How hard is it to play Guitar?

[jens]

Only part of the game of music is external. For some the biggest challenge is internal. I too have had that struggle.
If you really want to play your best I would strongly suggest the inner game of music.
https://www.amazon.com/Inner-Game-Music ... 0385231261

I might be buying this one

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Practicing-G ... 1775&psc=1

I don't struggle - since I also don't practice, both might correlate.

[jens]

I think there's a different mindset in using guitar to write, and using it to perform. I'm definitely in the former camp (as I imagine Jens is). Not to say of course that our widdling fraternity aren't equally valid in their use.

Indeed - albeit I think I probably fall somewhere in between these two, but either way I don't know a single scale and neither would I have much use for it, since typically I don't even know what key I'm in...

[glasspipe]

what do you tell people who ask If it's hard to play guitar?

I'm honest... yes, it is - it's a very hard to learn instrument (albeit not quite hard as concert zither)

I said this numerous times before here, but will say it again:

the problem is not to play a note - the problem is to play a note and make it sound good. Beginners notice that what they play sounds like ass so they tend to try to play something more complicated
because they think that's the problem. It however isn't. Guitar-players produce the sound with both their hands to a far greater degree than those who play any kind of keys do.

It takes time and experience to make a note sound good. Pick/finger attack, how the string is being pressed, muting, vibrato etc all come into play.

[jens]

Yes, exactly - and for me personally that's where the art begins, not shredding up and down a dozen scales (all of them in four positions to boot)

[donkey tugger]

not shredding up and down a dozen scales (all of them in four positions to boot)

Come on, it's easy...

[jens]

That's already way out of my league...

[Rune_7s]

Guitar is easy enough to pick up and be able to play at the level of your typical singer songwriter. Maybe 6 months of good practice with a teacher. It's progressing much more past that level where things get HARD. Just being able to play changes in a song by following the chord tones is a challenge on guitar that requires a significant amount of time, while on piano it's a walk in the park since you play things by note and not shape. It'd be weird to NOT know how to play chord tones on piano, whereas a lot of guitarist who have been playing for YEARS struggle with the concept. I'm not talking about picking notes out of a static chord shape. I'm talking about being able to play the notes of any given chord (let's use C major here) in every possible location on the instrument. That's instant on piano. It's anything BUT instant on guitar.

To get to the same musical literacy as a decent pianist/keyboard player, you'll need to learn the note names of the 144 possible notes playable on the fretboard (if you have 24 frets and 6 strings). That alone is something most guitarist never get even close to completing. Pianist learn the very same information on their instrument in about 20 minutes and it's MUCH easier to retain that knowledge vs. learning the fretboard.

Then you need to learn every possible interval ascending and decending, which is about 34 possible combinations in a two-octave range (one octave below the target note plus one octave above it) if you're tuned in 4ths. However, most people use standard tuning though and for good reason. In standard tuning you need to triple that number of combinations due to the major 3rd between the G and B string. Pianist have a heck of a lot easier time doing this since all octaves are identical.

Then there is the beast that is becoming proficient in reading staff notation. It's about 6 times more difficult to do than on piano because we have 6 tiny pianos lined up on our fretboard. This isn't a skill that I put a lot of importance on as a guitarist though, at least not being able to sight read. Being able to read at least a melody is very useful though and I recommend learning that while you're memorizing the notes on the fretboard. Those two skills heavily reenforce each other.

After spending several years working on all of that, you now have the musical literacy of a semi-diligent first-year piano student.

And that isn't even mentioning the sheer amount of time one can spend on refining technique. Just learning to play simple pieces of music while maintaining high pick accuracy and good intonation is a deceptively hard task and something that you'll need to work on throughout your entire life.

If two people sit down at a piano and play Mary had a Little Lamb with just the melody and root note of each chord, they will sound identical regardless of experience or skill level, with the only significant differences being timing. And Mary had a Little Lamb isn't exactly rhythmically challenging so that's hardly an obstacle in such a simple scenario.

The same exercise performed by two guitarists of very different skill levels will have far great audible variation then most people would expect.

