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Old 12-18-2019, 03:26 AM
Revel Revel is offline
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Default Acoustic vs Classical guitars

I'm just curious about the reasons why certain songs are played on the acoustic guitar while other songs are played on the classical guitars. A Youtuber I like to get my tabs from changes between acoustic and classical guitars when playing different songs so I was wondering what the reasons for doing so are?

I do have a classical guitar, but it's an old hand me down that's out of tune on the higher frets and can't hold its tune so I pretty much never play it. But if there are actually a good amount of reasons to play certain songs on the classical guitar rather than on the acoustic guitar, I may look into buying a new one.

One thing I have noticed is that on songs with more slides, hammers, and pull-offs, the Youtuber seems to use the classical guitar more often. Is this because classical guitars will make them more noticeable? I do notice that I am not able to make my slides, hammers, and pull-offs as loud as his, especially when you need to hammer and pull-off 5 notes in a row off of 1 pluck. Or is it because my technique isn't good?
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Old 12-18-2019, 03:55 AM
pieterh pieterh is offline
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Default Acoustic vs Classical guitars

I think you should be wary of making judgements based on one YouTuber.

In my job as sound engineer I sometimes get guitarists who like to strum a nylon-string guitar. It’s what they are used to and they are comfortable with them. I have also run sound for guitarists who use nylon string guitars in jazz contexts. It works for them.

Personally I like playing finger style on classical guitars but I’m in no way an actual classical guitarist! The Carcassi études for example sound fine on a classical but they work fine for me on a steel string (usually my Taylor as it has the best profile for finger style playing).

It may be that the YouTuber feels it is easier to demonstrate finger style techniques using the wide neck of a nylon string guitar but at the end of the day it is how you want to apply the techniques that is important.
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Old 12-18-2019, 05:33 AM
rpguitar rpguitar is offline
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The person you watch probably just enjoys both types of instrument.

Nylon strings are more supple than metal, and hence are traditionally played with fingertips and nails with more comfort and facility than a steel-stringed acoustic. This is a generalization (do I have to say that?), but it is true. Some songs or arrangements are either easier to play, or sound more harmonically full, with a fingerstyle technique - hence the choice of nylon strings.

Certain genres of music are traditionally played on nylon guitars - most Brazilian styles especially bossa nova; Spanish flamenco; rumba and other Cuban/Mexican/Latin styles; and of course the world of European-derived classical music.

While a player may not directly practice these genres, they all have rhythms, harmony, and unique fingerstyle techniques that a player may use when playing the music of his/her choice. So that's another reason to gravitate to a nylon guitar.

Like any good instrument, a proper set-up is a requirement to get the most enjoyment out of a classical style guitar.
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Old 12-18-2019, 06:31 AM
Gumbosuba Gumbosuba is offline
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I like the sound of certain songs on certain guitars. Sometimes due to certain delicate finger works or stretches, I would pick one guitar over another. It all depends on how it fits you, the player.
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Old 12-18-2019, 07:25 AM
The Bard Rocks The Bard Rocks is offline
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I probably should point out that a classical guitar is an acoustic guitar. It's like a trout is a fish but not all fish are trout.

Having finished with pedantry, we understand what you mean anyhow. To me each has a different kind of sound and there is music that works with one that will not work as well with the other. If you are good enough, the areas of overlap get bigger.
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Old 12-18-2019, 07:37 AM
Bikewer Bikewer is offline
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For the last several years, I’ve been concentrating on Fingerstyle jazz... Chord melody stuff.
With the nylon-string, I don’t have to bother with fingerpicks or jump through the hoops necessary to play steel strings with artificial nails or whatever.

To my ears, this kind of material sounds better on a nylon-string anyway..... When I want to play my steel-string, I use a flat pick.
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Old 12-18-2019, 07:56 AM
redir redir is offline
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I use both regularly and an electric guitar at least once a week too. When I pick up my classical guitar it is almost always because I am going to play classical music. I'm mostly fond of Renascence lute music and Baroque guitar.

When playing this kind of stuff it's a totally different way of thinking and also has different physical limitations. I know some people play classical sounding stuff on steel string guitars and it sounds great, I just can't do it. Classical pieces tend to break up the music into two or three voices. Each of those voices are played through the piece. So for example you will be playing the bass, the middle and the trebles with the thumb and three fingers of the right hand all at the same time. So the string spacing of the classical guitar physically helps with that.

