The world of guitars is vast and varied, offering a plethora of choices that can initially feel overwhelming. If you’re just starting your musical journey or looking to expand your collection, understanding the different Guitar Types available is crucial. This guide will explore the most common guitar families, from familiar acoustics to specialized models, helping you discover the perfect instrument to match your musical aspirations.
Acoustic Guitars: The Soulful Strummers
Acoustic guitars are perhaps the most recognizable and versatile members of the guitar family. They are defined by their ability to produce sound without electronic amplification, relying solely on the natural resonance of their body. Within the acoustic realm, two primary categories stand out: steel-string and nylon-string guitars.
One of the most significant distinctions between these guitar types lies in the string material: steel strings versus nylon strings (or nylon/steel composite). This difference in string material profoundly impacts the sound, feel, and typical musical genres associated with each type. Beyond these main categories, variations like electro-acoustic guitars further expand the acoustic landscape. Acoustic guitars are exceptionally well-suited for genres ranging from folk and country to classical and beyond.
Steel-String Guitars: Brightness and Projection
Often simply referred to as “acoustic guitars,” steel-string guitars are descendants of nylon-string guitars, but offer a noticeably brighter and louder sound. This powerful projection is largely attributed to the steel strings, which vibrate with greater energy.
Steel-string guitars are incredibly versatile and adaptable to various musical styles. While they are a staple in classic rock, country, and traditional Irish music, their application extends far beyond these genres.
A notable characteristic of steel-string guitar types is their robustness, which, combined with string thickness (often starting at .012 or .013 gauge for the thinnest string), makes them ideal for open tunings. Popular open tunings like Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D), Open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D), and DADGAD (Celtic tuning) are commonly used to achieve rich, resonant sounds and facilitate slide guitar techniques.
The inherent nature of steel strings produces a sound characterized by a pronounced ringing quality, significant sustain in the lower register, and clear, articulate high notes, particularly from the 12th fret upwards.
Music Types: Classic Rock, Country, Celtic Music (Irish, Scottish, English)
Learning Difficulty: Beginner-Friendly
Key Features: Smooth transitions across registers, long sustain, bright and loud sound.
Nylon-String Classical Guitars: Warmth and Nuance
The nylon-string classical guitar, often simply called a “classical guitar,” holds a distinguished position as the ancestor of both modern acoustic and electric guitar types. Its history stretches back centuries, and its sound remains timeless.
Classical guitars are incredibly versatile and can be used for a wide spectrum of music, from classical masterpieces like Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and Vivaldi’s Guitar Concertos in D to jazz standards like Django Reinhardt’s Minor Swing.
The strings on a classical guitar are traditionally made from nylon or a nylon/steel composite. Historically, gut strings (often made from sheep gut) were also used. These materials produce a warmer, punchier, yet more mellow sound compared to steel strings.
Classical guitar types come in various shapes and sizes, but the most common are the modern classical guitar and the “historic” classical guitar. The latter is reminiscent of early romantic guitars from France and Italy, offering a more vintage aesthetic and sound.
Music Types: Classical, Jazz, Swing
Learning Difficulty: Intermediate
Key Features: Warm, mellow sound, typically 12 frets to the body, wider neck.
Archtop Guitars: The Jazz Icon
The archtop guitar is a distinctive guitar type characterized by its hollow or semi-hollow body, arched top and back, and f-holes (similar to violins and cellos). Often equipped with a vibrato bridge and a neck joint at the 14th fret, the archtop guitar possesses a unique aesthetic and sonic profile.
This guitar is a favorite among jazz, blues, and rockabilly musicians. However, its versatility extends into genres like hard rock, as exemplified by Ted Nugent’s use of archtops.
Archtop guitar types often feature a Bigsby vibrato bridge, enabling players to create vibrato effects without bending the strings. Acoustically, archtops produce a percussive, mid-range focused sound that is ideal for big band settings. When amplified, they deliver a mellow, signature jazzy tone.
Music Types: Jazz, Blues, Rockabilly
Learning Difficulty: Intermediate
Key Features: Percussive mid-range tone, excellent for big band settings, prone to feedback at high volumes.
Electro-Acoustic Guitars: Bridging Worlds
The electro-acoustic guitar seamlessly blends the acoustic and electric worlds. It starts as a traditional acoustic guitar, but incorporates a pickup (typically piezo or magnetic), an output jack, and a preamplifier.
The preamp in electro-acoustic guitar types often includes a built-in tuner and EQ controls, sometimes with up to 6 bands for precise frequency shaping.
