An acoustic guitar creates sound through the vibration of its strings. Guitars use either steel or nylon strings.
Many popular acoustic guitar techniques require different durations to play a series of notes. These include tremolo, vibrato, and trills, such as an upper mordent, which involves a sequence of hammer-ons followed by pull-offs.
Body and Neck
The acoustic guitar’s body, or the soundboard, amplifies string vibrations and delivers its distinctive tone. The soundboard is primarily responsible for this, but the back and sides of the guitar can also contribute to its style.
These parts, including the nut and bridge, are typically wood. The bridge carries the strings and often has a tremolo bar (also called a whammy bar) attached, while the nut is where the string ends. The nut is a piece of plastic, wood, bone, or ivory that holds the strings over the fretboard and lays in a notch on the neck.
The neck of a guitar is a long piece of wood that extends from the headstock to the body. The channel usually includes the fingerboard, a strip of dark wood on which frets are seated. The fretboard may be made of wood different from the rest of the neck, such as maple or rosewood. The channel may also include a metal truss rod, which helps the instrument resist string tension and prevent bending.
The truss rod is commonly found in modern acoustic guitars, though some older instruments may not have one. Because the neck supports the strings and withstands considerable bending stress, it must be vital. This is why traditional acoustic guitars have pretty thick channels. Most modern acoustic guitars, however, have necks that are thinner and more streamlined.
An acoustic guitar’s body is usually carved from spruce, red cedar, or rosewood and sometimes features a body shape that influences its tone. Many acoustic guitars are adorned with ornamentation, such as a rosette and decorative inlays on the top of the soundboard. These are mainly cosmetic, but they help to reinforce the wood that would otherwise be more susceptible to cracking.
Some acoustic guitars have a pickguard, which is a thin plate that covers the area of the soundboard below the strings. This protects the guitar from being scratched by the pick, often used when playing acoustic guitars.
Fretboard
The fretboard is the top part of the neck of an acoustic guitar. It is fretted, usually with ebony or rosewood but sometimes synthetic materials like Richlite. The type of fretboard and its construction have a minor but accumulative impact on the tone of an acoustic guitar. The strings are supported on the end of the neck closest to the body by a thin piece called the nut, which is often made of ivory or brass but can be any material that will hold the string at a proper height and provide the needed spacing between the individual frets.
A guitarist must become familiar with the patterns of notes on the fretboard and learn how to move around them differently. This is accomplished by viewing the fretboard from several vertical and horizontal perspectives.
A great way to remember the names of the notes on the fretboard is by using a fingerboard map, which is a diagram that shows all the notes on the fretboard from open strings through the 12th fret, where they start to repeat (the message at the 12th fret is the same as the note on the first string, only one octave higher). This map will help a beginner visualise the notes’ positions so they can easily navigate up and down the fretboard when learning chords, scales, or solos.
It is also helpful to see the fretboard in terms of octaves, as this is how most musicians think of pitches. An octave is a jump angle equal to two semitones or a step. So, if you know the name of a note on the low E string and how to play it open, you will immediately recognise it when playing it on the 12th fret – it is the same note, only an octave higher!
The fretboard is generally curved, which provides a more natural feel for fingers to grip when pressing down on the strings. It is essential for the acoustic guitar’s sound that the frets are in good condition so they are not too flat or sticking out past the edge of the neck. To maintain good frets, regular cleaning is required. The simplest method is to use steel wool of grade 000 or 0000, which can be purchased at drugstores or stores specialising in painting and other home repair. Then, some lemon oil will polish the frets, leaving them shiny and new.
Bridge
The bridge is an integral part of the acoustic guitar’s sound. It is responsible for transferring vibrations from the strings to the guitar’s body and, in cooperation with the nut (at the other end of the line), is crucial in controlling the instrument’s action (how far the strings sit from the fretboard). A bridge can be made of a single piece of wood or multiple parts. For example, some acoustic guitar uses a separate saddle, usually of a material more complex than the bridge itself, such as bone, ivory or high-density plastic, to improve the transfer of vibrations to the guitar’s body.