And then of course there is the tone of the guitar. I actually built myself a steel string classical guitar. You might call it a cross over of sorts but it has the wide spacing at the bridge and the nut and I can play classical pieces on it but it just doesn't have that tone.

I mostly use a pick for a steel string guitar too so that of course makes it entirely different. So you know horses for courses. You can do anything you want on any guitar but there is a reason why there are so many options.
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Old 12-18-2019, 09:31 AM
printer2 printer2 is offline
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Nothing to add, just reminded me of a vid.



Now Youtube thinks I would be interested in more blues on a nylon. Sure, why not.

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Last edited by printer2; 12-18-2019 at 10:16 AM.
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Old 12-18-2019, 09:36 AM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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Because Classicals/nylon strings sound different.


In the right hands, a nylon string is far more dynamic and expressive than a steel string could ever be. You owe it to yourself to try a decent one.
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Old 12-18-2019, 09:42 AM
j3ffr0 j3ffr0 is offline
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In general classical/nylon string guitars are easier to do runs with hammer-ons and pull-offs. Certain bar chords are easier and some fingerings are easier. Classical guitars also have certain tonal characteristic that I would describe as more mellow than steel string guitars... certainly more muted overtones and less shimmer. I feel like classical guitars are under represented in the U.S. compared to what the bring to the table.

Steel string acoustic guitars tend sound way better to me when strummed than nylon string guitars. All the stuff that works on classical can work on steel string, but minor weaknesses in technique become more noticeable IMO. The steel strings offer more bite and shimmer than nylon strings -- that lends itself well to many fingerstyle arrangements.

I find that pieces that were originally composed on one or the other, usually work pretty well on the other. It's just different... sometimes delightfully so.... sometimes meh...
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Old 12-18-2019, 10:28 AM
zmf zmf is offline
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For those who switch between steel string and nylon, how differently do you play the nylon?

I have an old (1960's) Aria that isn't the most lively classical. I use it as my road trip guitar, and late at night because it's quieter.

Over the last year, I think I'm starting to get the hang of pulling decent tone out of it, and mechanics of that feel quite different from playing a steel string.

Just wondering how much you alter your plucking on nylon strings.
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Old 12-18-2019, 01:27 PM
Alan Carruth Alan Carruth is offline
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A very fine classical player I know picked up a steel string in my shop that happened to have a wider neck than usual, and tried some of hie repertoire. He said: "It's like watching Julie Andrews in 'The Sound of Music'; there's no darkness!".

Nylon strings, by nature, tend to lack high frequencies in the sustained tone. The luthiers problem in building a classical guitar is to make the most of the little bit of high frequency it has. In a steel string you have the opposite problem: how to get enough bass to balance out all of the treble. Nylon string also carry lower tension, so there's less energy to drive the top. This can be mitigated to a large extent by having higher action, and the lower tension allows for a more lightly built top, which also helps.

The 'brightness' of steel strings tends to reduce the range of available tone color, as my friend noticed. Classical players learn to exploit that range by using a range of techniques. Steel string players tend to exploit the extra 'carry' and 'cut' that the bright tone produces. Neither is inherently 'better', they're just different. Good players, of course, can do more with either.
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Old 12-18-2019, 01:36 PM
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rick-slo rick-slo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Revel View Post
I'm just curious about the reasons why certain songs are played on the acoustic guitar while other songs are played on the classical guitars.

One thing I have noticed is that on songs with more slides, hammers, and pull-offs, the Youtuber seems to use the classical guitar more often. ?
They're both acoustic guitars. I'd say pull-offs, slides and hammers are more often used on flattop (steel string)
guitars (at least for fingerstyle music) than you find used in classical guitar music.
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Old 12-18-2019, 01:39 PM
DukeX DukeX is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks View Post
I probably should point out that a classical guitar is an acoustic guitar. It's like a trout is a fish but not all fish are trout.

Having finished with pedantry, we understand what you mean anyhow. To me each has a different kind of sound and there is music that works with one that will not work as well with the other. If you are good enough, the areas of overlap get bigger.
I agree with this. You can even flat pick a nylon string to great effect (IMO).
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Old 12-18-2019, 01:44 PM
PAPADON PAPADON is offline
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Nothing is written in stone. You make the music, you make the rules.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCZ3PE-b-Nc

Last edited by PAPADON; 12-18-2019 at 01:50 PM.
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