Acoustic Guitar: The Basics
Acoustic Guitar: The Basics
What about guitar strings?
If you walk into a music store and tell them you need some strings for your acoustic guitar they will point you to a huge wall holding all sorts of different options for strings. Different brands, different weights, different coatings and the list goes on. The same goes for picks, there are so many to choose from sometimes it can be a little overwhelming especially if you are new to playing acoustic. In this post I’ll go over what I know about strings and picks just to give you a starting point.
What’s so cool about the acoustic guitar is that you can change the tone of your sound by adjusting little things. For example if you use a really light pick your sound will be soft and smooth with not much punch, but if you switch to a heavy pick you instantly change the tone to a more harsh driving tone or maybe the picking of individual strings. Each element of your guitar has it’s own tone character and to get the sound you want you need to combine the right elements for it to come together.
What are the characteristics of your guitar?
I have a Taylor and a Seagull acoustic and their tones are dramatically different. My Taylor has a really bright clear tone and the Seagull has a much more deep full tone. I pick strings that compliment the natural tones of the guitars. For my Taylor I use Elixer nano web light strings. I love the sound that comes from that combination. For the Seagull I use Martin light strings. These give the guitar a rich deep tone that sounds great especially if I’m leading worship with just my guitar.
When choosing picks, I usually go with very light gauge picks like a .46mm.
I use those because I have the tendency to get really into songs and strum really hard. I found that I broke a lot of strings that way so I tried a lighter pick and very rarely break strings now! If I’m doing more of a “picking” song I will switch to a heavier pick for more definition.
The great thing about all of this is there is no right or wrong combination; it’s all up to you! Ultimately your guitar will reflect your style and taste in tone. So experiment, try different things and find the perfect fit for you. Hopefully this has wet your pallet to start defining your own unique tone.
