The Electric Guitar

The electric guitar shares its tuning, fingerboard and basic technique with the acoustic guitar. Its sound, however, is created electrically: magnetic pickups turn the vibration of the steel strings into a signal that only becomes audible through amplifier, speaker and effects. Instrument, cable, pedals, amplifier and speaker together therefore make up the “instrument”. Within a few decades the electric guitar reshaped popular music worldwide – from Chicago blues through rock ’n’ roll, British beat music, hard rock, funk, punk and metal to Congolese rumba, West African desert blues and the Japanese “eleki” boom. This article covers history, construction, electronics, amplification, technique, styles and practice.

1Overview and classification

The electric guitar is a plucked instrument whose sound is not (or barely) radiated acoustically but picked up electromagnetically and amplified electronically. In organological terms it is an electrophone built on a chordophone. Basics such as frets, tuning, chords and notation are covered in the article on the guitar; here the subject is what makes the electric instrument distinctive: body shapes, electronics, amplification, effects and the specific techniques and styles.

The music is written in the treble clef an octave above sounding pitch; in rock and pop, tablature is widespread, showing strings and frets rather than pitches. The electric guitar is the central instrument of bands and combos, taking on rhythm (chords, riffs), melody (themes, solos) and washes of sound.

2History

Prehistory: the need for volume

In the big bands of the 1920s and 1930s the acoustic guitar was lost against horns and drums. Makers responded with larger archtop guitars (the Gibson L-5 of 1922) and resonator guitars with metal cones (National, Dobro, from 1927) – and with electrical amplification. Early attempts with microphones and contact pickups failed because of feedback and weak signals.

The first electric guitars

• 1931/32 George Beauchamp and Paul Barth develop the horseshoe magnet pickup; Adolph Rickenbacker produces the “Frying Pan”, an aluminium lap steel guitar (patented 1937).
• 1935/36 Gibson brings out the EH-150 lap steel and the ES-150 archtop (“Electric Spanish”) with the “Charlie Christian pickup”.
• 1939–1941 In the Benny Goodman Sextet, Charlie Christian makes the electric guitar a solo instrument in jazz. At the same time Sister Rosetta Tharpe plays one of the early electric guitars in gospel – she is now seen as a pioneer of rock ’n’ roll.
• about 1940 Les Paul builds “The Log”, a solid wooden beam with pickups and body wings attached, to avoid feedback and gain long sustain. At roughly the same time Paul Bigsby and Merle Travis are working on a solid-body instrument.
• 1950/51 Leo Fender brings out the Esquire and the Broadcaster, renamed the Telecaster in 1951: the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar with a bolt-on neck – simple, robust and easy to repair.
• 1952 Gibson answers with the Les Paul (an arched maple top on a mahogany body, with a glued-in neck).
• 1954 The Fender Stratocaster: an ergonomically contoured body, three single coils and a built-in vibrato system – still the most widely copied guitar shape.
• 1955–1957 At Gibson, Seth Lover develops the hum-cancelling humbucker (the “PAF”, after the “Patent Applied For” sticker; patented in 1959).
• 1958 The Gibson ES-335 (semi-hollow), Flying V and Explorer; the Fender Jazzmaster. Rickenbacker, Gretsch and Danelectro add further sound worlds.

The electric guitar conquers the world

Chicago blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, Elmore James and B. B. King electrified the blues in the 1940s and 1950s; T-Bone Walker had already shaped the electric blues solo from 1940. Chuck Berry, Scotty Moore (with Elvis Presley) and Buddy Holly made the electric guitar a symbol of rock ’n’ roll. In Britain, Hank Marvin (The Shadows) and later the beat bands around the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and The Who set off a boom; Jimi Hendrix (1966–1970) radically extended sound and technique with feedback, fuzz, wah-wah and the vibrato arm. The 1970s brought hard rock and heavy metal (Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page), funk (Nile Rodgers) and punk; in 1978 Eddie Van Halen popularised two-handed tapping. From the 1980s came shred, grunge, alternative, nu metal and djent, with seven- and eight-string guitars.

