PracticeWith This.??

[3notes]

Do you practice with an..... electric guitar.?? lol Serious question though it is highly probably that we should, if we play electric.

I've played strictly electric guitar for 5 months. No longer have an acoustic. I'm committed to electric guitar for the year. Personal goal.

Should I have an acoustic guitar to practice electric guitar. (i played acoustic for years.) It seems that's the only thing missing in my guitar world. I want to practice on an acoustic.

Bad approach.?? If I want to excel on electric guitar. Should I only play electric, as I had planned.??

[stokes1971]

I played acoustic from mid 60's til about '73.Switched to electric and didnt own an acoustic til about a year ago and have hardly touched the electric since.Mainly because I dont play in band type situations anymore.There is nothing wrong with playing both...or just one or the other.If you miss the acoustic,get one and play it when you get the urge."Bad approach???" No,why would it be bad?

[roylor4]

I like having and playing both, and while I often find that skills learned on my electric transition in some ways to the acoustic and vice-versa, Many don't. Why? Because I approach electric playing and acoustic playing in totally different ways. I play acoustic seated and usually stand playing electric. I play acoustic on my R knee with the guitar practically parallel to the ground. Electric on a strap at about a 45 degree angle.

I rarely use 1st position "cowboy chords" on an electric (except some AC/DC and Neil Young stuff) - mostly using barres and playing barre chords on an acoustic are very difficult with my acoustic in the parallel position. I also play a LOT of electric leads on gigs, but hardly ever play acoustic leads.

I do think that having and playing both are helpful in small ways. It's easy to just grab an acoustic and hammer out some ideas instead of plugging in and strapping up, for instance.

I play about 50/50 on acoustic and electric at home and at gigs. I would get bored just playing one or the other at this point.

[ghostnote]

I play both, always have. Well, except when I was a kid starting out - that was acoustic only. Like a lot of folks here, now that I'm older, I have a lot of guitars. I'm having a great time rotating through the herd, typically playing a certain guitar for a few days, then moving on to the next one. But you don't need a lot of guitars to do this - just two will do.

[ch willie]

I play differently according to whether I'm playing my acoustics or electrics. And I play one about the same amount of time that I play the other. I find myself singing more when I play the acoustic, whereas with the electric, I'm more often working on licks and technique. It's not that I don't do that with the acoustic, but again, I'm more likely to play things to sing along with.

[MC5C]

To me, they are two different instruments - much alike, but vastly different. If you want to learn to play electric guitar, you need to develop the feel and touch that rewards that style. My touch on an electric is seriously lighter than my touch on an acoustic.

[3notes]

Good replies.

I think I'm on a good track. I'll stick with electric and carry on for the time being.

[Dru Edwards]

It's a great question. It depends on your style. I wouldn't want to use an acoustic to practice my fast, downstroking, palm muting metal riffs (i.e. Metallica Master of Puppets) but it could be done. Just a different feel and response.

I did find that practicing my flat picking a few years back on acoustic worked well for my skill on electric though. Flat picking on acoustic just became alternate picking on electric.

[Bob Womack]

You need both, really. I'm really heavily committed to electric but there are styles and musical thoughts you won't have on electric guitar only. I wouldn't attempt to play electric on acoustic - the strings are going to be heavier gauge. What you can do is adapt your electric style to play somewhat on your acoustic and your acoustic style to play somewhat on your acoustic.

So keep and play both.

Bob

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by 3notes

Do you practice with an.....electric guitar??

All the time, and usually through an amp that would be considered excessive for home use (Bugera V22; Fender '65 Super Reverb RI and Frontman 212R; Randall RB-120 1x15" combo) - FYI "good electric guitar tone" isn't necessarily about massive amounts of gain and distortion, and there's no substitute for a high-power amp when it comes to clean headroom at any sane volume...

[Steel and wood]

I started out a long time ago on electric but it wasn't too long before I wanted an acoustic also. (Couldn't imagine not owning both).

I did most of my practice using my electric unplugged. (In front of the TV, in the bedroom, wherever, even though I had a practice amp). I still play my electric guitar unplugged having fun with all sorts of YouTube guitar rhythm and lead backing tracks when I'm not plugging into my amp. (Do the same thing with my acoustic to flat pick when I'm not playing it in the back yard or down by the river).

Even though I'm not playing with others these days, I still find ways to enjoy my guitars.

Good luck!

[Bob Womack]

Oh, and yes, I practice on my electrics and acoustics.


Bob

[Gordon Currie]

I have always alternated between them, though at times I focused more on one or the other.

I like bringing acoustic techniques and ideas to electric and vice versa. I find it gives my playing a little something different than folks who play exclusively one way or another.

The difference in touch required to do acoustic vs. electric can be pretty daunting. Over many decades I am finding a like a lighter touch on the acoustic than I started with.
Since I perform amplified, the loss of volume one gets with that lighter touch is not an issue.

Excelling on electric? Depends on how you define that. There are some techniques, such as bending, that realistically one will only be able to explore in great depth on electric.

[DukeX]

I'm another who loves both and thinks if you love both you should play both.

[FrankHudson]

Short answer: sure, why not if one wants to. And if not, fine too.

There's an overlap between electric and acoustic, besides the "user interface" aspect of the same notes at the same frets on the same scale length. Even if it's not the most common approach, some players really explore this area. A guitar (and songwriting!) hero that comes to mind who does this is Richard Thompson. Players working the chord melody area or Chet Atkins style can often easily move between the two instruments with overlapping techniques.

And some others enjoy the differences most, and rarely venture into the area where the two instruments overlap.

If one is focused on improving on electric you should concentrate your time on that instrument. Assuming you're interested in playing band-style electric guitar you need to focus on how your instrument playing fits into that context. Ideally that would be with other musicians in a band (difficult these days). As a supplement/preparation/substitute you need practice a substantial amount of time in that context. Backing tracks, drum machines, Band In A Box, looper pedals, one-man-band performing via recording software or multitrack recorder.

But time spent on acoustic guitar (besides being rewarding in it's own right) is not wasted. Nor is time spent learning bass or keyboards or some other instrument. You are playing music after all, you're not just an electric guitar operator.

Lastly, as a few have mentioned, there are practicalities to consider. I often write what I'll play as acoustic guitar parts on electric. Easier for me to manage as I write down chord changes or riffs, dead quiet in house that now always contains family. And it's easy to grab a self-contained acoustic and go play in a park or on the porch when I want to get away from the home-crowd.