Electro-acoustic guitars emerged in the early 1920s, driven by the need for guitars to be heard alongside louder instruments like horns and percussion in big bands. This innovation paved the way for the integration of electric and acoustic guitar styles.
Interestingly, early attempts at amplification involved telephone transmitters placed inside violins and banjos. Carbon button microphones, which captured bridge vibrations, followed, but these produced relatively weak signals.
The amplified sound of an electro-acoustic guitar closely resembles a standard acoustic guitar, with the added ability to enhance specific frequencies via the preamp’s EQ.
Music Types: Rock, Pop, Country, Blues
Learning Difficulty: Beginner-Friendly
Key Features: Smooth transitions across registers, long sustain, amplified acoustic tone with EQ control.
Resonator Guitars: Distinctive Metallic Tones
Resonator guitars, also known as resophonic guitars, are a unique family of acoustic guitar types distinguished by their metallic resonators in place of a traditional soundboard. Two main styles exist: “tabletop” resonator guitars, designed for lap steel playing, and round-neck resonators, played in a standard guitar posture.
Resonator guitars can be tuned to various tunings, including standard (E standard, D standard, etc.) and open tunings (Open D, Open G, etc.).
While often constructed from wood, resonator guitar bodies can also be made of metal or other materials.
The most common resonator configuration features a single cone and two soundholes, but variations with multiple cones (three or more) and a single soundhole also exist.
Music Types: Hawaiian Music, Jazz, Blues, Swing
Learning Difficulty: Advanced
Key Features: Mellow, dampened sound, versatile tunings and playing styles (lap steel option), metallic resonance.
Flamenco Guitars: Passion and Percussion
The flamenco guitar is closely related to the classical guitar, but possesses distinct characteristics tailored to the passionate and percussive style of flamenco music. Flamenco guitar types typically have a thinner top wood and less internal bracing than classical guitars, and are strung with nylon strings. This construction contributes to a grittier and more percussive sound compared to the typically richer tone of a classical guitar.
Flamenco guitars often exhibit a characteristic light body color due to the use of woods like sycamore or cypress in their construction.
The playing posture for flamenco guitar differs slightly from classical guitar. Flamenco players often alternate their picking hand position between the soundhole and the bridge to achieve a harsher, raspier sound quality.
Flamenco guitarists commonly cross their legs and rest the guitar on the upper leg, facilitating techniques like tremolo, golpe (percussive finger taps on the soundboard), and rasgueo (complex strumming patterns). The strings are often “struck” rather than plucked, contributing to the percussive sound associated with flamenco.
Music Types: Flamenco, Baroque, Renaissance Music
Learning Difficulty: Advanced
Key Features: Percussive tone, gritty sound due to thinner top, specialized playing techniques.
Electric Guitars: Amplified Power and Versatility
Electric guitars are among the most ubiquitous instruments in modern music. Unlike acoustic guitars, they require external amplification to be heard properly. Electric guitar types utilize pickups (magnetic transducers like humbuckers and single-coils) to convert string vibrations into electrical signals, which are then sent to an amplifier via a cable.
The electric guitar family is incredibly diverse, with variations in body shapes and headstock designs from numerous manufacturers like Fender, Gibson, and Jackson. Iconic models like the Gibson Les Paul and Flying V, Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster, and Jackson Kelly and King V represent just a fraction of the available electric guitar designs. These guitar types are primarily used in genres like jazz, blues, rock, and metal, but their versatility extends much further.
Solid-Body Electric Guitars: Sustain and Clarity
Solid-body electric guitars, as the name suggests, lack a hollow resonating body. Instead, they rely entirely on electric pickups and amplifiers to produce sound. This solid construction offers a significant advantage: it minimizes feedback and unwanted resonances, resulting in a focused and sustained tone. The “gating” effect of the solid body ensures that only the string vibrations are amplified, eliminating “wolf” tones and muddiness.
The first solid-body electric guitar is credited to Les Paul, whose innovative design, initially nicknamed “The Log,” eventually evolved into the iconic Gibson Les Paul model. While “The Log” had a more Spanish guitar-like body style, it pioneered the solid-body concept.
The Fender Esquire and Fender Broadcaster (later renamed Telecaster) were the first mass-produced solid-body guitar types, quickly followed by the Gibson Les Paul, sparking a legendary rivalry and shaping the electric guitar landscape.
Music Types: Rock, Blues
Learning Difficulty: Beginner-Friendly
Key Features: Long sustain, focused and clear tones, feedback resistance.
