Guitar Lessons: The Basics
The basic guitar anatomy
So you want to be a rock god? Welcome to the club! Before you even being to take basic guitar lessons in Philadelphia, you should know the basic anatomy of a guitar first. Before you strum that first string or learn your first song, knowing your way around the guitar is a basic element. When you take guitar lessons with the right teacher, you will learn the anatomy of a guitar first and foremost. Here we’re going to explain these simple components.
Understanding a few basics of the guitar will help you in your studies of the instrument. It will also help you to differentiate a high-quality instrument from a poor quality one.
Headstock
The top part of the guitar is called the headstock. It houses the tuning machines. Some guitar designs manage to omit a headstock entirely. It is typically a part of the piece of the wood used to make the neck.
Tuning machines
The tuning machines are what help you get into tune accurately and to also stay in tune.
Nut
The nut is one of two pieces of material upon which the strings rest. The other is at the opposite end of the instrument, the body. A nut is usually fashioned from plastic, bone or something similar. It will have six slots for the strings to rest in. Each slot is a different width and intended to accommodate a different size string. On a properly set up guitar, the slots are filed as low as possible.
Neck
The neck of the guitar is the piece of wood attached to the body. The headstock is then, a part of the neck. The neck is the playable area of the guitar where the player presses frets, so it is very important when playing the guitar. The neck has strings suspended above it that divide the strings at various lengths to produce different pitches. A high-quality neck is important to the overall feel of the guitar in your hands.
Fretboard
The fretboard is a wooden slab, often made of ebony or rosewood, which is installed at the top of the neck. As the name suggests, frets are installed into the fretboard.
Frets
Frets are shiny metal slivers installed along the fretboard at precise positions which, when the string is pushed down, cause the string to be divided into an exact ratio which produces a vibration at an intended musical pitch.
The Body
The guitar neck meets the body. Some electric guitars are made from a single piece but most are joined by a glued joint or a bolted design. For the electric guitar, the body is an area of surface meant to be ergonomic to hold and a host to whatever electronics or hardware are installed on the guitar. The acoustic guitar body requires more detail as it is a three-dimensional cavity that produces sound acoustically.
There are many more parts of the guitar for basic anatomy, these are the most prevalent parts to know when you are just starting out. We will get more into anatomy at a later date. For now, think about taking guitar lessons in Philadelphia and get started on your dream of becoming the rock god you always wanted to be.