Essay: Should I Learn Acoustic Guitar Before Learning Electric?

Nearly all the parents of my young electric guitar students have heard that it's "better" to learn acoustic guitar before picking up an electric instrument. That rumor is an ugly urban legend that has survived for decades because it's been deliberately passed on by people who benefit financially when you buy and invest time studying an instrument you don't really want to play. Part of my work as a teacher is to help stamp out this urban legend.

Before I start ranting, I want you to know that I'm not against learning the acoustic or classical guitar. I play and perform on the acoustic guitar almost as much as I do on the electric, and the acoustic guitar was one of my first instruments. I learned acoustic guitar before starting the electric guitar, so much of what I say in this essay comes from personal experience and research.

My position is this: If you like the sound of an acoustic guitar, if you like the shape and feel of the instrument, if you listen to a lot of acoustic guitar music, and if you've got an image in your head of yourself playing the acoustic guitar, then you should study acoustic guitar. However, if you listen to a lot of hard rock and heavy metal, if you like the shape and feel of an electric guitar, if you love the sound that an electric guitar makes, and if you've got an image in your head of yourself playing the electric guitar, then you should study the electric guitar.

I believe you should start with the instrument you want to play on the very first day. Later on, if you get to the intermediate level of play on your chosen instrument and want to branch out and try the other kind of guitar, go for it. You can also try the bass, the drums, or the penny whistle. But early on, pick one instrument to study and expect to stick with it at least two or three years. To do otherwise is a waste of time, effort, and money.

As you start shopping for an instrument and a teacher, many people will offer reasons as to why you "should" learn the acoustic guitar first. This essay will explode these bogus arguments one at a time.

Bogus Reason #1: The acoustic guitar is much less forgiving of bad technique, so learning it first will give you a technical foundation that will really pay off when you start to learn electric.

That argument would make sense if the "technique" you were learning on the acoustic guitar were transferable to the electric in any way. Most of the time, it's not! Most beginner acoustic guitar music is made up of strumming on the right hand and open position chords on the left. These are two things that, on electric guitar, you almost never do! On the electric guitar, you seldom play on an open string, and you very seldom use an open position chord unless it's a two-note or three-note power chord. So all those open-position chords you learned for acoustic will be completely useless once you hit the intermediate repertoire. A lead guitarist never plays chords. A rhythm guitarist might, but the chords he or she uses will be power chords that are completely different from the open position or bar chords an acoustic guitarist uses.

If you don't apply enough pressure to the strings on an acoustic guitar, it's going to be obvious to anyone who's listening, whereas with an electric guitar you can squeak by at the beginner level without sounding awful: you'll just sound a little bit sloppy if your technique is off. This is not necessarily an "advantage", because a competent electric guitar teacher will correct sloppy technique. An incompetent or lazy teacher will let it technique slide until it becomes a bad habit. Of course, that applies to both the electric and the acoustic guitar so there is no advantage to learning the acoustic guitar first.

When you switch from one instrument to another, you have to start over from the very beginning or close to it. Some aspects of playing are going to be similar, and others are going to be completely new.

Bogus Reason #2: You will build more strength, faster, on the acoustic guitar.

It's true that the acoustic guitar is good for developing strength and stretch in the left hand. So is the electric guitar. So is the bass. Heck: so is the piano but nobody recommends that kind of cross-training for a beginner.

In terms of picking, at the beginner level you can actually get more practice on electric lead guitar than you can on the acoustic, where you'll mostly be strumming and plucking with a flimsier pick. Correct picking with a stiff pick requires a great deal of motor control and strength in the picking hand, which will simply not be developed playing beginner acoustic material. On the acoustic guitar, you will also not encounter bends, vertical vibrato, and other left-hand techniques necessary for electric guitar. These techniques take strength, and it's a kind of strength not developed when playing beginner or intermediate acoustic guitar.

Bogus Reason #3: Learning acoustic guitar will enable you to find out whether you like guitar at all.

