Acoustic guitar

An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the

Acoustic guitar
string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is
transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the
top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and
back of the instrument, resonating through the air in
the body, and producing sound from the sound hole.[1]
While the original, general term for this stringed
instrument is guitar, the retronym 'acoustic guitar' –
often used to indicate the steel stringed model –
distinguishes it from an electric guitar, which relies on
electronic amplification. Typically, a guitar's body is a
sound box, of which the top side serves as a sound
board that enhances the vibration sounds of the strings.
In standard tuning the guitar's six strings[2] are tuned
(low to high) E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4.
Classical guitar Steel-string
Guitar strings may be plucked individually with a pick acoustic guitar
(plectrum) or fingertip, or strummed to play chords.
Plucking a string causes it to vibrate at a fundamental String instrument
pitch determined by the string's length, mass, and Classification String instrument
tension. (Overtones are also present, closely related to (plucked or strummed)
harmonics of the fundamental pitch.) The string causes
Hornbostel–Sachs 321.322
the soundboard and the air enclosed by the sound box
classification (Composite
to vibrate. As these have their own resonances, they
Chordophone)
amplify some overtones more strongly than others,
Developed 13th century
affecting the timbre of the resulting sound.
Attack Fast
Related instruments
History
Gittern
The guitar likely originated in Spain in the early 16th Lute
century, deriving from the guitarra latina.[3] Gitterns Vihuela
(small, plucked guitars), were the first small, guitar-
like instruments created during the Spanish Middle
Ages with a round back, like that of the lute.[4] Modern guitar-shaped instruments were not seen until the
Renaissance era, when the body and size began to take a guitar-like shape.

The earliest string instruments related to the guitar and its structure were broadly known as vihuelas
within Spanish musical culture. Vihuelas were string instruments that were commonly seen in the 16th
century during the Renaissance. Later, Spanish writers distinguished these instruments into two
categories of vihuelas. The vihuela de arco was an instrument that mimicked the violin, and the vihuela
 de Penola was played with a plectrum or by hand. When it was
played by hand it was known as the vihuela de mano. Vihuela de
mano shared extreme similarities with the Renaissance guitar as it
used hand movement at the sound hole or sound chamber of the
instrument to create music.[5]

By 1790 only six-course vihuela guitars (six unison-tuned pairs of

A reconstruction of a medieval strings) were being created and had become the main type and
gittern, the first guitar-like instrument
model of guitar used in Spain. Most of the older 5-course guitars
were still in use but were also being modified to a six-coursed
acoustical guitar. Fernando Ferandiere's[6] book Arte de tocar la
Guitarra Española por Música (Madrid, 1799) describes the standard Spanish guitar from his time as an
instrument with seventeen frets and six courses with the first two 'gut' strings tuned in unison called the
terceras and the tuning named to 'G' of the two strings. The acoustic guitar at this time began to take the
shape familiar in the modern acoustic guitar. The coursed pairs of strings eventually became less common
in favor of single strings.[7]

Around 1850, the form and structure of the modern guitar was established by Spanish guitar maker
Antonio Torres Jurado who increased the size of the guitar body, altered its proportions, and made use of
fan bracing, which first appeared in guitars made by Francisco Sanguino in the late 18th century. The
bracing pattern, which refers to the internal pattern of wood reinforcements used to secure the guitar's top
and back to prevent the instrument from collapsing under tension,[8] is an important factor in how the
guitar sounds. Torres' design greatly improved the volume, tone, and projection of the instrument, and it
has remained essentially unchanged since.