Manufacturers worldwide

Country	Manufacturers (a selection)
USA	Fender (since 1946), Gibson (since 1902), Gretsch, Rickenbacker, Danelectro, Music Man, PRS (since 1985), Jackson/Charvel, Suhr, Tom Anderson
Japan	Ibanez (Hoshino Gakki), Yamaha, ESP, Tokai, Greco, Fujigen (which manufactures for many brands)
Germany	Höfner, Framus, Warwick, Duesenberg, Hanika
Britain, Scandinavia, Italy	Burns, Vox (guitars), Hagström (Sweden), Eko (Italy)
Korea, China, Indonesia, Mexico	production for almost all the major brands, especially entry-level and mid-range instruments (Squier, Epiphone)

3Body shapes

Type	Characteristics	Classic models	Typical use
Solid body	a solid body, little feedback, long sustain	Telecaster, Stratocaster, Les Paul, SG	rock, pop, blues, metal, country
Chambered	a solid body with routed chambers	weight-relieved Les Paul models, the Tele Thinline	a lighter, airier sound
Semi-hollow	a hollow body with a solid centre block	Gibson ES-335, ES-339	blues, rock, jazz, indie
Hollow body / archtop	entirely hollow, with an arched top and f-holes	Gibson L-5 CES, ES-175, Gretsch 6120	jazz, rockabilly
Offset	an asymmetrical body with long vibrato systems	Fender Jazzmaster, Jaguar	surf, indie, shoegaze
Superstrat	a Strat shape with humbuckers, a Floyd Rose, 24 frets and a flat neck	Ibanez RG, Jackson Soloist	hard rock, metal, shred
Extended range	7- or 8-string, baritone, multiscale (fanned frets)	Ibanez RG7, Strandberg	metal, djent, progressive rock
Twelve-string electric	six pairs of strings	Rickenbacker 360/12	the Byrds, the Beatles (“A Hard Day’s Night”)
Headless, travel guitars	no headstock, compact	Steinberger, Strandberg	travelling, ergonomics

4Woods and construction

Wood	Used for	Tonal tendency (disputed, and small compared with the electronics)
Alder	body (Stratocaster)	balanced, midrange-focused
Swamp ash, ash	body (Telecaster, early Strats)	bright, wiry, open
Mahogany	body and neck (Les Paul, SG)	warm, midrange-focused
Maple (flamed, quilted)	neck, fingerboard, tops	clear, brilliant, quick response
Basswood	body (many superstrats)	neutral, light
Rosewood, ebony, pau ferro, Richlite	fingerboard	feel and appearance
Roasted maple	neck	more stable under changes of climate

The neck

The neck is either bolted on (typical of Fender), glued in (set neck, typical of Gibson) or neck-through (neck and centre of the body in one piece). Inside it runs an adjustable truss rod that counteracts the pull of the strings. Neck profiles (“C”, “U”, “V”, “D”), fingerboard radius (from a vintage 7.25″ to 16″ and flatter) and fret size (vintage to jumbo) do much to shape the feel.

Scale length

The scale length (the vibrating length of the string) affects both tension and tone: 628 mm (24.75″, Gibson) feels softer and sounds rounder, 648 mm (25.5″, Fender) tighter and more brilliant; PRS use 635 mm (25″). Baritone and seven-string guitars have longer scales (up to 686–762 mm) so that the low strings do not feel slack. Multiscale guitars combine a short treble scale with a long bass scale.

5Pickups and electronics

How it works

A magnetic pickup consists of permanent magnets (alnico or ceramic) and a coil of several thousand turns of fine enamelled copper wire (about 0.06 mm). The magnetised steel string vibrates in the magnetic field, changes the flux through the coil and induces an alternating voltage (a few hundred millivolts). Pickups therefore “hear” only steel strings; nylon strings need piezo systems.

Together with cable capacitance and the potentiometers, the coil acts as a filter with a resonant peak, usually between 2 and 5 kHz. More turns mean a higher output voltage but a lower resonance and therefore less treble. That is why “hot” pickups sound stronger and more midrange-focused, while weaker ones sound more open and glassy. A long cable also lowers the resonance audibly.

