How does the number of strings on a guitar matter?
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Technically, all you need to play the guitar is one string. But then you can only play a single note at a time, which is enough to play basic melodies. In order to play chords (multiple notes at the same time) you need more than one string. The more strings, the more notes can be played simultaneously. The standard guitar has 6 strings, meaning you can play 6 notes in a chord. In western music there are 12 different semitones per octave. Often, you won’t play 6 different semitones in a chord but might for example have a lower E and another E in a higher octave in your chord, which adds richness to the sound. Othertimes you might only utilize 4 strings to play a chord and mute the other 2 strings.
More strings usually also means a greater range of available notes as the highest string is traditionally tuned 2 octaves higher than the lowest string, essentially giving you 24 more semitones to work with. But technically you can tune every string to your own liking, or if you’re very skilled you can also tune strings while playing to access a different note.
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