Noise is often a problem when people are learning to play the acoustic guitar. Neighbors, parents with sleeping children, and other occupants in your house can make it difficult to practice with any consistency.
You can try to practice with headphones, or move to a practice room or basement if you have one. It’s still possible that the acoustic sound of the guitar will interfere with neighbors though.
The problem is that an affordable acoustic guitar produces a lot of sounds and that sound travels through walls and floors and floors and ceilings and then out into your house or apartment. So even if you’re in a closed-off room, you might still be disturbing others throughout your house.
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Play Acoustic Guitar Quietly (DIY Home Tips)
Tip 1:
You can tape/duct tape the bridge with some masking tape or something similar so that you can raise it up so much. This will create a bit of a dead spot under the bridge, which will allow you to practice without disturbing anyone.
Tip 2:
Another thing that you can try is to put some noise dampening material (like the stuff they put on carpets and your walls in your house). You can use an adhesive like spray glue or double-sided tape and attach it to the guitar. This will muffle things a bit.
This works a bit better if you have a flat surface to attach it to upright, as it may be less effective if you have a slanted surface.
Tip 3:
You can also invest in some $100 acoustic guitar covers. These are highly effective at reducing the noise that your guitar creates as you play as they are designed to muffle the sound by absorbing some of the sound produced by the strings being hit.
Tip 4:
Another way to reduce the sound of an acoustic guitar is to make sure your strings are new and tuned well. Strings create a lot of noise when they are old and out of tune. So if you have been practicing a lot and not changing your strings then that might also be contributing to the problem.
Products Playing Acoustic Guitar at Home
Extra-Light Gauge Strings:
One of the main factors in how loud your acoustic guitar will sound is the strings you use. The heavier the gauge of your strings, the harder they are to produce sound. So if you want to play quietly, try using lighter gauge strings or even lower string gauges. This way, you won’t have so much string noise when playing.
Acoustic Guitar Dampers:
These are small devices that will help to muffle any unwanted sound created by your guitar while you’re playing it. While playing, it will help to muffle any unwanted noise that your guitar is making.
These probably won’t be as effective as using a stringer with lower string gauge or even better still, lower string gauges as they will also help to reduce the overall sound of the strings.
Acoustic Sound Mufflers:
These items look like large thermostats and they are designed to prevent unwanted sound from being produced by your acoustic guitar when you’re playing it so that it doesn’t disturb anyone else in the house.
You can use them with just about any type of guitar and they can reduce both the sound and unwanted noise that is produced by the strings.
Acoustic Guitar Tuners:
If you’re having trouble tuning your guitar, then you might want to use a tuner to help you tune it properly. These are often used with acoustic guitars and they will help to ensure that your guitar is tuned properly so that it doesn’t create any unwanted noise while you play.
Acoustic Guitar Picks:
If you’re having trouble playing your acoustic guitar quietly then you might want to try using a different type of pick.
While these won’t affect the string noise directly, they do have an impact on how hard it is to play the guitar due to the fact that they are designed to help improve your grip on the picks so that your fingers don’t slip so much while picking.
So if you use a lighter pick, then it will be easier for you to play without having so much string noise.
Conclusion:
Noise is often a problem for people who are just starting to play the acoustic guitar. You can try to tape the bridge, put some kind of material over the strings or put on acoustic covers or even have a tuner.
You can also invest in some new strings so that they are less noisy. So there are plenty of things you can do if you find that your $300 acoustic guitar is making too much noise.
A lot of people will even use a type of pick to help keep their fingers from slipping while playing the guitar. So you should take a look at all of these options and see what you can do to get your blues acoustic guitar under control and play it in peace.