11 November, 2009

HOW TO know the different parts of the acoustic guitar

It is important to know the names of the different parts of the guitar. In this post, I will talk about the different parts of the acoustic guitar and its functions. I mean, if you play the guitar, you have to know at least what each part is called.

First of all, what you see above is a diagram of an acoustic guitar that I managed to find off the internet. It has been labeled so that you know which part it is referring to. I will now go into detail what each labeled part is for, starting from the top.

The head/headstock is the portion that holds the Machine Heads (tuning pegs).

Tuning Knobs/Pegs/Machine Heads
These are sometimes referred to as tuning knobs. It is basically used to tune the guitar. What you do is the turn them clockwise or anticlockwise. For the 1st, 2nd and 3rd string, turning the knobs clockwise will tighten the strings, while turning the knobs anticlockwise will loosen them. For the 4th, 5th and 6th string, turning the knobs anticlockwise will tighten the strings, while turning the knobs clockwise will loosen them. Some of you might be asking how come it's different. Honestly, I don't know.

The nut is that piece of the guitar (usually white in colour) that is between the neck and the headstock. It has 6 grooves so that each string can run through each groove to reach the tuning peg. Also, you can think of the Nut as the zero fret. And, the nut can play a part in determining how low/high the action of the guitar is.

I sometimes get confused with this term. The fret is actually the metal bars that you see running across the guitar. So when someone says "2nd fret", technically, they are referring to the 2nd metal bar that you see on the guitar (the one the diagram above is pointing to). However, when you hear someone referring to the "2nd fret", it actually means the area between the 1st and 2nd metal bars. This is just someone to take note of.

The neck of the guitar is the portion that has all the frets on it.

Sound Hole
The sound hole of the guitar is actually what gives the guitar its volume/sound. This is because when you strum the strings, it causes the body of the guitar to vibrate and hence sound is produced through the sound hole. This is also why you will notice that if you play an electric guitar (they don't have sound holes), they do not produce any audible sound, and have to be plugged into an amplifier to hear what you are playing.

The body of the guitar probably determines the kind of sound the guitar makes. Therefore, people will say that if the guitar is made of such-and-such a wood, it will sound such-and-such a way. In general, the higher quality the wood, the better sound it produces. Also, the body can come in different sizes and shapes.

Don't take my word for this, but I think the bridge of the guitar can also play a part in increasing/decreasing the action of the guitar. If the action is too high, get a lower bridge etc. Other than that, I'm not really sure what other functions it might have.

Yup, so that's basically the different parts of the guitar. I hope you've understood more through this post. Oh, and just a disclaimer: This post is based on my own opinion about the guitar.


armrd said...

Hello...thx so much for kindly explaining on this.
Just would like to point out that the pic does not seem to show here (or at least it can be loaded for me). I'm not sure why.


Russell @ Acoustic Guitar Strings said...

These are some great guidelines for beginners. Respect for your sharing.