Many people learn to play the guitar as an acoustic instrument but look forward to buying an electric guitar when they're ready. When you reach this point, a visit to a local musical instrument store will give you all sorts of options to consider. These stores generally have large selections of electric guitars, including those with various body types. While many electric guitars have bodies that are made of solid wood — unlike acoustic guitars, which are completely hollow — you'll also find electric guitars with semi-hollow bodies. This term means that the body is partly solid and partly hollow. Here are some reasons to play this type of instrument.

You Can Play It Without An Amplifier

If you're shopping for an electric guitar, you'll generally want to buy an amplifier at the same time. It's important to use an amp with a solid-body electric guitar, as the body's lack of resonance will make it fairly difficult to hear the strings without amplifying them. While you'll certainly enjoy amplifying your semi-hollow guitar, this is an instrument that you can also use without an amp. Because of the semi-hollow nature of the body, this instrument produces a resonance that you can easily hear even without the amp. While it won't be quite as loud as an acoustic guitar, it will sound significantly better than a solid-body electric guitar when you don't use an amp.

It's Lighter To Hold

While their weight varies from instrument to instrument, solid-body electric guitars are often heavy because they're made of a solid slab of wood. Many players like this weight, but you might be looking for a lighter option if you have shoulder or back pain and want to stand up while playing your instrument. Semi-hollow instruments are much lighter than their solid-body counterparts, often being closer in weight to acoustic guitars. This results in your body having to support less weight, which can be more comfortable.

It Has A Unique Sound

Semi-hollow electric guitars have a slightly different sound than their solid-body counterparts. If you enjoy multiple music genres, you'll likely find that a semi-hollow guitar is well suited to some of them. These guitars are often popular in jazz music, for example. There's no disputing the value of a solid-body electric guitar, but you may find that also owning a semi-hollow guitar will allow you to experiment with a wide range of tones when you play. Learn more about semi-hollow electric guitars at your local music store.