Type	Construction	DC resistance (typical)	Sound
Single coil (Strat, Tele)	one coil, rod magnets	about 5–8 kΩ	bright, clear, bell-like, dynamic; prone to hum (50 Hz)
P-90	one wide, flat coil	about 7–9 kΩ	stronger, raw and midrange-heavy
Humbucker	two coils wound in opposite directions with opposite magnetic polarity, in series	about 7.5–16 kΩ	full, warm, loud, hum-free
Mini humbucker, Filter’Tron	compact humbuckers	about 4–8 kΩ	a brighter humbucker sound
Lipstick	a single coil in a metal tube	about 4–5 kΩ	glassy, twangy (Danelectro)
Active pickups	low impedance with a built-in preamp	–	a high, very even signal; popular in metal
Piezo	a pressure sensor in the bridge	–	an acoustic-like sound (hybrid guitars)

The humbucker cancels hum because the interference arrives in the two coils out of phase while the string signal arrives in phase.

Wiring

Position determines the basic sound: the neck pickup is round and rich in bass, the bridge pickup rich in overtones and biting, the middle position somewhere between. Typical layouts are SSS (Strat), SS (Tele), HH (Les Paul), HSS and HSH (superstrats). Further options include the Strat’s five-way switch with its “in-between” positions (two coils in parallel and slightly out of phase, the “quacky” sound), coil splitting (using a humbucker as a single coil), series/parallel switching and phase reversal. The potentiometers (usually 250 kΩ for single coils, 500 kΩ for humbuckers) and the tone capacitor also shape the signal. Rolling back the volume control cleans up an overdriven amplifier – one of the most important means of expression there is.

6Bridges and vibrato systems

System	Characteristics
Fixed bridges	tune-o-matic with stop tailpiece (Gibson), the Telecaster bridge, hardtails; stable tuning, plenty of sustain
Bigsby (1950s)	a gentle vibrato with a roller bar; rockabilly, country
Synchronized tremolo (Stratocaster, 1954)	the whole bridge tilts against springs; vibrato of up to about a whole tone
Floyd Rose (1977/79)	locking at both nut and saddles, with fine tuners; extreme dive bombs without going out of tune; metal, shred
Kahler, Wilkinson, Gotoh, Evertune	further systems; the Evertune holds the tuning mechanically constant

The vibrato arm is colloquially called a “tremolo”, although it changes the pitch (vibrato) and not the volume (tremolo) – a confusion that goes back to Leo Fender’s choice of name.

7Range and tunings

Tuning	Strings (low → high)	Used for
Standard	E A D G B E	almost every style
A semitone down (E♭ standard)	E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭	Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Guns N’ Roses, Van Halen
Drop D	D A D G B E	grunge, metal, folk; power chords with one finger
D standard, drop C, C standard	all strings lowered	doom, stoner rock, metalcore
Open G	D G D G B D	Keith Richards (often without the lowest string), slide playing
Open D, open E	D A D F♯ A D; E B E G♯ B E	slide blues (Elmore James, Duane Allman)
DADGAD	D A D G A D	folk, ambient, Jimmy Page (“Kashmir”)
Seven-string	B E A D G B E	metal, jazz (George Van Eps, Lenny Breau), progressive rock
Eight-string	F♯ B E A D G B E	djent, progressive metal (Meshuggah, Tosin Abasi)
Baritone	B E A D F♯ B or A D G C E A	surf, film music, metal

8Strings

Electric guitar strings are made of steel; the lower strings are wound with nickel, nickel-plated steel or stainless steel. Gauges are given in thousandths of an inch (a “set of tens”, for example: .010 – .013 – .017 – .026 – .036 – .046).

Set	Gauges (high E to low E)	Character
Extra light (“nines”)	.009–.042	easy to fret and bend; a thinner tone
Regular light (“tens”)	.010–.046	the standard, well balanced
Medium (“elevens”)	.011–.049/.050	more tone, more effort; jazz, blues, low tunings
Heavy (“twelves” and above)	.012–.052 and up	jazz with flatwounds, drop tunings, baritone

Roundwound strings sound brilliant and are the standard; flatwound strings sound warm and smooth (jazz); coated strings last longer. If you change gauge substantially, the truss rod, the intonation and possibly the nut slots need adjusting.

9Set-up

The set-up decides playability and intonation – an inexpensive guitar that is well set up often plays better than an expensive one that is not.

