The steel strings of an acoustic produce metallic tones, particularly on the higher strings, which isn’t the best for music outside of country and folk. SEE ALSO: Is drop tuning bad for your guitar? A classical guitarist has superior control of the guitar sound with each note being heard distinctly, ideal for fingerstyle classical music. That said, classical guitar also incorporates percussive elements such as pizzicato, a palm-dampening technique that involves using the thumb to produce various tonal effects on the strings.Ĭlassical guitars also have advantages such as their superior balance between treble and bass tones. Steel string acoustic guitars offer more crispness, projection, and sustain, while nylon strings carry a much mellower tone. Which sounds better for fingerstyle?Ī significant sound advantage steel string guitars have over nylon strings is their percussiveness. If playing a steel string guitar gets painful, and the player has access to one, playing the nylon string guitar is a great option for continuing to practice and allowing your fingers time to recover. This, however, is considered “fingerpicking” rather than fingerstyle to some musicians.
That said, classical playing technique uses a combination of the flesh of the fingertips and the fingernails, so classical guitarists need strong nails to get a nice sound.įingerstyle players on steel strings guitars can play with fingerpicks on their steel string guitars to avoid hurting their fingers. Steel strings are very hard on fingernails because of the increased tension and harder material. The fret hand will need to toughen up for fretting, and the hand plucking the strings will need strong fingers too. These calluses develop on both hands when playing fingerstyle. The fingers will need to develop extra calluses to endure playing acoustic steel string guitars for long sessions. The higher tension and hardness of steel strings requires a firmer pressure from the fingers to produce sound.
Not only is the nylon softer and smoother, the nylon strings are also strung with way less tension.
Steel string acoustic guitars are much harder on the fingers than the nylon strings of a classical guitar when playing fingerstyle. SEE ALSO: Is It Hard To Switch From Acoustic To Classical Guitar? Acoustic or classical for fingerstyle: which is harder on the fingers? Ultimately, fingerstyle can be played on either guitar. In short, classical guitarists play with their fingers, and steel string acoustic guitarists that use their fingers to play modern folk or pop are referred to as modern fingerstyle players. As a musical style, fingerstyle is generally played on a steel string acoustic guitar and rooted in folk, pop, and modern music.Ĭhord-based songs that use the fingerstyle technique can be played on both classical and acoustic guitars, but stylistically speaking, fingerstyle is most often played on steel strings. “Fingerstyle” has also come to refer to a musical style, however – in the same way as “flatpicking” now refers to a style. Thus, classical guitar and music are technically played using a fingerstyle technique. The term “fingerstyle” is defined as playing the strings with the fingers instead of a pick. That said, the technique of fingerstyle can also be used on acoustic guitars for genres outside of classical music. The classical guitar has a wider fretboard, a generally smaller body, and nylon strings vs steel strings for the acoustic.Ĭlassical music should be played on nylon strings exclusively and traditionally uses the fingers to produce sound, without a pick. A classical guitar is constructed differently than a modern acoustic guitar. The terms “classical” and “fingerstyle” are sometimes used to refer to different things.Ĭlassical might describe the style of the guitar, the style of the music, or the technique used to play classical music. Can you play modern fingerstyle guitar on a classical guitar? Difference between classical and fingerstyle.Is it possible to play an acoustic guitar like a classical one?.Acoustic vs classical: neck and ergonomics for fingerstyle?.Acoustic or classical for fingerstyle: which is harder on the fingers?.Difference between classical and fingerstyle.