Classical Guitar vs Dreadnought: Difference and Comparison

The guitar is a very popular musical instrument that originated in Western countries, and today it has gained huge popularity all across the globe due to its distinguished features and abilities to generate vibrant music.

Classical guitar and dreadnought are two common terminologies that tend to confuse people; however, there are considerable differences between these two. 

Key Takeaways

1. Classical guitars feature nylon strings, a wider neck, and a smaller body, producing a warm, delicate tone suitable for classical and flamenco music.
2. Dreadnought guitars, with steel strings and a larger body, produce a louder, more resonant sound, making them popular in various music genres, especially folk and country.
3. Both guitar types require different playing techniques, with classical guitars using fingerpicking and dreadnoughts employing strumming or flatpicking.

Classical Guitar vs Dreadnought 

Classical guitars have a wider neck, shorter scale length, and nylon strings, having a smaller body with a rounder shape, used for classical music and flamenco. Dreadnoughts have a narrower neck, longer scale length, and steel strings, having a larger body with a more angled shape.

A classical guitar basically represents a complete range of guitars built by using nylon strings and having a very wider neck as compared to other models or guitars.

This particular instrument is very famous for playing countryside music or especially Spanish music. The quality of wood used in this instrument also happens to be different from other similar products. 

While on the other hand, dreadnought in itself does not represent any particular category of guitars. Rather it depicts a shape that is mostly used in one category of guitars known as acoustic guitars.

These guitars use steel strings instead of nylon strings and also happen to be smaller from the neck part. This guitar is very popular all across the globe for playing new generation music. 

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Classical Guitar	Dreadnought
Definition	The term refers to a complete variety of guitars popularly used for playing music all across the globe.	The term refers to a particular shape in which a certain category of guitars comes into the market.
Strings	This product uses nylon strings.	This product uses metal strings.
Nature	This term in itself represents a guitar.	This term in itself represents a particular shape of a particular guitar.
Size of neck	The size of the neck of this product is comparatively wider.	The size of the neck of this product is comparatively smaller.
Suitable for	It is most suitable for old and countryside music.	It is more suitable for new generation music.

What is Classical Guitar?

Among all the different varieties of guitars available in the market today, a classical guitar, as the name itself depicts, refers to a particular product that is used in playing and generating music at a classical level.

This product is also referred to as a nylon string guitar or a Spanish guitar due to certain specific characteristics attached to it.

The reason for calling this particular guitar as Spanish guitar is that it is set to have originated in Spain in the 19th century. 

This guitar came into the market way before the modern-day guitars have and has always used nylon strings for creating music of different kinds.

This product can easily be recognized by a simple look at its strings, and further, it can be classified by looking at the neck of the product specifications. 

A classical guitar, unlike all other guitars, comes in a very particular shape, and the neck of this product happens to be wider as compared to all other products, which make it considerably distinguishable among the range of different products.

Nowadays, this guitar is used majorly for playing classical tunes and music combinations. 

What is Dreadnought? 

An American guitar manufacturer company known as C. F. Martin and Company first came up with the idea of creating acoustic guitars, which were assigned a specific shape known as the dreadnought.

However, owing to the increased popularity of this particular product today, there are multiple companies manufacturing and marketing a dreadnought or acoustic type of guitar. 

This particular product was first launched in the market in the year 1916, and at that particular time, this product was given a specific name D- Guitar.

The D in the name of the product simply referred to its shape dreadnought. The very first alteration introduced by the company in a dreadnought guitar was that it was made up of metal strings in place of nylon strings. 

The size of the guitar was also altered, and the neck became comparatively smaller as compared to the previous range of products available in the market.

Apart from this, the tuning peg was also altered, and it was manufactured in metal pieces. Nowadays, this guitar is very popular all across the globe because of its capability of creating new generation music. 

Main Differences Between Classical Guitar and Dreadnought 

1. Classical Guitar is a complete range of guitars popularly used all across the globe, while on the other hand, Dreadnought is a specific shape given to acoustic guitars. 
2. Classical Guitar uses nylon strings, while on the other hand, Dreadnought uses metal strings. 
3. Classical Guitar is most suitable for the countryside and old music, while on the other hand, Dreadnought is more suitable for playing music that is being created nowadays. 
4. Classical Guitar comprises of a neck that is very wider while on the other hand, Dreadnought comprises of a neck that is very narrower as compared to other products. 
5. Classical Guitar uses both metal and plastic for tune pegs, while on the other hand, Dreadnought rarely uses plastic. 

References  

1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6IRjDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=classical+guitar&ots=GHzvCPQq99&sig=U6gvdfPDDbuix3Y85I4kCRf55QQ 
2. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mL4DPRBnfPYC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=dreadnought+guitar&ots=XO0wvlHy0B&sig=anCKY3hZpJ1jTaEXdEM5vtxJjHU