A rant about guitar

SATCHMO · 04-22-2010, 03:50 PM

As someone who has spent the better half of my life trying to master this instrument I can only say that i wish I had been given piano lessons as a kid.

The guitar is a counter-intuitive instrument when it comes to tuning. It is tuned in fifths with the exception of the B string which is tuned a half step down only to return to the fifth for the high E string. It makes no sense. The piano, on the other hand, is tuned linearly, and makes perfect sense. All of the naturals are layed out end to end in the white keys and all the sharps/flats are respectively layed out in correct interval to the naturals end to end on the black keys. I can sit down at a piano for hours, having a minimal amount of training, with the instrument and be completely enthralled with the possibilites of voicing, chord inversion, intervals, et al, but I get easily confused and annoyed,still, with the guitar and practiced at it a better part of my whole life.

The guitar's popularity has more to due with the fact that it is unobtrusive in live performance, it appeals to the rock star dreams and posturing that pre and post pubescent boys aspire to, which is the reason that most pick up the instrument, that and it's ubiquity in modern music. There are many other instruments that I enjoy playing more than the guitar, but for the sake of it's familiarity it's something that I continue to pick up and play.

I guess I'm saying I feel your frustration.

04-22-2010, 03:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,847	As someone who has spent the better half of my life trying to master this instrument I can only say that i wish I had been given piano lessons as a kid. The guitar is a counter-intuitive instrument when it comes to tuning. It is tuned in fifths with the exception of the B string which is tuned a half step down only to return to the fifth for the high E string. It makes no sense. The piano, on the other hand, is tuned linearly, and makes perfect sense. All of the naturals are layed out end to end in the white keys and all the sharps/flats are respectively layed out in correct interval to the naturals end to end on the black keys. I can sit down at a piano for hours, having a minimal amount of training, with the instrument and be completely enthralled with the possibilites of voicing, chord inversion, intervals, et al, but I get easily confused and annoyed,still, with the guitar and practiced at it a better part of my whole life. The guitar's popularity has more to due with the fact that it is unobtrusive in live performance, it appeals to the rock star dreams and posturing that pre and post pubescent boys aspire to, which is the reason that most pick up the instrument, that and it's ubiquity in modern music. There are many other instruments that I enjoy playing more than the guitar, but for the sake of it's familiarity it's something that I continue to pick up and play. I guess I'm saying I feel your frustration.