Electric vs. acoustic : differences in technique

[kwakatak]

Although I've played electric much more in the past I started out on the acoustic and have been focused on it for the past several years. Lately I've gotten back into playing electric and I'm finding that I have had to alter my frame of mind when playing electric, especially with regards to playing in a band with a variety of other instruments and vocalists. On acoustic it's usually just me and only some of the time do I sing.

 

With the acoustic I find that I can play without inhibition and not have to worry about any interference from various pieces of electronic gear in the chain - or even other musicians since I'm a solo acoustic player. It's kind of like a Zen thing.

 

OTOH, I find playing electric to be much more like work. For starters, the instrument/amp/effects is just so much more sensitive to my input that I have to force myself to play less vigorously.

 

Strangely though, I don't think it's any less fulfilling than playing acoustic. It's just ... different.

 

What are your thoughts?

[dwerlin]

hmm, the only real difference i find between my acoustic and electric playing is the feel...if that makes any sense.

 

i play differently on electric because it's a bit of a lighter touch on the fretboard (due to the lighter gauge strings i'd guess...maybe a tad lower action), and more sustain from distortion

 

i don't feel like playing electric is any more work or anything though, not by a longshot. i also bang away just as hard with my strumming hand on my electric as i do on the acoustic (at least i think i do).

[AK47]

With acoustic the sound is warm and tender in front of me. On electric it is bold and strong behind me and I can feel the sound in my body.

The guitar is such a wonderful medium to express emotion both acoustic and electric. I guess that's why I love to play the blues.

[ziganaut]

Strictly from a technique perspective:

 

Electrics are much more sensitive and therefore better suited for fluid legato lines and fancy slur techniques and that's what I love most about them.

 

Electrics require much more string muting (especially w/dist). You're pretty much always muting unused strings with either your left or right hands.

 

Electrics are usually set up for a lighter touch, because a light touch is what you need to play fast.

 

Kwak, if you find that your electric setup is too "touchy" for your acoustic hands, try turning down the volume on the guitar some to make for a more familiar feel, or switch to heavier strings.

[Kap'n]

Playing electric, one tends to take advantage of the almost supernatural sustain, compared to an acoustic instrument. Unless you're Dick Dale, you almost never pick the same pitch twice in a row.

 

If you use distortion, you tend to favor fifths rather than thirds.

 

Lighter strings are almost a given with electric instruments, so there are usually more bends. Bent intervals are also much less common. Paul Simon's bends in Mrs. Robinson are so distinctive because they're not part of the acoustic idiom.

 

Vibrato techique is usually different because of the lighter strings as well.

 

Electric instruments are almost never played as a solo instrument. As a result there are fewer up the neck chords played with low drones. Additionally, because they're almost always in ensembles, the range an electric guitar is played in tends to be compressed at any given section of a piece.

 

Repeated hammer on/pull of sections without picking are considerably fewer in acoustic music.

 

Allowing strings to ring on past their note count can be advantageous in acoustic music. In electric music, it's a recipie for disaster.

[BATCAT]

I play both my electrics and acoustics with 12's. (well occasionally 11's on some electrics) And I usually play clean.

 

So for me there isn't that huge a difference in the way I approach them!

[guitarist21]

Ummm you have to press harder?

 

Sorry that's as deep as I'm going to be tonight. I'm wiped.

 

Ellen

[Kap'n]

Originally posted by Actionsquid I play both my electrics and acoustics with 12's. (well occasionally 11's on some electrics) And I usually play clean. So for me there isn't that huge a difference in the way I approach them!

 

Sure, you and Pete Townshend. There ain't too many that do, though.

 

You still have to deal with the consequences of the enhanced sustain and different dynamics.

[DonK]

I love playing both, and I go back and forth between favoring one over the other. I consider them to require different techniques as a far as my personal playing. For me, electric requires a more delicate touch with the pick for starters. Thinner strings with tremendous dynamic sensitivity when playing through any reasonably loud amp. Extraneous noise is much more audible on an electric too, IMO. I use just fingers more often than not on acoustic (with a pick sometimes for heavy strumming), whereas I'm an avid hybrid picker on electric. I could go on and on, but instead I'll just reference something Keith Richards when asked about Mick Jagger's guitar playing, specifically in regard to a solo album Jagger had put out. Keef said that Mick is actually a pretty decent acoustic player, but said he should never pick up an electric. I think I have him pretty close to verbatim here: "He just wants to thrash at it, like Dylan. Different technique. He should stay away."

