D G C, and the seventh to E A D. The remaining strings are not usually tuned.