Hollow-Body Electric Guitars (Semi-Acoustic, Thinline): Warmth and Resonance
Hollow-body electric guitars emerged in the 1930s, combining a resonant soundbox with electric pickups. They differ significantly from electro-acoustic guitars; in electro-acoustics, pickups are often added to primarily acoustic instruments, while hollow-body electrics are designed from the outset for electric amplification, albeit with acoustic properties.
Early guitarists sought to increase the volume of their instruments, leading to the development of the Charlie Christian pickup. This magnetic single-coil pickup effectively converted string vibrations into an electrical signal, revolutionizing amplified guitar sound.
The clean and articulate tone of hollow-body guitar types quickly gained popularity among jazz musicians. Throughout the years, companies like Rickenbacker, Gibson, and Danelectro continued to refine hollow and semi-hollow body designs, resulting in a diverse range of instruments.
Music Types: Jazz, Blues
Learning Difficulty: Intermediate
Key Features: Warm, resonant tone, percussive qualities similar to archtops, good for rhythm playing.
Archtop Electric Guitars (Revisited): Electric Jazz Tones
The archtop electric guitar, as mentioned earlier in the acoustic section, also exists in amplified form. These guitar types retain their distinctive arched top and back, f-holes, and often a vibrato bridge, but are equipped with electric pickups for amplification. The neck joint typically remains at the 14th fret.
Archtop electrics are heavily favored by jazz, blues, and rockabilly players. Despite their association with these genres, they can also be found in harder rock styles, as demonstrated by artists like Ted Nugent.
Like their acoustic counterparts, archtop electrics frequently feature a Bigsby vibrato bridge. They produce a percussive, mid-range focused sound that works well acoustically in small settings. When amplified, they deliver a mellow, jazzy tone.
Music Types: Jazz, Blues, Rockabilly
Learning Difficulty: Intermediate
Key Features: Percussive mid-range tone, suitable for both acoustic and amplified playing, jazzy amplified sound.
Bass Guitars: The Rhythmic Foundation
Bass guitars occupy the lowest frequency range in the guitar family. Resembling electric or acoustic guitars in appearance, bass guitars feature a longer neck and scale length to accommodate their lower tuning.
The standard bass guitar has four strings, but 5, 6, 7, and even more string versions are also available. Since their introduction in 1955, bass guitars have largely replaced the double bass in popular music genres like jazz and swing, becoming foundational instruments in countless modern musical styles.
Acoustic Bass Guitars (ABG): Warmth and Depth
Acoustic bass guitars (ABGs) are steel-string instruments similar in construction to acoustic guitars, but with a longer neck and scale length.
The tuning of an acoustic bass guitar mirrors the lowest four strings of a standard guitar (E, A, D, G), but tuned an octave lower.
While designed to be played acoustically, ABGs often incorporate pickups and preamps to enhance their volume, especially in live settings. Magnetic or piezo pickups are commonly used to capture the low frequencies effectively.
A notable “cousin” to the acoustic bass guitar is the Mexican “guitarrón,” a large, deep-bodied six-string bass guitar used extensively in mariachi music.
Music Types: Rock, Pop, Mexican Mariachi Music
Learning Difficulty: Intermediate
Key Features: Deep, warm bass frequencies, amplified sound reminiscent of a double bass.
Electric Bass Guitars: Groove and Power
Electric bass guitars, sharing a visual similarity with electric and acoustic guitars, feature a longer neck and scale length. Their primary role is to provide the low-frequency foundation and rhythmic groove in musical compositions.
Descended from the double bass, the electric bass is typically notated in bass clef. While traditionally focused on rhythmic roles, bassists like Victor Wooten and Marcus Miller have expanded the instrument’s role, showcasing its melodic capabilities.
Music Types: Rock, Jazz, Metal
Learning Difficulty: Beginner-Friendly
Key Features: Rich, deep tones, thicker strings, foundational rhythmic instrument.
Semi-Acoustic Bass Guitars (Semi-Hollow): Resonant Bass Tones
Semi-acoustic bass guitars, also known as semi-hollow bass guitars, are closely related to hollow-body and semi-hollow body electric guitars.
This design concept dates back to the 1930s, predating the solid-body bass. Semi-acoustic bass guitar types often feature f-holes, similar to cellos and double basses, and may have either flat or arched tops.
Compared to solid-body basses, semi-acoustic basses are more resonant and offer a broader tonal palette. The Ibanez AGB 200 is a well-known example of a semi-acoustic bass.
Music Types: Jazz, Blues, Swing
Learning Difficulty: Intermediate
Key Features: Warm, clean sound, good sustain, resonant bass tones.
