There’s nothing quite like the sound of an electric guitar – especially with some nice distortion and reverb mixed in. Whether it’s bass-heavy metal riffs, mid-range blues or ripping a rock solo, all types of electric guitar are often played in the same manner – loudly. Playing loudly gives an added sensation to the experience of playing an electric guitar. Perhaps it’s because we can literally feel the sound. Maybe it’s because our playing seems all the more powerful. Either way, loud music and apartments don’t typically mix well. As someone who plays regularly and has lived in several high rise apartments, let’s talk about playing an electric guitar in an apartment and some ways you can enjoy playing while maintain relationships with neighbors!
When Playing Electric Guitar In An Apartment Goes Wrong…
Why can playing electric guitar in an apartment be problematic? You probably already know, but let’s briefly go through the ways.
- Hours: Most apartment buildings restrict the hours in which you can ‘make noise’, including playing musical instruments. Night time playing becomes “impossible”, or so it seems.
- Bass Travels Far: Whether your apartment floors are made of wood, concrete, steel or some combination, bass travels through these materials easily. This means your neighbors below you – and potentially above – can hear at least some of what you’re playing, even at low volumes.
- Some Walls Are Thin: Your next door neighbors can most likely hear you playing through the walls if you’ve got the volume reasonably loud.
- Proximity To The Door Matters: The closer your guitar amp/speakers are to your door – or, the fewer things stand between the two – the more likely your playing will carry down the hall.
- Space: Not only is a large amp impractical for playing electric guitar in an apartment, but it takes up a lot of space. Space can be a pretty hot commodity in an apartment!
Despite these various restrictions, there are still plenty of ways we can continue playing electric guitar in our apartments! I’ll go through each of them below.
Related: Are High Rise Apartments Soundproof? Mitigating Common Noises
Starting With The Easiest Solutions
Before I cover specific techniques, equipment and products for playing electric guitar in an apartment, here are a few easy steps you can take right now to mitigate any potential issues.
First off, I recommend elevating your amp off the floor in some way. You can put it on a small stool or place a thick rug or floor mat underneath it. This will prevent sound from traveling to your neighbors below.
For added sound dampening, you can play in a room with carpeting or throw down an area rug. This will lessen the amount of noise (aka ‘dampen’) that goes through the floor.
I also recommend playing in a room as far away from your main entry door as possible. If you can shut the door into the room while playing, even better.
Lastly, it helps to know what your landlord’s noise policy is. If your lease states that you can’t play after a certain time, it’s best to avoid it. On the bright side, you can play fairly loudly (within reason, of course) during the permitted hours without any neighbors having the right to say anything!
If You Prefer Playing Guitar At Night…
You never know when creativity will strike – of some of us, we feel the most creative at night. For others, they only have the time to play guitar late in the evenings. Whatever the case, playing electric guitar in an apartment is difficult at night…when done the traditional way.
Traditional electric guitar amps can be used with headphones. You don’t even need a pair of amp-specific headphones, either – all you need is an amp headphone adapter to use your day-to-day headphones to listen to your playing.
Not all headphones are created equal, though. While you technically can listen to your playing via the amp with basic earbuds, the sound quality won’t be as good – especially once distortion and/or volume are turned up. You may want to go for some noise-cancelling headphones instead to get the full listening experience.
Playing Electric Guitar In An Apartment Doesn’t Require An Amp: Try An Audio Interface
In the good old days, guitarists needed an amp to put out that unique electric guitar sound. Nowadays, that’s not the case.
If you have a computer, you have a way to play your electric guitar. But first, you’ll need a USB audio interface.
An audio interface will take the sounds that your electric guitar puts out and converts it into digital sound that the computer can process. They typically include a software that substitutes as an amp interface – for example, you can adjust sound settings and even play through pre-set “amps” that mimic popular amp sounds in the software. You can also play into programs like GarageBand.
Here are a few popular audio interfaces:
You can then listen to your playing via a set of high quality computer speakers or through your headphones – including wireless bluetooth headphones. Chances are, either will sound better than your computer’s built-in speakers.
Playing with this set-up – a computer, audio interface and speakers/headphones – is great because it’s portable and makes use of your computer. It’s also great for an apartment due to its’ volume control and smaller sound output (speakers vs. traditional amp).
Using an audio interface allows you to record music directly into your computer too, rather than into a USB microphone or similar. If you’re looking to do some recording on your computer, an audio interface is a must!
Sound-Proofing Shared Walls
If you’re worried about your next door neighbors hearing a little too much of your playing, you can soundproof shared walls.
It’s actually really easy. The old way of doing this was to hang a rug on the wall. In modern times, there are many decorative acoustic panels for walls that you can choose from.
Here are some popular acoustic wall panels to check out:
Small Amps Are Perfect For Apartments
Playing electric guitar in an apartment doesn’t require the amp from Back to the Future – a small amp will do better than expected. So much so that you probably won’t be able to play it to its’ full potential!
I’ve had a Marshall 15-watt combo amp since I began playing in 2002 and it puts out more than enough sound for apartment playing. I don’t put the volume up past 3 or 4 – even during normal hours – when in my apartment.
Here are a few top-rated small, portable combo amps:
Not only do some small amps put out decent sound, but they’re a lot easier to move around and store too – a good benefit for a small space.
In Closing
So, can you play electric guitar in an apartment? Absolutely! We can play guitar in any apartment, provided we are considerate of our neighbors, take some precautions and employ some creativity. I hope this article has been helpful.
