Assuming you’ve got your hands on a guitar, that’s ‘the one’ for you, but what’s next? You cannot possibly start learning to play the instrument without understanding how it functions or how its different parts work in harmony to create the beautiful sound that we all love.
Also, whether you are taking online lessons or you’ve got a tutor who’s teaching you physically, you must be aware of specific key terms to comprehend what they’re talking about. So, let’s explore the structure comprising several components that make up a guitar.
In brief, a typical guitar incorporates the following parts:
- Headstock
- Tuners
- Tuning pegs
- Nut
- Neck
- Fretboard
- Frets
- Body
- Soundhole
- Bridge
- Saddle
- Bridge pins
Furthermore, acoustic and electric guitars differentiate significantly in terms of functionality and purpose. Therefore, their anatomy differs as well. So, let’s dig deeper and understand the structure of these distinctive guitar types.
Anatomy of an acoustic guitar
The guitar’s foremost or top section is called the ‘headstock,’ which houses ‘tuners’ and ‘tuning pegs.’ The tuning pegs enable you to tune your guitar by tightening or loosening the strings.
The first strip right on the edge of the headstock is called the ‘nut.’ Beyond the nut is the ‘fretboard’ that houses the ‘frets,’ which help you find the right spots to put pressure on while playing. The entire narrow section from the top right until the ‘body’ makes up the ‘neck’ of the guitar.
The body is the most prominent part of the guitar, and the hole in the middle of it is called the ‘soundhole.’ The ‘bridge,’ ‘saddle,’ and ‘bridge pins’ hold the strings firmly in place on the body.
Anatomy of an electric guitar
The ‘neck’ of an electric guitar is pretty much the same as the acoustic one. But, the body houses some additional components.
- Pickups
- Potentiometer
- Pickup selector switch
- Input jack
The ‘pickups’ capture the string vibrations and convert sounds through amps. The ‘potentiometer’ helps you control the volume and the tone. The ‘pickup selector switch’ selects the pickups and determines the sound. And, you plug in your keyboard through the ‘input jack.’
Let’s not forget the string numbers and names
There are six strings on a guitar. Amongst these, the thickest one and the one closest to you is called the ‘sixth string,’ while the thinnest one and the one furthest from you is called the ‘first string.’ Understandably, the ones in the middle in their respective order are the ‘fifth,’ ‘fourth,’ ‘third,’ and ‘second’ strings. In terms of alphabets, they are denoted as E, A, D, G, B, where ‘E’ is the sixth string and ‘B’ is the first.
These are the basics that you must be aware of to start playing the guitar. But there’s a lot more to explore with this beautiful instrument which you shall throughout your fantastic learning journey. Good luck!
Leave a Reply