Headless Bass Guitars: Modern Innovation
Headless bass guitars emerged in the 1980s with Ned Steinberger’s groundbreaking designs. In these guitar types, the strings are anchored at the bridge and extend to the nut, unlike traditional basses where strings run from the bridge to the headstock tuners.
Tuning keys on headless basses are located at the bridge, allowing for right-hand tuning and potentially faster tuning adjustments.
The headless design has gained traction in recent years, with companies like Strandberg and Kiesel specializing in headless instruments.
Music Types: Rock, Pop
Learning Difficulty: Intermediate
Key Features: Warm, clean sound, good sustain, ergonomic headless design.
Other Guitar Types: Expanding the Sonic Palette
Beyond the main guitar families, a fascinating array of specialized guitar types exists, each offering unique sonic possibilities. These include 12-string guitars, steel guitars (lap and pedal steel), touch guitars, double-neck guitars, left-handed guitars, and more.
These diverse guitar types possess distinct personalities, tunings, and playing techniques. Some are strummed, others are tapped, and some, like harp guitars, feature multiple string sets, including open bass strings reminiscent of the theorbo.
Left-Handed Guitars: Inclusivity and Accessibility
Left-handed guitars are simply electric, acoustic, and bass guitars specifically designed for left-handed players.
Historically, left-handed guitars were less common and often custom-made. However, they have gained significant popularity and are now widely available in various styles and configurations.
Left-handed guitar types come in all shapes, sizes, and string configurations, ranging from acoustic guitars to extended-range 8 and 9-string guitars and basses. The pickups and amplification determine their sound, offering a range from warm and clean to gritty and distorted.
Music Types: Rock, Metal, Jazz
Learning Difficulty: Beginner-Friendly
Key Features: Mirrored design for left-handed players, same tonal possibilities as right-handed guitars.
Twelve-String Guitars: Rich Chorus Effect
Twelve-string guitars are steel-string guitars that create a rich, chorus-like effect by pairing each of the six standard guitar strings with an octave string (or unison string for the lower two pairs). This configuration allows players to play two octaves simultaneously, resulting in a thicker, more resonant sound than standard six-string guitars.
Twelve-string guitar types have a wider headstock to accommodate the 12 tuning machines, and the neck and body are reinforced to withstand the increased string tension. They often have a shorter scale length to reduce overall string tension and improve playability.
While acoustic 12-string guitars are most common, electric 12-string versions are also available.
Music Types: Country, Rock, Jazz
Learning Difficulty: Intermediate
Key Features: Built-in “chorus” effect, rich and full sound.
Double-Neck Guitars: Versatility and Stage Presence
Double-neck guitars, with historical roots in the Renaissance, are visually striking instruments featuring two necks on a single body. The most common configuration combines a 12-string neck and a 6-string neck on an electric guitar.
Some musicians even use multi-neck guitars with three or four necks, as exemplified by artists like Michael Angelo Batio.
A creative technique for double-neck guitar types involves tuning one neck (typically the 6-string) to a specific chord and using the 12-string neck for melodies and strumming, creating a harmonically rich texture. However, mastering double-neck guitars requires significant skill and coordination.
Music Types: Rock, Classical Music
Learning Difficulty: Advanced
Key Features: “Chorus” effect from the 12-string neck, tonal versatility, stage presence.
Touch Guitars (DuoLectar or Electronic Mute): Tapping Innovation
Touch guitars, also known as tapping guitars or electronic mute guitars, are designed for tapping-based playing techniques (hammer-ons, pull-offs, double-tapping, harmonic tapping, etc.). These guitar types can be single-neck or multi-neck.
Resembling regular guitars in appearance, touch guitars respond to finger touch and tapping rather than traditional strumming or picking, although some modern touch guitars are adapted for strumming and picking as well.
Touch guitars enable players to produce melodies and rhythms simultaneously, with one hand tapping bass lines and the other tapping melodic lines.
Music Types: Rock, Jazz, Latin
Learning Difficulty: Advanced
Key Features: Percussive sound, tapping-focused playing style, polyphonic possibilities.
Steel Guitars (Lap Steel, Pedal Steel): Hawaiian Sounds
Steel guitars encompass lap steel and pedal steel guitars, both originating from Hawaiian music. Lap steel guitars are played horizontally, often on a table or lap, and pitch is altered using a steel bar slid across the strings. Pedal steel guitars add foot pedals and knee levers to change pitch and create characteristic gliding sounds.
Tunings for steel guitar types vary, but open tunings are common, often tuned to chords that suit a singer’s vocal range.
Hawaiian music gained immense popularity in the US in the early 20th century, and steel guitars became synonymous with this genre.
