How Does
How Does an Acoustic Guitar Work?
The Strings
-
The nut and the bridge
A typical acoustic guitar has six strings, usually either steel or nylon, which are stretched tight between two points. On the neck of the guitar, near the tuning keys, the strings are held in place by the nut, while on the body of the guitar, they are held in place by the bridge. When a string is picked, it vibrates at a certain frequency which is determined by the tightness of the string, the weight of the string, and the distance of the strings between the two points holding it in place. This frequency, or pitch, is the note being played.
The Body
-
The vibrations of the strings are carried into the body of the guitar through the bridge. The front and back plates of the guitar vibrate in resonant frequencies with the strings. Guitar bodies are usually made of a tight-grained wood to aid in the propagation of these vibrations. This transfer of vibrations affects the quality of the note being played, but not the pitch. Differently sized and shaped bodies and different materials will all have an effect on the body's vibrations, and therefore the quality of the sound produced by the guitar.
The Gap
-
The vibrations transferred from the strings to the body are also transferred to the air filling the gap between the front and back plates of the body. These vibrations are focused and funneled through the hole in the front plate under the strings. The size of the hole and the volume of the gap determine how these vibrations affect the sound quality of the note being played.
Changing Notes
-
A player uses her fingertips to change the length of the string by pressing the string into a fret. Now the length of the string is from her fingertip to the bridge. This shorter length creates a higher pitch and each fret represents a half step on the chromatic scale. Additionally, a guitar player may change the length of the strings using a capo. A capo is a device that clamps all six strings onto a single fret and is typically used to change the key of the guitar without having to adjust all six strings individually.
eHow Article: How Does an Acoustic Guitar Work?
