Topic > The Benefits of Playing the Guitar - 1229

The average acoustic guitar costs around $150 depending on the brand. According to Aaron Schulman, “…the Yamaha FG700S will be the best-selling beginner acoustic guitar in the country” (1). The guitar consists of a body, a neck and a headstock. The center of the guitar where it has a circular opening is called the soundhole and the design around it is called the rosette. The dark piece under the soundhole is called the pickguard; Prevents people from damaging the wood of the guitar. The strings of a guitar are secured with tuning keys, where a person can adjust the strings to the desired pitch. The six strings of a guitar connect from the headstock, which is on the top of the guitar, attached to the tuning keys, to the white bone saddle, which is on the bottom. Each individual string has its own name. Starting from the thickest string, which is closest to the thumb, (if you hold the neck with your left hand) up to the thinnest one: E, A, D, G, B, E. Guitars can also be custom made for left-handed people. The average acoustic guitar has at least 19 frets. Frets are the metal strips that go horizontally on a guitar. The spaces between them are also called keys. The keys go by numbers and are where a person places their fingers to create different sounds. The entire length of the neck is called the fingerboard. To keep track, a guitar typically has white dot inlays on the odd frets, excluding the first fret. After the ninth fret it goes out at the twelfth fret with two white dots. Additionally, it goes back to the individual points on the fifteenth, seventeenth, and nineteenth frets. After learning how the frets and strings align, the individual can figure out where to place them