Electric guitars have risen above the level of mere musical instrument to become the symbol for an attitude and in fact a cultural movement. Though they were originally intended for more "serious" music, it is hard for the modern mind to see the guitar as anything other than a rock and roll accoutrement. It's no wonder that so many teenagers want to learn how to play the guitar.Electric guitars are basically broken down into two general categories. There are the hollow bodied and the solid bodied electric guitars. Hollow bodied electric guitars are the older of the two versions, and they were originally essentially a modified acoustic electric guitar with pickups. Nowadays, hollow bodied guitars are associated primarily with jazz and rockabilly guitarists, though you also find them being played by blues and even some rock musicians like Bono from the rock band U2.
Solid bodied electric guitars are by far the more popular of the two styles, and you can see them played by just about every style of rock musician. They are generally composed of mahogany bodies which though heavy are extremely solid and provide good harmonics. The sound from the strings of a solid body electric guitar is captured by what is known as a pickup. This pickup then translates the vibration sound of the guitar string into an electric current which then travels through the guitars electronics to the amplification system.
Electric guitars can be found in a variety of styles and price ranges. Though a vintage electric guitar will cost quite a bit of money, there are a number of new mass manufactured guitars that can serve as great inexpensive "learner" models for the would-be rock and roller. You can find a great electric guitar used at most musical instrument shops as well as here on the Internet.