Acoustic properties
The acoustic guitar's soundboard, or top, also has a strong effect on the loudness of the guitar. Woods that
are good at transmitting sound, like spruce, are commonly used for the soundboard.[9] No amplification
occurs in this process, because musicians add no external energy to increase the loudness of the sound (as
would be the case with an electronic amplifier). All the energy is provided by the plucking of the string.
Without a soundboard, however, the string would just "cut" through the air without moving it much. The
soundboard increases the surface of the vibrating area in a process called mechanical impedance
matching. The soundboard can move the air much more easily than the string alone, because it is large
and flat. This increases the entire system's energy transfer efficiency, and musicians emit a much louder
sound.
 Basic anatomy of a classical guitar

Basic anatomy of a steel-string acoustic

guitar

Classical nylon-string sample

0:00 / 0:00

Spanish Romance

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Steel-string acoustic sample

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An example of the sounds an acoustic guitar can create through vibration of its strings. This guitar uses
steel strings.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

In addition, the acoustic guitar has a hollow body, and an additional coupling and resonance effect
increases the efficiency of energy transmission in lower frequencies. The air in a guitar's cavity resonates
with the vibrational modes of the string and soundboard. At low frequencies, which depend on the size of
the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound
again depending on whether the air in the box moves in phase or out of phase with the strings. When in
phase, the sound increases by about 3 decibels. In opposing phase, it decreases about 3 decibels.[10] As a
Helmholtz resonator, the air at the opening is vibrating in or out of phase with the air in the box and in or
out of phase with the strings. These resonance interactions attenuate or amplify the sound at different
frequencies, boosting or damping various harmonic tones. Ultimately, the cavity air vibrations couple to
the outside air through the sound hole,[11] though some variants of the acoustic guitar omit this hole, or
have holes, like a violin family instrument (a trait found in some electric guitars such as the ES-335 and
ES-175 models from Gibson). This coupling is most efficient because here the impedance matching is
perfect: it is air pushing air.

A guitar has several sound coupling modes: string to soundboard, soundboard to cavity air, and both
soundboard and cavity air to outside air. The back of the guitar also vibrates to some degree, driven by air
in the cavity and mechanical coupling to the rest of the guitar. The guitar—as an acoustic system—colors
the sound by the way it generates and emphasizes harmonics, and how it couples this energy to the
surrounding air (which ultimately is what we perceive as loudness). Improved coupling, however, comes
costing decay time, since the string's energy is more efficiently transmitted. Solid body electric guitars
(with no soundboard at all) produce very low volume, but tend to have long sustain.

All these complex air coupling interactions, and the resonant properties of the panels themselves, are a
key reason that different guitars have different tonal qualities. The sound is a complex mixture of
harmonics that give the guitar its distinctive sound.

Amplification
Classical gut-string guitars lacked adequate projection, and were unable to
displace banjos until innovations introduced helped to increase their volume. Two
important innovations were introduced by United States firm C.F. Martin: steel
strings and the increasing of the guitar top area; the popularity of Martin's larger
"dreadnought" body size among acoustic performers is related to the greater
sound volume produced. These innovations allowed guitars to compete with and
often displace the banjos that had previously dominated jazz bands. The steel-
strings increased tension on the neck; for stability, Martin reinforced the neck with
a steel truss rod, which became standard in later steel-string guitars.[13]

An acoustic guitar can be amplified by using

various types of pickups or microphones.
However, amplification of acoustic guitars had
many problems with audio feedback. In the
1960s, Ovation's parabolic bowls dramatically
reduced feedback, allowing greater amplification An Ovation
Celebrity with
of acoustic guitars.[14] In the 1970s, Ovation
sound hole caps
Many acoustic guitars developed thinner sound-boards with carbon- (similar to Ovation
incorporate rosettes around based composites laminating a thin layer of Adamas[12]),
the sound hole
birch, in its Adamas model, which has been whose parabolic
viewed as one of the most radical designs in the shape reduces
history of acoustic guitars. The Adamas model dissipated the sound-hole of the feedback
traditional soundboard among 22 small sound-holes in the upper chamber of the
guitar, yielding greater volume and further reducing feedback during
amplification.[14] Another method for reducing feedback is to fit a rubber or plastic disc into the sound
hole.
The most common types of pickups used for acoustic guitar amplification are piezo and magnetic
pickups. Piezo pickups are generally mounted under the bridge saddle of the acoustic guitar and can be
plugged into a mixer or amplifier. A Piezo pickup made by Baldwin was incorporated in the body of
Ovation guitars, rather than attached by drilling through the body;[15] the combination of the Piezo pickup
and parabolic ("roundback") body helped Ovation succeed in the market during the 1970s.[14]

Magnetic pickups on acoustic guitars are generally mounted in the sound hole, and are similar to those in
electric guitars. An acoustic guitar with pickups for electrical amplification is called an acoustic-electric
guitar.

