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Basic Music Theory:

Round hole and f-hole guitars : Whats the difference?

Wednesday, 15 April 2009



Contrary to what one might think, the guitar's sound hole is not meant for the sound to come out of the guitar. It just helps in the vibrating air columns, behave more freely and thus shaves our ears from a dull muffled or dampened sound. Any hole, large enough - round hole or f-hole - will do just fine for that purpose. The sound comes from the entire body and strings of the guitar that vibrate and resonate.

Now, despite of this, people have their preferences for one over the other. Be it a round or and f hole, neither affect the playability of the guitar. It is seen that the round holed guitars are usually larger and heavier (jumbo) and thus have a deeper, louder and heavier sound than their sleeker, flatter, lighter are softer f-hole cousins. That is the only reason why one may favor one over the other. I own both kinds and I am comfortable with either.

So, if you wish to choose a guitar based upon the nature of its hole, its advisable to let your fingers and ears do the deciding than leaving that decision to your eyes - with respect to sound quality and ease of playing. And if you don't want to be a part of this debate, go get an electric.

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BasicMusicTheory Tip:

Always tune your guitar before you start playing. Practicing on out-of-tune one makes you sound poorer than you actually are as well as wrecks your ear training....Tune your guitar here now (methods and useful links); that's why the pro guitarists sound so good.....
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