[Bombadil]

IMG_0480.jpeg

[tapper mike]

I think you aren't differentiating properly between technique of one instrument for the other. There is a lot of variation in technique on piano to illicit the exact same thing between different keys. In particular scaling. Guitar is relatively isomorphic. Meaning the same fingers do the same thing but shift up or down the fretboard to play different keys or chords. Going from a barre G chord to a Barre A chord or third fret to fifth fret scaling in the root position.

O camt stress this enough. Tone comes from your fingers/pick first not from amps or effects. You can search the world over for guitars/amps/effects and still not have a clue about how to recreate/learn a song if you don't develop technique first.

Techniques vary from style to style but can occassionally cross over. Someone here at KVR (Sorry I've forgotten who) is learning Travis style picking. Travis style is great and lends itself to multiple styles if applied well. The technique forms the character. In order to do that well....It's work and it starts slow just as any serious musical direction you want to get into. Along the way you might have to abandon other techniques you've learned along the way. Don't worry you can always come back to then and expand your playing rather than just leave perfectly good stuff you've already learned.

Versatility is a worthy goal. Learning different styles and the techniques behind them never hindered my playing. I didn't lose my soul for rock and roll. Nonetheless I would encourage someone to get a grip on the basics of a specific style of music that they are already drawn to as learning the songs you like will go a long way to keeping on playing.


About Notation and Tablature.
There are quite a bit of guitar specific marking for guitar in standard notation for guitar. It's just something you have to search out for and understand when you are reading them. Many of these figures are excluded from standard guitar notation when you begin because it is limiting your focus on the note values. Tablature can go further and I should point out that it is in the hands of the person scoring to represent the music. Some aren't as good or diligent as others. Oddly I've found that many of the best tabbers are only mediocre in their playing. You have a third option on the table as well. Your Ears. Develop technique, listen for the technique mimic the technique when you hear it.

About fables folklore and follies
Jimi Hendrix never took a lesson. Did you grow up with Jimi? Were you there when Jimi had the prestigous honor of carrying up Rev Gary Davis's guitar to him during his sermons?


Hendrix grew up around musicians. He would pick things up from other guitarists and regularly go to shows trying to remember what they did.

Are you Jimi?

Tommy Shaw is a great guitarist, songwriter. He claims not being able to read anything including chord charts. If he's in a band like say... Styx then he is dependent on those who have an understanding or composing and arranging to work around him and guide him through the process. Personally I've played with a few hacks who might have had one or two good licks but fell apart when playing through changes. It freaking drove me insane having to spoon feed knowledge to Dunning-Kruger poster children. If they could read or write a chord chart had a basic understanding of keys and could work in time (tempo) then I could work with them. Yes I was a producer who worked with bands and artists not just my own.


About Songwriting
Learning to read music expands your musical vocabulary more so than simply listening regardless of how good an ear you have. It also helps to train your mind when applying words to music. Reading never stopped Bach or Beethoven or Gershwin or Bacharach or Costello or hundreds of thousand of others from writing songs.

Most songs are based on progression the order in choosing which progression is played is called a song form. ABCAB isn't just a song by Phil Collins it's a song form.

By now many have heard the axis of awesome but I prefer this vid


Learning theory is not an end in many ways it's a gateway. Yes there are common progressions available to all which can be cookie cutter pasted into new songs but there also are substitution chords and alterations to spice things up. As well there are things like phrasing and technique that can bring new life to them. JJ Cale had a very limited knowledge of theory used what he hand and produced some hits for Clapton. It wasn't enough to live off of though the attention that it garnered did increase his book-ability.

[Ray Cologon]

what do you tell people who ask If it's hard to play guitar?

Your framing of the question contains a paradox.

There are two seemingly contradictory answers, both of which are correct.

It is very easy to play the guitar. It is very hard to play the guitar well.

That's because playing two folk chords (or even one) could be considered "playing" guitar, and is within reach for most people. But anything approaching mastery (which, in any case, means different things to different people) is a challenge of a different order.

[Bombadil]

And I've said that a large segment of us are happy to accompany themselves with chords, adequately.
But yes: learning to that level is attainable for anyone with the time and motivation to get past the sore fingertips and cramped thumbs. Mastery, is another story. This is true.

