Hopefully guitargadfly will be able to give me some advice here…
I have been interested in learning the guitar for a few years now. I have finally made the effort to enrol on a guitar course at my local arts centre. My real love is the classical guitar, as I love spanish, mexican and other latin guitar sounds and I listen to older and modern guitar music often.
But the course I am booked on is an acoustic guitar course not a classical one. I still want to learn to play some pop or rock melodies so I figure any lesson on the basics would be good.
I need to buy a guitar for the course, having borrowed guitars while I learn some stuff on my own to see if I am indeed interested in really learning before i invested the time and money on a guitar and lessons.
I want to get a guitar that I can learn on easy and that will give me the option of playing both classical and pop/rock songs… do i get a classical?
Do you think I can do the acoustic course with a classical guitar?
The answer of taking an "acoustic course" with a "classical guitar" all depends on the your desire and the instructor of the course as well. I have been playing guitar for over 30 years now and, yes, you can learn the basic chords and scales and riffs on both. The big difference is the strings being that "classical" guitars usually use nylon strings and "Folk" guitars (acoustic as you put it) usually have wire/wound ones. I get asked this question every time I start teaching guitar lessons (mostly between learning on an electric versus a folk guitar). The principle facts are all same:
1) Like the electric which has very bendable thin wires for strings, the classical guitar (nylon strings) will not be so tough on the fingers when you start. This may be a benefit to the person who wants to break in slow. The drawback is that you are not building up the necessary calluses that are essential for the folk guitar.
2) The next question is what do you want to learn and like to listen to when it is guitar pieces. You mentioned the Spanish, Classical and Mexican styles. If that is so, the classical guitar is perfect for that. On the otherhand , though, you could learn some on the "folk" guitar, as well as, other pieces that the "classical" guitar is unable to play (most jazz, country, pop, blues & rock ect).
3) There are excellant musicians in all fields and it is totally up to what you want to learn. It is up to the instructor to give you the basic foundations, first, that all guitarists need to start. This you can do on any type of guitar.
4) What type of guitar is also a choice that you will have to make. I highly recommend that you go to a local music store (or a couple) and, with the help of the retailer, pick up all the guitars that you like and strum, fingerpick and plug them all in. This may take a while but it is essential to see what feels good and sounds good to you (I prefer the sound of mohagany in my guitars).
Finally, I know you can always look online or take someone else's advice on what to buy or play. It is totally up to you as what you feel and hear. Ask yourself, "what feels comfortable and what sounds nice?" That will be the task for you and should be both an eduactional and fun task as thatl! Good luck!!