A really good illustration of just how important dynamics are would be a piece of music played on an acoustic guitar. A lot of music is built around repeating rhythmic patterns, so a sequence of notes will have a regularly occurring start point. The guitar player will emphasise the start of the sequence by hitting the first note very slightly harder than the following notes. Likewise other notes in the sequence will be played slightly harder or softer to emphasise the rhythmic or melodic structure. To take this a step further, a guitarist can choose to use his fingers, his nails or a plectrum, each of which will give the notes a very different dynamic structure (envelope).

The wood the guitar is built from will also have an effect; rosewood has a completely different tonal and dynamic response to mahogany. An acoustic guitar can be a beautiful and expressive instrument and musicians can spend thousands of pounds finding the guitar with the perfect tone for them. Cheap, poor quality cables can make a 1940s Gibson sound like a £50 student guitar.