Parameter	Guide value	Tool
Neck relief	about 0.2–0.3 mm at the 7th/8th fret (with the string held at the 1st and last frets)	truss rod
Action	about 1.5 mm (high E) to 2.0 mm (low E) at the 12th fret	saddles, bridge height
Intonation	the harmonic and the fretted note at the 12th fret must match	saddle position, tuner
Nut	with the string held at the 1st fret, only a small gap above the first fret	nut files (workshop)
Pickup height	about 1.5–3 mm below the string fretted at the last fret	height screws

10Amplifiers

On the electric guitar, the amplifier is part of the instrument. It consists of a preamp (shaping the tone, distortion, tone controls), a power stage and a speaker; combos house everything in one cabinet, while heads are used with separate speaker cabinets.

History

• 1950s Fender “tweed” amplifiers (the Deluxe, the 4×10″ Bassman of 1957), in which guitarists discover the overdriven power stage as a warm “crunch”.
• 1958 The Vox AC30 (United Kingdom) – the sound of the Beatles, Queen (Brian May) and many indie bands.
• 1962/63 The Marshall JTM45, derived from the Bassman; from 1965 the “wall of Marshalls” with 100-watt heads and 4×12″ cabinets.
• from 1971 The Mesa/Boogie Mark I: preamp distortion with a master volume – overdrive at lower levels.
• 1975 The Roland JC-120 “Jazz Chorus”: the solid-state standard for clean sounds.
• 1998 The Line 6 POD: amplifier modelling in pocket format.
• 2006/2011 The Fractal Axe-Fx and the Kemper Profiler: the studio and stage standard for digital amp models and “profiles” of real amplifiers.
• from 2020 Compact modellers (the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, Line 6 Helix and Boss GX among them) and software plugins dominate studios and home recording.

Type of amplifier	Characteristics
Valve amplifier	dynamic, with soft overdrive rich in even-order harmonics, responsive to the pick; loud, heavy, needs servicing (valve replacement)
Solid-state amplifier	robust, light, affordable; clear clean sounds
Modelling / profiling	digital emulation of many amplifiers, cabinets and microphones; headphone and direct use, recording
Hybrid	a valve preamp with a solid-state power stage, or the reverse

Families of sound: the “American” clean tone (Fender) with glassy highs and plenty of headroom; the “British” crunch (Vox, Marshall) with pronounced mids; and modern high-gain amplifiers (Mesa, Peavey 5150, Engl, Diezel, Bogner) for metal. The speaker cabinet shapes the sound decisively as well (1×12″, 2×12″, 4×12″; speakers such as the Celestion Greenback, Vintage 30 and Jensen models).

11Effects and the signal chain

Group	Effects	Historic milestones
Distortion	overdrive (mild, valve-like), distortion (strong), fuzz (square-wave, rasping)	Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone (1962, “Satisfaction”), Big Muff (1969), Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-808 (1979), Boss DS-1 (1978)
Filters	wah-wah, envelope filter (auto-wah), EQ	Vox Wah (1966/67), Mu-Tron III (1972)
Modulation	chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, vibrato, rotary	Uni-Vibe (1968), MXR Phase 90 (1974), Boss CE-1 (1976)
Time	delay (echo), reverb	tape echo (Echoplex, Watkins Copicat, Roland Space Echo 1974), spring reverb
Dynamics	compressor, noise gate, volume pedal	Dyna Comp (1970s)
Pitch	octaver, pitch shifter, harmoniser, whammy	DigiTech Whammy (1989), Eventide H3000
Others	looper, buffer, multi-effects, ambient and shimmer reverb	–

12Technique

The picking hand

Technique	Description
Alternate picking	down and up strokes in alternation; the basis of precision and speed
Economy and sweep picking	continuing the movement in one direction across several strings; fast arpeggios
Hybrid picking	pick and fingers combined (country, fusion)
Fingerstyle	playing without a pick (Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks)
Palm muting	the heel of the hand mutes the strings near the bridge: a short, chugging sound
Strumming, muted strums	chord strokes; in funk with muted strokes in between
Tremolo picking	very fast alternate picking on one note (surf, black metal)

