Are 3 String Guitars Easier To Play Than 6 String?

When I was just starting out on cigar box guitars, I wondered how different it would be to playing standard guitars. Now I’ve been playing for a while, these are my thoughts.

I find a Cigar Box Guitar easier to play than a six string. The chord shapes are often easier, enabling me to concentrate on the feel of the music better. There is less wrist strain and less finger pain. I find it easier to pick out a melody and simultaneously add in some simple chord accompaniment.

How Does The Tuning Make A Three String Guitar Easier To Play?

A three string cigar box guitar is usually tuned in a way called open tuning. ( See the paragraph below for an explanation of this term) Some six string guitarists play with open tuning too. This makes chord shapes easier. Strumming the open strings produces a chord.

Many cigar box guitar players choose to at least start with GDG tuning. This is how that works:

The lowest string is tuned to G, the second string to D and the top string to G.

Beginner Power Chords On The Cigar Box Guitar

We can play a power chord with the three open strings: Strumming the three strings without any frets being pressed down with the fingers off the left hand can make a power chord of G. This means you have the root note of G and the fifth above it (D).

Placing the forefinger of the left hand across the fifth fret changes the notes to CGC, a C power chord. This kind of chord is called a barre chord. You can use a slide instead of your forefinger and some players prefer playing with a slide most of the time. It makes for a different style of playing and does require a bit of practise to get the hang of it.

Sliding the forefinger (or slide) up to the seventh fret changes the notes to DAD. This can be a D power chord. A D power chord can substitute for a D7 chord.

So we can play G, C and D7 chords with the open strings and the forefinger(or slide) placed at two different positions across the fretboard.

This is so much easier than on a six string guitar and with these three chords you can play literally thousands of songs and play or improvise 12 bar blues.

What Are Power Chords?

Power chords are chords in which only part of a chord is played, but the missing notes are filled in by the ears of the listener. How power chords sound to our ears is determined by the chords around it.

The Cigar Box Guitar makes use of power chords as well as simplified chords. Rock guitarists use power chords on six string electric guitars. Power chords are not something confined to cbgs.

Power chords tend to use doubled up notes, especially on a cbg. This makes them sound more open, some would say thin. But by amplifying the guitar, especially with distortion and overdrive, they sound great.

A power chord is normally played with the root note and a fifth above. This is exactly how three stringed guitars are tuned.

How Does The Thinner Guitar Neck Help?

It is possible to tune a six string guitar to open tuning. So why is the thinner neck of a cigar box guitar any different?

Barre chords on a six string guitar requires quite a bit of practise and strength in your finger and your wrist.

Since the thinner neck of a cbg requires less pressure for a barre chord, it is easier to play. I have found this really helpful.

When I played six string guitars, especially steel strings, my wrist got sore. I found making a barre chord also made my forefinger sore. Although getting a good wrist position helped somewhat, I was always a bit disappointed with the sounds I made.

How Does A Three String Guitar Make Melody Playing Easier?

Since the strings are in open tuning, you can fairly easily pick out a melody on one or two of the strings and strum across the others as an accompaniment.

You can insert the occasional barred chord on the fifth and seventh frets to add interest.

On a six stringed guitar, it’s not too difficult to pick out your favourite riff. You can either go up and down the neck on one string or preferably across the strings. This makes it more comfortable to play and it’s also easier to keep a track of where you are on the fretboard.

However, playing a riff with any kind of chord accompaniment on a six stringed guitar is pretty advanced. I guess that’s why most bands have both a lead and rhythm guitarist.

Playing a three string guitar makes it much easier to play both lead and rhythm, either intertwined or simultaneously. It’s therefore possible to play on your own, without a band, and get a much fuller sound.

Since amplifiers sometimes come with rhythm backing tracks, you can really feel like you are making a great sound just on your own. And don’t forget you can always plug headphones into an amplifier. Although it won’t deaden the guitar sound completely, it will give those around you a break from your overdriven screaming riffs.

How Easy Is It To Tune A Three String Guitar?

There are less strings to tune so with a tuner or tuner app it’s twice as quick as tuning a six string instrument.

Tuning a three string guitar to itself is fairly easy even if you don’t have access to a tuner. Again, easier than tuning a six string instrument to itself. My favorite tuner is this one available on Amazon:

For the three string cbg, play the lowest note, fretting at the seventh fret. This is the same pitch as the second string. Tune the second string by turning the tuner and comparing it to the fretted bottom string.

Now play the second string, fretting at the fifth fret. This is the same note as the open top string. Turn the tuning peg on the top string to get it in tune.

Also remember that the top and bottom string are an octave apart.

Usually, you turn a tuner anticlockwise to stretch the string and raise the pitch. If the tuner is on the left hand side and facing away from you, it will seem like you are turning it clockwise.

If you are turning the tuner and nothing seems to be happening to the pitch, make sure you are turning the correct tuner! It’s easy to turn the wrong tuning peg if you’re not careful.

Custom Built Six String Guitars

If you were to ask a luthier to build you a custom six string acoustic guitar, it would cost a great deal of money.. hundreds if not thousands.

To build a standard guitar body requires a lot of skill. Since the body is curved, it is much more difficult to make than a box-shaped body. The wood needs shaping and bracing.

This is because it would collapse under it’s own weight. Bracing needs to be strong, but not too heavy. Heavy bracing will make the instrument cumbersome. Not only this, but it will deaden the sound of the instrument.

To have a neck and fretboard built to your specifications might involve building unique jigs. This would add to the cost.

Similarly, a custom built electric guitar is often a very expensive purchase. These, I would say, are slightly more easily built at home than an acoustic as long as you can install the electronics. I still think that building a solid -bodied guitar is quite advanced. This is especially true when you factor in the electronics.

A far less expensive way to have a custom guitar built specifically for your needs and wants (and body measurements) is to choose a cigar box guitar.

Buying A Cigar Box Guitar

A cbg builder will usually have their preferred scale length, neck width etc. If you require a shorter neck, though, or a wider neck for thicker fingers, they are more likely to be able to accommodate your needs. Most builders are making instruments for the love of it, as well as to make money.

They are often working in a shed or garage and don’t have such high overheads. That’s not to say that they are making cheap shoddy instruments. I know of many in the cbg community building wonderfully sounding instruments for a comparatively low price. Such instruments would be way outside the price range of most if they were traditional shaped instruments.

There are also companies producing a whole range of cigar box guitars, but they tend to be small, family run concerns. They are much more approachable than larger firms.

Making Your Own Custom Instrument.

You can buy a complete kit to make your own instrument. You can buy separate parts or you can source wood and build everything from scratch.

If you can’t buy the guitar you want at a price you can afford, try building your own. It’s very rewarding and you can make one using standard hand tools. See this post with information on tools you will need to build a cigar box guitar.