In the 2000s, manufacturers introduced new types of pickups to try to amplify the full sound of these
instruments. This includes body sensors, and systems that include an internal microphone along with
body sensors or under-the-saddle pickups.

Types
Historical and modern acoustic guitars are
extremely varied in their design and
construction. Some of the most important
varieties are the classical guitar (Spanish
Guitar/Nylon-stringed), steel-string acoustic
guitar and Colombian tiple.

Nylon/gut stringed guitars:

Vihuela
Gittern
Charango
Cuatro
Ukulele A selection of acoustic guitars in a store, including steel-
Baroque guitar string and classical type instruments

Romantic guitar
Classical guitar, the modern version of the original guitar, including additional strings
models:
Seven-string
Eight-string
Nine-string
Ten-string
Eleven-string
Thirteen-string
Flamenco guitar
Lute
Steel stringed guitars:
Steel-string acoustic guitar, also known as western, folk or country guitar, including the
twelve-string model
Colombian tiple
 Resonator guitar (such as the Dobro)
Archtop guitar
Selmer/Maccaferri (Manouche) guitar
Battente guitar
Lap steel guitar
Lap slide guitar
Parlor guitar
Lyre-guitar
Other variants:
Harp guitar Baroque guitar, c. Archtop guitar
Pikasso guitar (a variant of harp guitar) 1630

Contraguitar (Viennese variant of harp

guitar)
Acoustic bass guitar
Banjo guitar

Body shape
Common body shapes for modern acoustic guitars, from
smallest to largest:

Range – The smallest common body shape, sometimes Resonator guitar

called a mini jumbo, is three-quarters the size of a
jumbo-shaped guitar. A range shape typically has a
rounded back to improve projection for the smaller
body. The smaller body and scale length make the
range guitar an option for players who struggle with
larger body guitars.

Parlor – Parlor guitars have small compact bodies

and have been described as "punchy" sounding with a
delicate tone.[16] It normally has 12 open frets. The Common guitar body shapes:
A–Range, B–Parlor, C–Grand Concert, D–
smaller body makes the parlor a more comfortable
Auditorium, E–Dreadnought, F–Jumbo
option for players who find large body guitars
uncomfortable.

Grand Concert – This mid-sized body shape is not as deep as other full-size guitars, but has a full waist.
Because of the smaller body, grand concert guitars have a more controlled overtone and are often used for
their sound projection when recording.

Auditorium – Similar in dimensions to the dreadnought body shape, but with a much more pronounced
waist. This general body shape is also sometimes referred to as an "Orchestra" style guitar depending on
the manufacturer.[17] The shifting of the waist provides different tones to stand out. The auditorium body
shape is a newer body when compared to the other shapes such as dreadnought.
Dreadnought – This is the classic guitar body shape. The style was designed by Martin Guitars to
produce a deeper sound than "classic"-style guitars, with very resonant bass. The body is large and the
waist of the guitar is not as pronounced as the auditorium and grand concert bodies. There are many
Dreadnought variants produced, one of the most notable being the Gibson J-45.

Jumbo – The largest standard guitar body shape found on acoustic guitars. Jumbo is bigger than an
Auditorium but similarly proportioned, and is generally designed to provide a deep tone similar to a
dreadnought's. It was designed by Gibson to compete with the dreadnought, but with maximum resonant
space for greater volume and sustain. The foremost example of the style is the Gibson J-200, but like the
dreadnought, most guitar manufacturers have at least one jumbo model.