Learning the acoustic guitar will help you figure out whether you like the ACOUSTIC guitar. If that's not an issue that's in doubt and you already know the acoustic guitar doesn't turn you on, save the time and money and start figuring out whether you like the ELECTRIC guitar.

If you're being forced to play music in a style that isn't meaningful to you, on an instrument you don't like, you're not going to enjoy practicing or playing. People seldom put effort and time into things they dislike. They are more likely to quit in disgust. I find it strange that people who, as children, were forced to take year after year of piano or violin lessons despite hating the instrument and the style of music being played would inflict the same kind of torture on their children.

Bogus Reason #4: It will cost less to get started on acoustic guitar, and that makes it less is less painful if you quit

It's true that you can generally buy a cheap acoustic guitar for less than a cheap electric guitar, amplifier, and cord. It's cheaper to buy an acoustic guitar and lose interest in it than it is to buy an electric and lose interest in it. But... what about buying an instrument and not losing interest in it? Is that an option? Yes it is: but only if you start with an instrument you actually want to play.

One family came to me with a fourteen-year-old boy who'd been studying, unsuccessfully, on the acoustic guitar for a year. They'd bought a fairly good quality instrument and given him lessons with a reputable teacher, but the lad hated the acoustic guitar. He seldom practiced, and had learned very little after a full year despite being very intelligent. Practice was a chore for him, and lessons were pure torture. The family came to me because of my money-back guarantee and because they wanted to weigh their options with someone who didn't have any financial incentive to lead them in either direction.

I put one of my electric guitars into the young man's hands, and he lit up. The rest of the lesson was conducted on that guitar, while his acoustic sat in its case and didn't see the light of day. He obviously had a strong desire to play power chords and rock instead of open position chords and folk, which he disliked.

"Let the boy rock," I said to his parents. The young man looked like he'd been given the keys to the city. After fully discussing the issues I cover in this article, Mom and Dad decided it was time to try something different. So they traded in his almost-new acoustic guitar for a used electric, and he started taking lessons with me. A month later, his mother told me he'd made more progress with me in one month taking half-hour lessons than he'd made with his other teacher in a year, with one-hour lessons. It was not due to the other teacher being bad or unqualified. It was simply a matter of giving the student music that appealed to him, so that his heart was in it. He didn't need to be told to practice, because he was more likely to have to be pried away from the guitar for mealtimes.

As for the acoustic guitar, it went to a store where it has doubtlessly been purchased by someone who will love it, appreciate it, and play it far more often. I like to think it lived happily ever after.

Children who play an instrument they think is fun and cool are proud of it. They brag about it to their friends. If their friends are interested in the same kind of music they are, most students love to say things like: "Yes, we just got started on a new song by Green Day and I'm going to be performing some Nickelback at our next recital." Like it or not, playing cool music makes a person more cool himself or herself. This heightened sense of coolness will motivate children to show their guitar to their friends and to demonstrate a few riffs. In order to feel confident and look good doing this, any child can be convinced to put in practice time. Meanwhile, children who are making music they believe to be lame generally don't talk about it much.

Bogus Reason #5: It's just better to learn acoustic first.

Really? Better for whom? Not the student: we've just established that there's no meaningful musical or techncial advantage to spending months or years playing an instrument other than the one you really want to play. Not the student's parents: it's financially stupid to spend money to buy two guitars if the student is only interested in one of them.

I'll tell you who it's "better" for. It's "better" for the person selling you a guitar if you buy two instead of one. It's "better" for a teacher who knows acoustic guitar but not electric guitar (which is still a problem for some teachers). An ethical teacher, when asked to teach something he or she does not personally know, will always refer you to someone qualified. An unethical teacher will attempt to deter you from studying what you want to study, and attempt to talk you into substituting the services he or she is qualified to provide. Please don't fall for it.

In conclusion: if you want to play the acoustic guitar, study acoustic. If you want to play electric, study electric.