I've noticed a tendency for guitar to be presented as a fun, easy instrument to play. I find this rather curious. Why on earth is the guitar seen as easy? To play it with a level of skill seems to me to be anything but.

Well behind you on guitar grade but agree with your comments! I think it is just that it's so easy to strum a few chords to push out popular songs - which can make you sound like a hero quite quickly. Of course, many pop/rock guitarists just play three chords (not saying which!!), earn big money, and then ignite the passions of others to try the same...

But watch Eric Clapton or any other competent popular guitar hero play, and you can see why 99.8% of hopeful emulators just keep on strumming.

Reminds me of that line in the Dire Straits Sultans of Swing song: "Check out Guitar George, he knows all the chords - mind he's strictly rhythm - he doesn't want to make it cry or sing." That sums it up well.

Richard
Hong Kong

Hahaha, yeah I can think of many successful bands who were 3-chord wonders! One in particular comes to mind......

Matt

Half the problem is that most people can't tell... my brother was annoyed with me for not liking a song that used about 2 chords, musically it was dull as dishwater, the melody was almost non-existent, and the words were depressing. But when I commented about the musical side of it, he just kept insisting that he thought it was good musically, and no way could I make him understand what I was getting at.

I think that both classical guitar and lead guitar played well are very hard and very impressive, but so many guitarists are really quite bad that that is the impression most people get when they think of guitars... someone strumming a few chords with little rhythm, and little skill. sad, because I think played well (and classical especially) it's an amazing instrument and to me always looks terrifyingly hard to do!

I find guitar really difficult I just can't seem to get my fingers in the right place.

I think it is easy, because you just have to pluck the strings directly.

And for people who think "Why aren't harps easy to play, then?" I can say "I suppose guitar is more like a violin that you pluck than a piano that you pluck."

Just try plucking your violin - it's much easier than bowing it! However, you have to move your left hand a lot more on guitar than on violin.

I like the guitar because I can make all types of different sounds using things like wires or bottles on the strings!

I'm not sure bowing is that great a challenge though, to be honest. Certainly not when I compare it to the many complexities of playing the guitar. Plucking the strings directly - well, there are so many different techniques of plucking, strumming, etc etc, in much the same way as there are different techniques of bowing. Plucking the violin isn't really comparable, because pizzicato rarely involves the complexities of plucking that are demanded on the guitar. Then there's the left hand action - all the complication that the piano offers in chord formation, but with the added complexity of moving up and down the fret board that attends other string instruments. Then there's the issue of needing to retune for some pieces, and adapt your knowledge to the new tuning.

I think it's a very complex instrument. And I like it too...

Even picking is hard, knowing when to pick or hammer on/pull off to get the right musical effect. and if using distortion and maybe the piece expects repeated arpeggiation over severl strings, you can't hold the basic chord shape, you have to lift your [left hand] fingers as you pick the notes so you don't make that awful fuzz blur! i think it's a pretty difficult instrument to play beautifully.


ps - and to get a nice vibrato on an electric. thin gauge strings help!

Is that all I have to do?
I'll try to remember that next time I'm playing for someone. You may well have identified a fault in my technique

As with all instruments, it is very easy to play badly.
You can learn a few chords and strum along to most popular tunes. G, C & D will cover an awful lot of songs and will keep you occupied for weeks.
I certainly don't think guitar is easy at all. There are many different styles, and only very few can master them all with any proficiency.

Yeah guitars not that easy. Probably cos people think you don't have to read music so it must be easy.

A few thoughts

I played classical guitar through grade 8 very many years ago. It is not an easy instrument and requires a lot of effort to get a good sound. As to not bowing this is true enough but you still have to know how to vary tone and colour using your right hand. Plus try making a tremelo sound even and to speed! And your left hand has to be strong a supple. Bar chords need a lot of practice to ensure that all the strings sound and some of the stretches are huge.

On the plus side the fact that it is a fretted instrument means it is more forgiving should your fingers stray a little. If they stray alot then the string rattles and buzzes in a most unpleasing manner. Cannot say the same for a violin.

On balance, having played the violin for the past (nearly) 6 years I think it is more difficult to master. It is a much less forgiving instrument and using a bow does add an extra layer of complexity that is certainly a problem for me. I have no difficulty with the left hand even double and triple stopped notes, which I just see as chords.

On thing that did become apparent when I took up the violin is that my sight reading was weak. The way I rationalised this (maybe incorrectly) is that for the guitar a lot of the notes are hand positions (broken chords) and not fingered in the same way as a violin. Plus most guitar music uses ringing open strings that sound and stop after a while. In contrast, a violin stops making any noise when your bow stops. So this means that guitarists can get away with less counting as the supporting bass notes fill the holes and stop on their own.

Just a few thoughts

Jon

"Je suis le maître du violon, mais la guitare est restée mon maître", as said Paganini. My meagre French leads me to believe that he was saying that he was master of the violin, but that the guitar remained his master.

I spent 2 1/2 years in a band playing rhythm guitar to my friend's lead guitar and you know what? (I'm not bitter) His (single line) solos got far more praise than even the most demanding of my rhythm playing, and he was first to admit that mine was by far the harder of the two parts.

I think there are two major learning difficulties in modern (i.e. pop / rock) playing, picking up a few chords initially requires a bit of practise and devotion, but once you have done that any chord playing is really easy. Then the second difficulty is the massive mountain to climb to get proficient in things other than just chords.

In a few weeks of practise you can churn out any Oasis/Beatles/miscellaneous-modern-band chords, and in that sense it is easy to pick up the guitar, but to progress further technically requires far more dedication and time. And the kicker is that the second part doesn't give you back the same amount of praise as the first few weeks - it's an investment in your technical ability and enjoyment rather than in sounding good at a party where no-one appreciates a good lute suite when they hear one.

but i bet it gives you more satisfaction! the praise comes eventually.

Wasn't it also Paganini who said that the violin was his wife, and he could not imagine a day without it, but that the guitar was his mistress...

... I assume he spent lots of money on guitar

I think guitar is easy at one level- that's why it's popular, after all, and the same could be said for several other instruments - but in my simplistic view of the world, having 6 strings is the real secret of the guitar's success . Less, and the guitar would lose that "self-accompanying" ability to combine melody and harmony; more, and life would be spent tuning the darn thing!