Do you feel the steel-string guitar is easier to play?

[mrkpower]

If you mainly play on a classical guitar, I am wondering if you have ever picked up an steel-string guitar and feel it is easier to play because of the narrower neck?

[charles Tauber]

No, exactly the contrary. My preference is for a wider neck, 1-7/8" at the nut for a steel string: 1-3/4" or less is just plain cramped for me. Others prefer a narrower neck. There isn't a "right" answer.

[dosland]

Where I come from, everyone grows up playing a nylon string instrument of some sort, simply because little kiddie fingers have an easier time fretting the notes thanks to the lower tension. It wasn't until my teenage years that I learned that "shredding" on the guitar involved having massive amounts of skin torn off by the steel strings...

[mc1]

maybe for strumming. other things, like a radiused fretboard, or super low action on a steel string can help with comfort.

but the lower string tension and nice body size make the classical pretty easy.

[riffmeister]

Using classical guitar playing technique, steel string guitars are way too hard on my right hand nails, and the string spacing is a bit too cramped in both the left and right hands. That said, switching musical genres and using a flat pick, nothing quite does it like a steel string guitar!

[Dave T]

Direct answer…no, not even a little bit.

Dave

[Rondoraymundo]

In my later years with arthritis starting to creep into my hands I have gone to playing a classical more and more. I even went out and bought a new classical because of that. IMHO steel string guitars are a lot harder to play.

[jmiked0]

I've been playing both nylon and steel string guitars for about 50 years, and I consider nylon stringed instruments to be much easier to play (and easier on the fingernails). There's no doubt in my mind that for me, classical guitars are easier on my aged finger joints.

[SteveBurt]

I find my steel string guitar easier for barre chords and for long stretches because of the narrow neck (it is narrow back to front as well as side to side)
For picking out intricate tunes, the classical is definitely easier.
Also, string bends and hammer-ons and pull-offs don't work very well on the classical.

So the classical guitar is best for classical and flamenco, the steel string is best for blues and folk.
Who'd have thought it?

[dosland]

"So the classical guitar is best for classical and flamenco, the steel string is best for blues and folk." I'd still pull out the electric for some weepy blues, if you want serious bends and pull-offs, that's the place to be On a seriouser note (yep), we're all talking about well-adjusted guitars here, not the things that most people find on the GC walls. We've all played those instruments where the action or neck relief is so bad no normal human could fret the notes properly, let alone barre an F. I even played on a shop-owned Gibson electric for a while that was like trying to fret notes on a BBQ grill. Those 8 months pretty much ruined the Gibson brand for me, even though I'm quite certain that thing just needed a decent setup.

[redir]

SS is easier to me because all I ever seem to do is play blues on one. I have a terrible hard time trying to play Fernando Sor on the classical though

There is no answer.

[k_russell]

Originally Posted by Dave T

Direct answer…no, not even a little bit.

Dave

Yeah, me too.

[softballbryan]

I think a lot of classical music harder then much of the steel string music... At least at the beginner levels. So in one way, the classical is harder for tone production and some of the rep....steel can be harder to physically play but strumming chords can be rather easy.

So it depends...

[paullouisf]

Based on what little experience I have with classical guitars I would say nylon string is easier than steel string. I find that the lower string tension, and the wider fingerboard and string spacing, make a classical easier to play.

[harpon]

I too think nylon and classical guitars are easier to play. As an older beginner a number of years back, with a couple of broken fingers on the left hand,

it was the obvious choice, although maybe I like the pure sound of steel better.

Smaller scale guitars are even easier-

I play a Cordoba Dolce 7/8 size and take a Protégé 3/4 to coffee to mess with.

My beautiful full size Rodriguez is sitting in the corner and I'm thinking of selling it- it just feels too big at 60 now, the smaller scales are much more playable and the Dolce sounds just as good.