Playing techniques
The acoustic guitar is played in a variety of different genres and musical styles, with each featuring
different playing techniques. Some of the most commonly used techniques are:

Strumming
Strumming involves a rhythmic upward and downward motion of the picking hand (right if playing a
right-handed guitar; left if playing a left-handed guitar) across the strings, while the opposite ("fretting")
hand is in chord formation. This can be done with or without a guitar pick, depending on if the guitarist
wants a crisp or more dull and blended sound, respectively. There are many common strumming patterns,
which are played based on the specific time signature of a given song.[18] Simple on-beat strumming is
typically the first and least complex technique that guitarists learn. Guitarists can also alternate patterns or
emphasize strums on specific beats to add rhythm, character, and unique style to a song.[19] An example
of a song featuring the strum technique is "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty, where you hear full open chord
strums.

Fingerstyle
Fingerstyle, also known as fingerpicking, involves a patterned plucking of the strings with the picking
hand. This technique focuses on playing specific notes in a melodic pattern, rather than full chord strums.
Guitarists use their thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers, which are notated as "p" (as in pulgar), "i" (as
in indice), "m" (as in medio), and "a" (as in annular), respectively, based on the Spanish language.[20]
This "PIMA" acronym in sheet music or tabs tells guitarists which picking hand finger to pluck a string
with in a given picking pattern.[21] When strings are plucked downward, this technique produces a clear
and articulate sound that adds movement and melody to a song. A variation of fingerstyle is "percussive
fingerstyle," where guitarists combine traditional fingerstyle with rhythmic taps or hits on the body of the
guitar to imitate a percussion sound.[22] An example of a song featuring the fingerstyle technique is
"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, where you hear plucked moving notes rather than full strums.

Slide
Slide guitar is a common technique that can be played on acoustic, steel acoustic, and/or electric guitars.
It is primarily used in the blues, rock, and country genres.[23] When playing with this technique, guitarists
wear a small metal, glass, or plastic tube on one of their fretting hand fingers and slide it across the
fretboard rather than pressing firmly on singular frets.[24] The picking hand either strums or plucks as
normal. This produces a smooth and blended transition between notes and chords, called glissando.[25]
An example of a song featuring the slide technique is "For Emma, Forever Ago" by Bon Iver, in which a
seamless sliding melody over the song can be heard.

Gallery

Gittern (1450) Lute (17th century) Romantic guitar (c. Classical guitar
1830)

