The electric guitar has influenced most of the music of the past century and has had a major impact on our popular culture. The electric guitar has become one of the most popular musical instruments not only for the hobbyist but for pros too. It gives one numerous possibilities for creating special sounds and it's easier to learn to play an electric guitar than an acoustic guitar.

Learning to play an electric guitar is really not very different from learning to play an acoustic guitar. If you can play an acoustic guitar, you can play an electric guitar. The electric guitar does present an advantage you don't have to press on the fret as hard as you would on an acoustic guitar to create a sound. Thus, for a beginner, it is easier to learn to play an electric guitar than the acoustic.

An electric guitar uses an amplifier which electronically manipulates the tone of the instrument. String vibrations are converted into an electrical current, which is then 'picked up' and amplified. The vibrations are converted using a device called a 'Pickup'. The electrical signal that is created by the guitar can be altered electronically before it continues onto the amplifier. This allows the player to make a variety of sounds. Some electric guitars even have the ability to sound like an acoustic guitar and many other instruments at the simple flip of a switch. The cost of even a cheap electric guitar can be considerably higher than a cheap acoustic guitar because you need additional hardware like an amplifier, cables, pedals and other electronic accessories. This has been changed in recent years as laminates and imported components have brought he cost of a cheap electric guitar package way down.

An electric guitar usually does not have a hollow body so it makes very little sound when you pluck the strings without being plugged into an amplifier. This is quite different from an acoustic guitar which is typically made with a hollow body. With an electric guitar when the strings are plucked the goal is to create an electric current not necessarily an audible sound. Once the cable transmits the current through to the amplifier the magic begins. The density of the strings and how much movement (strumming) determines how the current is created and eventually what kind of sound comes out.

The electric guitar was born into the jazz music era and later spread to be used in almost every other genre of music imaginable including: rock and roll, heavy metal, blues, country, new-age and modern classical music. The hybrid buzz-word was around long before gas/electric cars made the term fashionable. For decades the combination of electric and acoustic guitar has been popular. Electric guitars can be very exotic too from detailed art work on the body to multiple necks and string formations.

Electric guitar bodies are usually made from wood however, you can find cheap electric guitars made from other materials. The body material can make a huge difference on the sound as in a steel guitar. With the common hardwood body construction the guitar may look like one piece but it not easy and can be quite expensive to find one piece of hardwood big enough for an entire guitar body. Custom guitars are sometimes made this way but they are very expensive. Most quality guitars are made by laminating two pieces of wood together. Sometimes you can see the seam going down the middle of the body. Hardwoods like Ash, Maple, Mahogany and Alder wood are commonly used to create an electric guitar body. Sometimes cheap electric guitar bodies are made from particle board and then a hardwood like Maple is laminated on top to give it a stylish look. These Guitars are called "flame tops". Carbon composites, aluminum alloys, or a plastic material such as poly carbonate are used to make electric guitar bodies and each creates a unique sound. Most electric guitar bodies are solid and don't have the 'sound hole' you see on an acoustic guitar. The 'sound hole' is not necessary as the 'pickups' do the job of carrying the sound electronically to the amplifier. Pick-ups could be thought of as microphones that grab the string vibration and transmit it to be amplified.

So, there’s a brief history of the electric guitar. For the beginner it’s easy to get started by first investing in a Cheap Electric guitar. Then let your talent and education take you from there!