Acoustic guitars can be generally divided into 2 categories:

Folk and Classical

You can tell a folk guitar from a classical guitar by:

• Folk guitars have a narrower neck than classical guitars
• Folk guitars have a pick guard, classical guitars don't (you never use a pick on a classical guitar).
• Folk guitars usually have all steel strings, classical guitars usually have steel and nylon strings.

Most right handed guitarists use their left hand to form chords, and their right hand to pick or strum the strings. For a left handed guitar player, it is just the opposite. If you play left handed, you should use a guitar strung left-handed, meaning the strings are in the opposite order. There are many stories of left handed guitarists who learned to play on a right handed guitar upside down, but it is much more difficult to play a guitar in this way.

Playing a note on a guitar involves pressing strings against the fingerboard of the guitar. When a string is pressed, it becomes pinched against a fret on the fingerboard. When that string is played, it will vibrate only between the fret where it is pressed and the bridge where it is attached to the guitar. Pressing a string against a fret makes the vibrating portion of the string shorter. A shorter string will vibrate at a higher frequency causing a higher pitch note.

Strings must be solidly pinched against the intended fret. If the string is not pinched solidly, it may either have a muffled sound, or it may buzz. One way to help press a string more solidly is to place your finger just beside the fret that you are playing, instead of directly in between the two frets.

You won't play guitar for very long before you realize that playing guitar hurts. Mostly it hurts your fingertips, but it also may cramp your hand, thumb, and forearm (especially playing bar chords). The only solution is to grit your teeth and play regularly, because that is how you will develop callouses and hand strength that will eventually alleviate the pain.

Learning guitar hurts, but giving your guitar a check-up may reduce some unnecessary pain. It is possible that the action on your guitar is too high. The action of a guitar refers to the height of the strings above the fingerboard. When the action is set lower on a guitar, it becomes easier to play because the strings do not have to be pressed down as far. Setting the action lower may help reduce fingertip pain and hand cramping as well. However, if the action gets too low, the strings will buzz because they will vibrate against the other frets on the fingerboard. I have read that guitar shops often set the action on guitars a little high to eliminate any potential buzzing a customer may experience while testing a guitar. For this reason, it may be very worthwhile to have a qualified guitar repair shop inspect your guitar (probably for free) and adjust it if necessary (usually inexpensive).

It may be mostly psychological, but putting on a brand new set of strings seems to make my guitar not only sound better, but play easier as well!

I am ready to get started learning to play my acoustic discount guitars!