10-string guitar Steel-string acoustic Resonator guitar Chitarra battente

guitar
Lyre-guitar Pikasso Steel guitar (c. 1920) Harp guitar

Mexican vihuela 12-string guitar Acoustic bass guitar

See also
List of acoustic guitar brands

References
1. "The Structure of the Acoustic Guitar：How a guitar makes sound - Musical Instrument
Guide - Yamaha Corporation" (https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/acou
stic_guitar/mechanism/).
2. "The Structure of the Acoustic Guitar：Six strings, each with a higher pitch - Musical
Instrument Guide - Yamaha Corporation" (https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_
guide/acoustic_guitar/mechanism/mechanism002.html).
3. "Guitar | History, Types, & Facts" (https://www.britannica.com/art/guitar). 16 February 2024.
4. "Gittern" (http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-music/gittern.htm).
www.medieval-life-and-times.info. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
5. Grunfeld, Frederic (1971). The Art and Times of the Guitar. New York City: Macmillan
Company. pp. 61–63.
6. "Ferandiere, Fernando Archives - Tecla Editions" (http://www.tecla.com/authors/ferandiere.ht
m). Tecla Editions.
7. Tyler, James (2002). The Guitar and its Music (https://archive.org/details/guitaritsmusicfr00ty
le). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. pp. 229 (https://archive.org/details/guitaritsmu
sicfr00tyle/page/n255)–231. ISBN 978-0-19-921477-8.
8. Mottola, R.M. (1 January 2020). Mottola's Cyclopedic Dictionary of Lutherie Terms (https://w
ww.liutaiomottola.com/books/dictionary.htm). LiutaioMottola.com. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-
7341256-0-3.
9. "The Physics of the Acoustic Guitar - Body" (http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211.web.stuff/billingt
on/body.html). Retrieved September 27, 2017.
10. "Helmholtz Resonance" (http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/Helmholtz.html).
newt.phys.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
11. "How does a guitar work?" (http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/guitar/guitarintro.html).
newt.phys.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
12. Carter (1996, p. 127)
13. Denyer (1992, pp. 44–45)
14. Denyer (1992, p. 48)
15. Carter (1996, pp. 48–52)
16. "Parlor Pickin': The 2015 Guide to Buying a Parlor Guitar" (http://acousticguitar.com/parlor-pi
ckin-the-2015-guide-to-buying-a-parlor-guitar/). Acoustic Guitar. 5 May 2015. Retrieved
February 16, 2016.
17. "9 Types of Acoustic Guitars (Most Common Styles)" (https://www.guitarlobby.com/types-of-
acoustic-guitars/). Guitarlobby.com. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
18. Krout, R. (1999-01-01). "Contemporary Guitar Applications" (https://academic.oup.com/mtp/
article-lookup/doi/10.1093/mtp/17.1.6). Music Therapy Perspectives. 17 (1): 6–7.
doi:10.1093/mtp/17.1.6 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fmtp%2F17.1.6). ISSN 0734-6875 (http
s://search.worldcat.org/issn/0734-6875).
19. Shipton, Russ (2012-10-23). The Complete Guitar Player: Book 1 (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=yHbHDgAAQBAJ&dq=guitar+strumming+pattern&pg=PA3). Wise Publications.
ISBN 978-0-85712-961-1.
20. Manzi, Lou (July 2000). Fingerpicking Pattern Encyclopedia (Book & CD) (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=BTV0xDisMJEC&dq=guitar+fingerpicking&pg=PA3). Alfred Music
Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7390-1092-1.
21. "What is PIMA?" (https://www.fender.com/articles/techniques/what-is-pima).
www.fender.com. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
22. Martelloni, Andrea; McPherson, Andrew; Barthet, Mathieu (2021-06-01). "Guitar
augmentation for Percussive Fingerstyle: Combining self-reflexive practice and user-centred
design" (https://nime.pubpub.org/pub/zgj85mzv). Nime 2021. PubPub.
doi:10.21428/92fbeb44.2f6db6e6 (https://doi.org/10.21428%2F92fbeb44.2f6db6e6).
23. Roth, Arlen (1975-06-01). Traditional, Country and Electric Slide Guitar (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=i5bIDgAAQBAJ&dq=slide+guitar&pg=PT3). Oak Publications. ISBN 978-1-
78323-493-6.
24. Pakarinen, Jyri; Puputti, Tapio; Välimäki, Vesa (September 2008). "Virtual Slide Guitar" (http
s://dx.doi.org/10.1162/comj.2008.32.3.42). Computer Music Journal. 32 (3): 42–54.
doi:10.1162/comj.2008.32.3.42 (https://doi.org/10.1162%2Fcomj.2008.32.3.42). ISSN 0148-
9267 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0148-9267). S2CID 17362752 (https://api.semanticsc
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25. Troutman, John W. (2013). "Steelin' the Slide: Hawai'i and the Birth of the Blues Guitar" (htt
p://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/southern_cultures/v019/19.1.troutman.html).
Southern Cultures. 19 (1): 26–52. doi:10.1353/scu.2013.0003 (https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fsc
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S2CID 143900953 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:143900953).

Further reading
Carter, Walter (1996). Eiche, Jon (ed.). The history of the Ovation guitar. Musical
Instruments Series (first ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 1–128.
ISBN 978-0-7935-5876-6. HL00330187; ISBN 978-0-7935-5876-6; ISBN 0-7935-5876-X
(softcover); ISBN 0-7935-5948-0 (hardcover).
 Denyer, Ralph (1992). The guitar handbook. Special contributors Isaac Guillory and
Alastair M. Crawford; Foreword by Robert Fripp (Fully revised and updated ed.). London
and Sydney: Pan Books. ISBN 0-330-32750-X.
Mottola, R.M. (20 October 2021). Building the Steel String Acoustic Guitar (https://liutaiomott
ola.com/books/steel.htm). Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp. ISBN 978-1-7341256-1-0.

External links
Media related to Acoustic guitars at Wikimedia Commons

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