The fretting hand

Technique	Description
Power chords	root and fifth (sometimes with the octave); they stay clear under distortion
Barre and jazz chords	chords with a full or partial barre, voicings with extensions
Bending	pushing the string to raise the pitch by a quarter tone, semitone, whole tone or more; pre-bend, release, unison bend
Vibrato	a regular fluctuation of pitch with the finger; a guitarist’s “handwriting”
Legato	hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides; flowing lines without picking
Tapping	striking the fingerboard with fingers of the picking hand
Harmonics	natural, artificial and pinch harmonics (the thumb touches the string as it is picked)
Slide	a glass or metal tube on the finger, often in open tunings
Vibrato arm	dive bombs, flutter, vibrato with the arm
Feedback	a controlled build-up between guitar and amplifier (Hendrix)

Distortion makes incidental noise louder, so clean muting of the strings you are not playing, with both hands, is part of basic technique.

13Tablature and notation

Tablature shows six lines for the six strings (the high E on top) and numbers for the frets. The rhythm is often given in notation above it. Common symbols: h hammer-on, p pull-off, / and \ slide, b bend (with “½” or “full”), r release, ~ vibrato, PM palm muting, x muted note, T tapping, and N.H./A.H./P.H. for natural, artificial and pinch harmonics. For jazz, studio and musical theatre work, reading notation and chord symbols (lead sheets) is indispensable.

14Styles

Style	Typical features	Leading guitarists
Blues	pentatonic and blues scales, bending, call and response, shuffle	T-Bone Walker, B. B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt
Rock ’n’ roll, rockabilly	double stops, boogie riffs, slapback echo	Chuck Berry, Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup, Eddie Cochran, Brian Setzer
Surf	tremolo picking, spring reverb, vibrato arm	Dick Dale, The Ventures, The Shadows (Hank Marvin)
Rock, classic rock	riffs, power chords, pentatonic solos	Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Brian May, Angus Young
Hard rock, heavy metal	high gain, low tunings, precise riffs, virtuoso solos	Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Dimebag Darrell
Shred, neoclassical	sweep picking, tapping, arpeggios, harmonic minor	Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker
Progressive, djent	odd metres, extended-range instruments, polyrhythm	John Petrucci, Tosin Abasi, Misha Mansoor, Plini
Funk, soul	semiquaver rhythm guitar, muted strums, small chord fragments	Jimmy Nolen, Nile Rodgers, Curtis Mayfield, Prince, Cory Wong
Jazz	chord voicings, bebop lines, a clean tone, walking-bass accompaniment	Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Jim Hall, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Kurt Rosenwinkel
Fusion	jazz harmony with a rock sound	John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Scott Henderson, Guthrie Govan
Country	chicken picking, hybrid picking, the B-bender, Telecaster twang	James Burton, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Brad Paisley
Punk, indie, alternative	energy before virtuosity, barre chords, arpeggios, washes of effects	Johnny Ramone, The Edge (delay-driven rhythm), Johnny Marr, Kurt Cobain, Jonny Greenwood, Tom Morello, Jack White, St. Vincent
Pop, singer-songwriter	parts that serve the song, arpeggios, hooks	Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Nile Rodgers

15The electric guitar around the world

From the 1950s the electric guitar spread to every continent through radio, records, military bases and trade, and in many places it fused with local traditions.

Region / style	Characteristics	Names
Congolese rumba, soukous (Congo, Central Africa)	intertwined, interlocking guitar lines in a high register, with “sebene” sections for dancing	Franco Luambo, Dr Nico Kasanda, Diblo Dibala
Highlife, Afrobeat, jùjú (Ghana, Nigeria)	percussive, repetitive guitar patterns, call and response	E. T. Mensah (band), King Sunny Adé, Fela Kuti’s band
Desert blues, tishoumaren (the Sahara)	hypnotic riffs, pentatonic Tuareg melody	Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen, Bombino, Mdou Moctar
Ethiopia	Ethio-jazz, pentatonic modes (qenet)	the bands of the “Éthiopiques” era
Japan	the “eleki boom” of the 1960s (a surf influence), later rock, metal, city pop and J-rock	Takeshi Terauchi, Char, Tak Matsumoto, Kazumi Watanabe
South-East Asia	1960s psychedelic rock in Cambodia and Thailand, luk thung and mor lam with electric guitar	the bands around Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea
India	film music (Bollywood), Indo-rock, the electric guitar in classical music (the slide “Mohan veena”)	Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (slide), Prasanna
Brazil	Tropicália, the “guitarra baiana” (trio elétrico, Salvador), MPB, música caipira	Os Mutantes, Pepeu Gomes, Armandinho
Peru and the Andes	“chicha” (cumbia with surf guitar)	Los Destellos, Juaneco y su Combo
Hawaii and the Pacific	lap steel and pedal steel	Sol Hoʻopiʻi, Jerry Byrd
Europe	krautrock, Schlager, folk rock, and Scandinavia as a stronghold of metal	Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth (Germany), Rory Gallagher (Ireland)