[Vollofi]

To play the guitar is very easy and comfortable. You can create beautiful song using simple patterns (layering). My lofi song:

[tapper mike]

And I've said that a large segment of us are happy to accompany themselves with chords, adequately.
But yes: learning to that level is attainable for anyone with the time and motivation to get past the sore fingertips and cramped thumbs. Mastery, is another story. This is true.

Mastery is where you want to take it and what you already have in you. It's not trying to be everything all the time. Choose a path based on what you like to hear and how you see yourself in the world. Don't try to be something you aren't.


Master what you are working on before moving on.

Practice whole songs.
Get a setlist together.
Play out. (In front of real people)

Playing out live will be your best confidence builder.
If you have a bad set. Dust yourself off pick yourself up and work on doing it better next time.

Yes I have bombed. I hated it and thought about giving up the guitar. Only you can decide if it's worth picking yourself up or moving on. There are somethings I've tried and failed at in life never to return to and somethings I've failed at which made me all the more resolved to get it right the next time.

I did move past my fears. I did get better. Playing out live boosted my confidence and advanced my playing skills. Eventually I regularly played out live at bars with cover charges and attendance was on average 500 ppl on Friday's and Saturdays. The largest audience I ever performed at was about 1000 people. Alcoholism got the better of me and I had to walk away.

Yes I wrote songs. There were trade offs.

I was very much on top of my game for the music I performed. A lot of the "magic" I had in different styles got washed away. I used to be more of a chameleon player. I didn't have to practice as much because performance was my practice.

Okay you don't have a band and you're not getting the old one back... So what. Play live with a backing track or figure out singing and playing or chord melody. Then go out and busk somewhere. Like a park. Even if you don't draw a crowd.

[Bombadil]

And I've said that a large segment of us are happy to accompany themselves with chords, adequately.
But yes: learning to that level is attainable for anyone with the time and motivation to get past the sore fingertips and cramped thumbs. Mastery, is another story. This is true.

Mastery is where you want to take it and what you already have in you. It's not trying to be everything all the time. Choose a path based on what you like to hear and how you see yourself in the world. Don't try to be something you aren't.


Master what you are working on before moving on.

Practice whole songs.
Get a setlist together.
Play out. (In front of real people)

Playing out live will be your best confidence builder.
If you have a bad set. Dust yourself off pick yourself up and work on doing it better next time.

Yes I have bombed. I hated it and thought about giving up the guitar. Only you can decide if it's worth picking yourself up or moving on. There are somethings I've tried and failed at in life never to return to and somethings I've failed at which made me all the more resolved to get it right the next time.

I did move past my fears. I did get better. Playing out live boosted my confidence and advanced my playing skills. Eventually I regularly played out live at bars with cover charges and attendance was on average 500 ppl on Friday's and Saturdays. The largest audience I ever performed at was about 1000 people. Alcoholism got the better of me and I had to walk away.

Yes I wrote songs. There were trade offs.

I was very much on top of my game for the music I performed. A lot of the "magic" I had in different styles got washed away. I used to be more of a chameleon player. I didn't have to practice as much because performance was my practice.

Okay you don't have a band and you're not getting the old one back... So what. Play live with a backing track or figure out singing and playing or chord melody. Then go out and busk somewhere. Like a park. Even if you don't draw a crowd.

Been there done most of that. Thing about 'mastery' is that it is a life-long journey. No one ever gets 'there' if they are true students of the art.
I could play better than I thought I ever would, have no problem playing in front of audiences. I am in no shape way or form a 'master' at guitar. But I can hold my own within my musical taste.

[tapper mike]

There is no "one" art when it comes to guitar just as there is no one "Art" when it comes to painting or martial arts. Focus on your wheelhouse and leave the rest for someone else. Masters stay the path.

The main reason why people give up they say is out of boredom. I was never bored playing guitar as a kid. I was thinking of how I was going to improve to impress my friends and meeting girls. That doesn't happen by wishing. Wishing isn't wanting and wanting isn't needing. And to quote Mick Jagger "You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need."

Those who don't play out don't get the benefits that playing out provides. That is the goal promise and fulfillment. If you really want to play better start by imagining playing for someone while you are playing. When I'm at work and it's near the end I'm allowed to play music on my bluetooth speaker. I sing along. People notice when I've got my head in the game and when I don't. They know when I'm singing just to sing and when I'm singing for someone. It doesn't have to be a co-worker.