[Kap'n]

 

Originally posted by DonK Keef said that Mick is actually a pretty decent acoustic player, but said he should never pick up an electric. I think I have him pretty close to verbatim here: "He just wants to thrash at it, like Dylan. Different technique. He should stay away."

 

 

Sounds like a description of Bruce Springsteen. That guy has a right hand made of lead.

[riffmeister]

I love playing electric, steel string acoustic, and nylon string classical guitars. They're all different, and each brings some unique things to the table.

 

For example, on electric, I love strumming a chord and adding some gentle vibrato with the wammy bar, or stepping on the chorus pedal for some lush Leslie-type sounds, or 'vocalizing' single-note leads with the wah pedal, or stepping on the overdrive pedal and just letting it rip with some power chords or singing lead tones. Bends on electric are a breeze, too.

 

Yup, I like electric guitar!

[martingibson70]

Noise control and pick control are important. That heavy right hand sounds like ****** on electric.

 

For me the hardest obstacle was finding an electric tone I liked as much as an acoustic. Obtaining a comfortable sound wasn't just a challenge but a necessity. If the sound coming out of the amp was less than appealing, it affected my performance. Thru trial and error I learned that rolling off the tone control on my nashville tele to about 3-4 really is pleasing to me ear. I also turn the volume to 7-8, turn up the mids on the amp, use a bit of compression and I get the "Brian May's Nashville Love Child " sound.

 

The whole electric/amp/effect signal chain is intimidating to the acoustic's

steel/wood/ear signal chain.

[d03nut]

I find that the difference for me is in the way "I" interact with each instrument.

 

I feel that an acoustic guitar "becomes one with me" more than its' electric counterpart. With an acoustic, I'm more hands-on-ish and "touchy-feely", if you will. I move my head (ears) much more in order to change my listening perspective. I need to physically "feel" things more with the acoustic.

 

With the electric, OTOH, I'm less interested in my "bodily x-changes" with the instrument.

 

Also, as I said in a previous post, my PSI (perceived source of inspiration) is different with each. With the electric I tend to look up "into the heavens" with my eyes closed -shouldn't have said "look up"- especially when playing a lead part.

 

None of that probably made sense.

[kwakatak]

Well, to qualify my previous comments I was comparing them with regards to being rhythm instruments. I find that the electrics don't strum as well, so I arpeggiate instead. It's a little different but I'm beginning to like it, especially when I'm playing with other guitarists.

 

I guess my point is that I don't see the electric as an all-in-one rhythm guitar. IMO it couldn't carry many of the songs I like to play all by itself like I could with an acoustic. Instead, I see it as a sort a support/ornamentation instrument; the icing on the cake or the cherry on top of the sundae as it were.

 

... I dunno. I guess I have to try and record what I'm talking about. I'm having a problem recording my electric via my PC and then multitracking though. That plus I don't have a lot of free time where I can plug in at home what with a small kid to look after.

 

BTW, as for the setup/tone issues, the strings I use on my electrics are .011-.049 and my acoustics are strung with .012-.054. The electrics are only a little looser but I'm still able to bend them about 1.5 steps up. I prefer not to use too much distortion but a little crunch is good for my tastes. Even still, I agree that there is still more sustain and I'm still getting usedd to muting strings and doing rest strokes.

[JasmineTea]

IMO, they are two completely different instruments. The notes are all in the same order but that's where it ends.

 

Kwak, I think with the right set up you could get that all-in-one kind of thing going, but the fact that the sound is coming from a box a few feet away changes the "personal" thing we get from acoustic guitars. I'm reminded of a picture I saw of Ry Cooder sitting alone with a couple early '60s cream tolex Fender amps playing a strat or tele...I think there are ways of getting "alone" with an electric guitar. I think you just gotta have self-mojo-vation.

 

Also, I think it helps to be a tone-freak.

[Brett Valentine]

I think my acoustic playing was the best when I had .011's on my Strat. I could really push those strings around since I was concentratin on plahying that guitar for all my electric work. After a while, the acoustic began to "feel" like an electric to me, and the ohnly limitations were stylistic.

 

All the chord stretches and single note gymnastics I could pull off on the Strat, I could pull off on acoustic. The Strat now has .010's on it, but I think I need another Strat or even a Tele with dedicated .011's just to get my "fingers" back.

 

Brett