16Recording and amplification on stage

In the studio the amplifier is usually recorded with a dynamic microphone (classically a Shure SM57) placed right in front of the speaker, often combined with a ribbon or condenser microphone and a room microphone. The position relative to the centre of the cone determines brightness and bass. A clean DI signal is often recorded as well, so that it can later be played back through an amplifier or plugin (“reamping”). Digital modellers with impulse responses (IRs) of speaker cabinets make professional recordings possible without volume. On stage, many bands now send signals directly to the mixing desk and use in-ear monitoring.

17Volume, hearing and ergonomics

Valve amplifiers of 50 to 100 watts reach well over 110 dB. Regular exposure to such levels causes permanent hearing damage (tinnitus, hearing loss). Hearing protection (ideally custom-moulded musicians’ earplugs), moderate stage volume, master volume circuits, attenuators or modellers are therefore part of professional practice. Ergonomically, what matters is the strap height (about the same standing as sitting), the weight of the guitar (light woods, chambering), wide straps and relaxed wrists; left-handed players can use mirrored instruments, which all the major makers offer.

18Training and teaching material

Professional training takes place at conservatoires and academies for popular music and jazz – internationally at the Berklee College of Music (Boston), the Musicians Institute (Los Angeles, founded in 1977 as the Guitar Institute of Technology) and BIMM (United Kingdom); in Germany at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg (Mannheim), on jazz and pop courses at many conservatoires, and at private academies. Graded examination systems such as Rockschool and Trinity (United Kingdom) are used internationally; the German youth competition “Jugend musiziert” has pop categories for electric guitar.

Area	Teaching material (a selection)
Starting out	Peter Bursch’s Gitarrenbuch; the Hal Leonard Guitar Method; various music school methods for rock and pop guitar
Rock, technique	Peter Fischer: Rock Guitar Secrets and Masters of Rock Guitar; Troy Stetina: Speed Mechanics; Paul Gilbert: Intense Rock
Fundamentals, reading	William Leavitt: A Modern Method for Guitar (Berklee)
Harmony, jazz	Ted Greene: Chord Chemistry (1971); Mick Goodrick: The Advancing Guitarist; Joe Pass: Guitar Style; Jody Fisher: The Complete Jazz Guitar Method
Blues	John Ganapes: Blues You Can Use

19Buying and costs

Category	Guide price (new)	Notes
Beginner’s pack (guitar and small amplifier)	about €300–600	prefer a branded instrument with a workshop set-up
Mid-range guitar	about €600–1,500	better hardware, pickups and finish
Professional instrument (production, USA/Japan)	about €1,500–4,000	–
Custom shop, boutique	from about €4,000	hand-made
Practice amp / modeller	about €100–400	with headphone and USB outputs
Valve combo	about €600–3,000	for band and stage work
Accessories	cable, strap, plectrums, tuner, stand, gig bag: about €80–200	–

20Care and maintenance

• Change strings every 4 to 12 weeks depending on how much you play; wash your hands before playing and wipe the strings afterwards.
• Clean rosewood or ebony fingerboards once or twice a year when changing strings and treat them with fingerboard oil (do not oil maple fingerboards).
• Clean scratchy pots and switches with contact spray; tighten loose jack sockets.
• Watch the neck relief when the climate changes (the heating season, summer); adjust the truss rod only in small steps.
• Do not leave the guitar in a hot car or next to a radiator; in winter, let it come up to room temperature after transport.
• Valve amplifiers: have the valves replaced as needed (power valves often every 1 to 3 years with heavy use); never run one without a speaker connected.

