Sound is the most important thing to judge whether a guitar is good or not. You can also distinguish different guitars by their sound. The same goes for acoustic and classical guitars!
What is the difference between classical guitar vs acoustic guitar sound? Follow us in this article to know the answer!
What’s the difference between classical guitar vs acoustic guitar sound?
- Classical guitar has a soft, warm, and melodious sound. This type of sound is suitable for soft music genres. Popular music is classical, jazz, folk music, solo or ensemble.
- Acoustic guitars have a sharp, resonant sound and a long sound. It is suitable for most different genres of music, such as modern music, blues, or vocal accompaniment.
Every guitar sounds great. The same goes for classical and acoustic guitar! But each different type of guitar has a different sound that distinguishes them.
Due to the structure of the body and strings, their sound is completely different. On one side is the lightness and melodiousness of classical guitar. The other side is the powerful, resonant acoustics.
To see more clearly why they have such a difference. Follow along with the following shares!
What is the classical guitar?
Classical guitar is a classical guitar, it appeared more than 150 years ago. Classical is an acoustic guitar with 6 strings, usually nylon strings. Its sound is mellow and soothing.
Players can use this guitar in many different genres of music. From Spanish, folk, jazz to solo and ensemble. Musicians often play them while sitting in a fixed position.
The classical guitar belongs to the string set, the vocal range is about 3 octaves wide, approximately 1 m long. This instrument evolved from the Middle Ages. Initially, it appeared in Spain and Italy. At that time, it had a more compact shape than today’s classical guitar.
What is the acoustic guitar?
The acoustic guitar is a type of guitar that is so familiar to everyone. It often appears in songs. The original acoustic guitar was essentially a non-electrical instrument.
It is light in weight and crafted mainly from wood. Players can carry the acoustic anywhere with ease.
Acoustic guitar strings are mostly metal strings. It has many metals such as copper, steel, iron, … or nylon wire. When acoustic guitars appeared in orchestras, players often added magnetic sensors used to amplify the sound.
Why is the sound of classical vs acoustic guitar different?
For the guitar to produce sound, many factors come into play. Typically strings, body, and more. As a result, each different type of guitar produces a distinct sound.
String material
Strings are the most important factor that determines the sound of a guitar. Acoustic guitars and classical guitars have strings made of different materials. As a result, the sound they produce is completely different.
Acoustic string material is metal, usually iron or copper. They are very hard and tight; when playing, the player has to put a lot of force on the fingers. The result is an acoustic sound that is crisp, resonant, and long.
The natural volume of the acoustic is also very loud. It is suitable for almost all genres of music, but the best is modern music.
In contrast, the main material of classical strings is nylon. Classical has 6 strings of which 3 strings G B E are nylon. The other 3 strings have nylon cores, metal-wrapped outside. Despite having a metal part, they are still very soft.
Because the material of the strings is different, the classical sound produced is warm, gentle and melodious.
Guitar body size
Many people don’t believe this, but in my opinion, it makes sense. It’s not just the strings that affect the sound. The body can also cause the guitar’s sound to change.
The body is the sound diffuser. So if the body is smaller, the sound will be smaller.
Acoustic guitars typically have larger bodies than classical guitars. This leads to the classical guitar having a soft and low sound.
String tension
String tension creates a resonant and prolonged sound. However, there is this difference between acoustic and classical guitar.
The string tension of an acoustic guitar is higher than that of a classical guitar. The reason is that acoustic guitar construction is much stiffer and sturdier than a classical guitar.
The tension of metal strings is twice to three times that of nylon strings. So we have classical guitar strings that are not as tense as an acoustic guitar.
Type of wood for making guitars
The wood used to make the guitar will also affect the sound they produce, not by much, but have a certain effect. Each guitar supplier will produce many products with different materials. So most of them will make guitars from many different types of wood.
For professional guitar players, they will care about every wood on their guitar.
The good woods that manufacturers use to make guitars such as cedar, cedar, maple,…
Conclusion
Classical guitar vs acoustic guitar sound is completely different. Because they have different herd structures, even different guitars will sound different.
Each type of guitar will be best suited to only one or a few genres of music. Just as acoustic is suitable for modern, classical is suitable for classical.
