In this lesson we discuss the parts of an acoustic guitar. When you are starting out it’s good to learn what everything is called so that you can talk about your guitar with other guitar players or know what to search for if you want to look something up online.
From top to bottom, we have the headstock. This is where your guitar’s logo will be, and this is where the strings connect to the tuners.
The tuners are how you add or release tension to your strings when you tune your guitar.
The guitar nut has slots to keep the strings in place, and it also determines the height of the strings at the top end of the neck.
The neck has a metal rod inside of it called a truss rod and the top part of the neck where the frets are at is called the fingerboard. The thicker part of the neck that connects to the body is called the heel.
The body has a back, sides, and a top or soundboard. The soundboard of an acoustic guitar determines the tone. The soundhole projects the sound outward, and the decorative circle around it is called the rosette.
The bridge on your acoustic guitar is where the strings connect to the body. They are held in with bridge pins and the go across the saddle, which determines string height at the body end of the guitar.
There is bracing on the inside to add stability and there is usually a strap button at the bottom end of the acoustic guitar’s body.