21Learning the electric guitar

Stage	Content
The first weeks	posture, holding the pick, tuning, simple riffs, power chords, first open chords
Year 1	open chords, chord changes, strumming patterns, palm muting, the pentatonic scale (first position), tab and first notation, songs with play-alongs
Years 2–3	barre chords, the pentatonic scale across the fingerboard, bending and vibrato, building a solo, playing in a band, dialling in sounds
Years 4–5	major and minor scales, modes, arpeggios, styles (blues, funk, rock, metal), improvising over chord progressions
Advanced	jazz chords and voicings, legato, tapping, sweep picking, transcription, recording, composition

22The electric guitar at Cuxhaven Music School

We teach the electric guitar from the first riffs to improvisation and recording – in rock, pop, blues, funk, metal and jazz. Our teachers advise on instruments, amplifiers, effects and set-up and bring students together in our bands with electric bass, drums and keyboard. For the fundamentals of the instrument, see guitar.

23Frequently asked questions

Should I learn classical guitar before electric guitar?

There is no need. If you want to play rock and pop you can start straight away on the electric guitar; the thin steel strings and narrow neck are often easier.

Which amplifier should I get for home?

A small modelling amp with a headphone output (5–30 watts) is perfectly sufficient, and many can record over USB as well.

Single coil or humbucker?

Single coils sound brighter and clearer, humbuckers fuller and hum-free. HSS and HSH guitars combine the two.

Why does my guitar hum?

Single coils pick up electromagnetic interference (screens, power supplies, dimmers). Remedies: change position in the room, use humbuckers or hum-free single coils, add shielding, or use a noise gate.

Tremolo or vibrato?

The “tremolo arm” actually changes the pitch, so it produces vibrato. True tremolo is a fluctuation in volume, produced by an amplifier or a pedal.

Do you need to read music?

Tab is enough to begin with. For jazz, studio, musical theatre and band work, notation and chord symbols are very helpful.

Which string gauge for beginners?

Usually a set of nines or tens; they are comfortable to fret and allow bending.

24Glossary

Action

The height of the strings above the frets.

Amp

Amplifier.

Bending

Pushing a string to raise its pitch.

Coil split

Switching off one coil of a humbucker.

DI

A direct signal to the mixing desk.

Feedback

A loop between guitar and amplifier.

Humbucker

A hum-cancelling twin-coil pickup.

Impulse response (IR)

A digital image of a speaker cabinet and its microphone.

Scale length

The vibrating length of the string.

Modeller

A digital emulation of amplifiers and effects.

Intonation

Correct pitch all the way along the fingerboard.

Palm muting

Muting with the heel of the hand.

Pedalboard

A board holding effects pedals.

Pickup

The transducer that senses the strings.

Power chord

A two-note chord of root and fifth.

Reamping

Playing a recorded DI signal back through an amplifier afterwards.

Solid body

A solid body with no cavity.

Tablature

Notation by string and fret.

Truss rod

The rod in the neck that adjusts the relief.

25Sources and further reading

• André Millard (ed.): The Electric Guitar. A History of an American Icon. Johns Hopkins University Press 2004.
• Tony Bacon: The Ultimate Guitar Book. Dorling Kindersley; also The Stratocaster Guitar Book and The Les Paul Guide. Backbeat Books.
• Dave Hunter: The Guitar Pickup Handbook. Backbeat Books 2008; also The Guitar Amp Handbook.
• Helmuth Lemme: Elektrogitarren – Technik und Sound. Elektor.
• Manfred Zollner: Physik der Elektrogitarre. Regensburg University of Applied Sciences, 2014 (available online).
• Brad Tolinski, Alan di Perna: Play It Loud. An Epic History of the Style, Sound, and Revolution of the Electric Guitar. Doubleday 2016.
• Steve Waksman: Instruments of Desire. The Electric Guitar and the Shaping of Musical Experience. Harvard University Press 1999.
• Andy Babiuk: Beatles Gear. Backbeat Books.

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Last updated: September 2026 · Musikpedia editorial team, Cuxhaven Music School