Music Types: Hawaiian Music, Blues, Rock
Learning Difficulty: Advanced
Key Features: Full resonant tones of open strings, slide guitar techniques, unique Hawaiian sound.
Harp Guitars: Extended Range and Harp-Like Tones
Harp guitars are relatively rare and visually striking instruments characterized by additional unfretted strings extending beyond the fretboard.
The harp guitar family includes various configurations, with American harp guitars featuring multiple sub-bass strings or an additional neck being most common.
Harp guitar types produce a sound that centers around the mid-range strings, but the added bass strings provide a unique harmonic foundation. Some harp guitars feature floating sub-bass strings, similar to the Indian sitar.
While not ideal for heavier genres, harp guitars excel in creating ambient and classical music textures, offering a unique harp-like tone.
Music Types: Country, Bluegrass, Classical
Learning Difficulty: Advanced
Key Features: Harp-like tone, extended bass range, unique sonic texture.
Guitar Cousins: Related Stringed Instruments
While not strictly guitar types, several instruments share a close relationship with the guitar, either contributing to its development or being inspired by it. Instruments like the ukulele, mandolin, and banjo, while not technically guitars, are often considered “guitar cousins” and are used in diverse musical traditions worldwide.
Ukulele: Small Size, Big Fun
The ukulele is a small, four-stringed Hawaiian instrument with nylon strings. A distinctive feature is its re-entrant tuning, where the G string is tuned an octave higher than expected.
Ukuleles are excellent starter instruments, particularly for learning strumming techniques. They were introduced to Hawaii by Madeiran immigrants.
Ukuleles are commonly made from wood, but also from materials like plastic. While the figure-8 body shape, resembling a small acoustic guitar, is traditional, modern ukuleles come in various shapes, including cutaway, oval, and cigar box designs.
Music Types: Hawaiian Music, Pop
Learning Difficulty: Beginner-Friendly
Key Features: Small body and neck, easy to learn, bright and cheerful sound.
Mandolin: Bright and Punchy
The mandolin is a member of the lute family, typically plucked with a plectrum. It usually has four pairs of strings (courses), although 5 and 6-course mandolins also exist.
Mandolins come in various styles, with the “Neapolitan,” archtop, and flat-back mandolins being the most common.
Flat-back mandolins produce a mellow and warm tone, well-suited for intimate folk music performances.
Music Types: Country, Jazz, Classical
Learning Difficulty: Beginner-Friendly
Key Features: Warm, mellow tone (flat-back), bright and punchy tone (carved top), distinctive tremolo technique.
Banjo: Metallic and Punchy
The banjo is a stringed instrument characterized by a membrane (typically plastic or animal skin) stretched over a circular frame to create a resonator.
This resonator produces a distinctive punchy and metallic sound, often compared to the snare drum’s resonant head.
Early banjos were adapted from similar African instruments. Along with the fiddle, the banjo is a cornerstone of American music styles like bluegrass and “trad” jazz.
Music Types: Country, Bluegrass, Jazz, Celtic Music
Learning Difficulty: Advanced
Key Features: Distinctive metallic and punchy sound, rhythmic drive, often associated with folk and bluegrass.
FAQ About Guitar Types
What are the three main types of guitars?
The three main guitar types are acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Each category encompasses numerous variations and sub-types, but these three represent the core families.
How many types of guitars are there?
The exact number of guitar types is debatable, as variations and specialized models continually emerge. However, broadly categorizing, we can identify acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass guitars, and various related instruments and subtypes, resulting in a rich and diverse landscape.
Which type of guitar is best?
The “best” guitar type is subjective and depends entirely on your individual musical goals, preferences, and playing style. Each type possesses unique strengths and weaknesses, making the ideal choice a matter of personal fit.
What is the easiest guitar to play?
For beginners, acoustic guitars, particularly nylon-string classical guitars or steel-string acoustics with lighter gauge strings, are often considered the easiest to start with. While all guitar types require practice, the initial learning curve on these instruments can be less steep.
What is a five-string guitar called?
A 5-string guitar might be referred to as a Baroque guitar or chitarrone, especially in historical contexts. The chitarrone was a prominent instrument during the Baroque period (1600-1750). In modern contexts, “5-string guitar” is more common, often referring to extended-range electric guitars.
What is the hardest type of guitar to play?
The “hardest” guitar type is subjective and depends on individual skills and preferences. Generally, instruments with more strings or unconventional playing techniques, such as harp guitars, double-neck guitars, touch guitars, or pedal steel guitars, may present a greater technical challenge due to their complexity. However, with dedicated practice, any guitar type can be mastered.
