It feels good to be a "real musician"

[robogone]

but piano keys are right in front of you laid out in a logical repetitive order...unlike guitar where you have to do finger yoga to play chords and scales. I think both have an equal coordination learning curve (but imho if one is harder it's the guitar) but I honestly believe theory wise piano is a much quicker pick up than guitar YMMV

Good points.

I really can't see how piano can be harder to learn just because it has more notes or that piano chords are harder because you have to hit the keys harder - anyone who learned to play guitar knows how long it takes before you can play for an hour or more on an acoustic without feeling fingertip pain that no piano player would ever feel.

[discoDSP]

Everybody knows trombonists feel it the best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g11HF7jJ35I

[robogone]

Everybody knows trombonists feel the best

I wouldn't know, I've never been felt up by a trombonist...

[discoDSP]

Wrote too quick

[tapper mike]

ntom, Take no advice too seriously. Save mine.


Don't go chasing what everyone else thinks you should. Enjoy what you are doing today. Sure learning covers is fine don't obsess over games. When your fingers hurt stop give em a rest and then start again the next day.

[ghettosynth]

ntom, Take no advice too seriously. Save mine.


Don't go chasing what everyone else thinks you should. Enjoy what you are doing today. Sure learning covers is fine don't obsess over games. When your fingers hurt stop give em a rest and then start again the next day.

BAM! This advice is spot on! One thing about learning covers is that as soon as you think that you've got it you realize that there's something missing in your variant and you listen more closely. When you do that, your learning gets pushed in some unplanned direction. This is good for you!

[ras.s]

Nah, better just quit such delusional thinking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RBSkq-_St8

[ntom]

Nah, better just quit such delusional thinking.

[video]

can I just say this has to be one of the coolest things ever?
MAN AM I GLAD I WAS BORN IN THIS ERA!

[wrench45us]

playing covers also gives you a sense of song craft.

what songs work in even halting simple arrangements of chords and what songs you like and want to play are dependent on a lot of extras and arrangement details

everyone starts out playing covers
it's when you learn how music is working (i.e applied theory) and start to see certain patterns at work that you start learning more than just another song

[rockstar_not]

playing covers also gives you a sense of song craft.

what songs work in even halting simple arrangements of chords and what songs you like and want to play are dependent on a lot of extras and arrangement details

everyone starts out playing covers
it's when you learn how music is working (i.e applied theory) and start to see certain patterns at work that you start learning more than just another song

Amen to this.

I will put one example out there that took me by surprise.

4-5 years ago, Mat Kearney had a pop tune called 'Nothing Left To Lose'. Chris Martin-like nasally voice simple chord progression, acoustic guitar driven song - nothing particularly noteworthy.

However, something intrigued me each time I heard the song. So I decided to teach it to myself, grabbed a starter chord chart/lyric sheet online and got to work.

I couldn't play the danged chorus - I always stumbled through it and got my timing off.

It was driving me nuts - so then I counted out the beats and found that in this very simple 4/4 pop song, he throws in a 3/4 measure twice in each chorus. It was that very unique little twist that caught my subconscious attention.

People will likely poo-poo Mat Kearney here; after all he doesn't have a middle 8 in his songs. However, that little change-up is probably one reason this song got as popular as it did. The lyrics are visually evocative as well, but I think the 3/4 one measure switch up is likely also responsible for the attention the song got years ago.

-Scott

[tapper mike]

Have you ever got involved in a competitive sport later on in life? Let's say you're 20 and want to get interested in boxing. You may have had some prior athletic experience but not in the art of pugilism. So you join a Gym and you start sparring with someone close to your own age and wieght. A lot of these guys have been studying since they were 12. You get your arse handed to you. You say "Wow" that's cool. But then the constant beatdown happens and you start to wonder if you are ever going to get good at it. You are playing out of your league and the more you want the more frustrated you'll get trying to develop your abilities.

Playing guitar with others can be that way. You can learn a few chords but not have the experience of someone else. And you can pull your hair out trying to do all those things that others are doing. It can also be frustrating for the person with great ability who likes to show off but feels pulled down by your lack of experience. If the person is nice and actually concerned about you developing as a musician they have to match things without trying to belittle and still trying to motivate you up to a level of comfort. A good teacher can do this because a good teacher is less concerned with showing off to a student as they are getting the student to play comfortably around them.

Trust me. I've been the frustrated guy outside of my element and I've been the guitar hero that other guitarists worshiped. I'm less concerned with either now. I don't have to prove anything to anyone. I play because I have a song to sing.

Playing covers is fine. And I'm more an advocate of learning by playing covers then trying to learn for sake of theory. Using your imagination is a much more effective means to writing songs then trying to make everything fit into some grand theory. But don't obbsess over learning songs as much then simply trying to write songs. Don't worry that it's not smart enough or it's not like your favorite artist. No one ever wrote songs by hoping if they learned enough covers it would somehow make them good enough to write there own. Usually the opposite happens. It's the hero worship thing again. "Wow I'll never write a song like that so why bother?"

A bit about Rocksmith. I've watched several reviews about the product and my feelings are mixed. The ability of the game to read the actual quality of the notes is mixed. Sometimes it doesn't catch what it should. And other times even if you do a very good rendition of a song using rocksmith it will give you a less then worthy score. Which is really bogus when you think about it. I do like the concept that it gives you feedback on your performace which is something that ...Guitar Pro wouldn't offer. However if the feedback is false then you have to wonder about things a little bit.

So I would take it all with a grain of salt and remember the best educator is simply playing and imagination.

[debra1rlo]

[devil's advocate]define "real"[/d.a.]

[David Carpenter Wind Core]

I was comparing guitar and piano difficulty at the highest possible skill level.

Here is what I am talking about


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7IQM2L8Kpc

[David Carpenter Wind Core]

piano around the 2:00 minute mark it gets insanely difficult

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_36x1_LKgg

[robogone]

I was comparing guitar and piano difficulty at the highest possible skill level.

Here is what I am talking about

This is meaningless in a comparison of supposed difficulty. It wouldn't be hard to find someone playing something insanely difficult on the guitar that can't be replicated on the piano. It wouldn't make guitar harder to play anymore than this makes piano harder to play.