Is piano better than guitar?

[Pianist1]

Well, you can play guitar on a piano, but you can't play piano on a guitar ...

Actually you can, but it's incredibly difficult!

Or this, which was technically composed for a harpsichord, but it still involves two hands and ten fingers! (The Fugue, which begins at 5:50 defies belief.)

I played classical guitar for 35 years but switched to classical piano about three years ago. I got bored with most music written for the guitar, and most transcriptions were either too hard or were more pleasing on the original instrument. As others have said, one is not inherently "better" (whatever that means in that context) than the other--they are just too different to make direct comparisons. I can say that classical guitar has a wider variety of tone colors and expressive devices such as vibrato, but I enjoy the richer, more complex harmonies and contrapuntal possibilities of the piano. Plus, one doesn't have to struggle to make the notes sound good on the piano--you just have to strike the keys! On a classical guitar, it takes years to develop good tone, then there's the complete lack of sustain. Coordinating the two hands is very difficult on the piano, but so is coordinating pressing/forming the notes on the guitar with the left hand and plucking them with the right. Both hands have all sorts of different playing techniques on the guitar--it's just on a smaller scale but just as hard if not harder than on a piano.

 

[sKiZo]

I sit corrected ...

As far as sustain goes, I suppose a lot of that depends on the instrument. I have a Schecter C1+ (electric) that is still kinda sorta growling at me in the corner from a session a couple hours back ... <G>

 

[Pianist1]

I sit corrected ...

As far as sustain goes, I suppose a lot of that depends on the instrument. I have a Schecter C1+ (electric) that is still kinda sorta growling at me in the corner from a session a couple hours back ... <G>

Sure. An electric guitar depends on the amp for sustain (or various pedal effects). A classical guitar is entirely acoustic and depends on the skill of the builder for what meager sustain it has!

 

[sKiZo]

Agreed. But a couple tricks Schecter used that help a bunch is a set neck and thru the body string mounts ... we're talking some serious resonance ...

 

[Binkman]

My 61' tele repro. w/semour duncan pups and babicz bridge! Sustain is well sustaining, for a long ass time. I can also feel the neck fingering. weird.. but never really played a tele.. why I built it.. just never see a fender in my neck of the woods.

 

[PureQuill]

Why chose?
VOX organ guitar...

LOL
PQ

 

[SA7I]

Greetings!

Lately I've been playing alot of guitar but my progress is so/so. I was learning the goodbye to romance guitar solo which is surprisingly easy, however I still feel that the guitar does not feel as natural for me. I spend a lot of time playing each little lick super slowly to get the muscle memory down.

Any-who, I've started college again and decided to start learning piano. I already knew a little about sheet music and so far I've practiced two hours a day for 3 straight days and I'm loving it. Even after two hours I still want to keep playing. The piano feels more intimate and I feel I can express more emotion as well as the notes and progressions make more sense to me since its all laid out in one straight line unlike a guitar where its 6 strings.

I really love classical piano and am learning chopins 4th ballade to start and i'm loving learning it so far. I know thats ambitious for a newbie like me but I already understand the level of practice it takes to learn this stuff. Plus I have two hours a day for 4 days a week in between my classes. I practice all the same licks for two hours straight so it becomes muscle memory and i'm actually making some decent progress. and Im loving it so far. I also feel a really personal connection to ballade No. 4 and it reminds me of a girl who broke my heart as well as the progression of the piece has lots of parallels with my life over the last few years.

Like I said it feels more intimate and natural for me when I play piano and I am just loving it. I don't know if this is temporary though. Maybe im liking it because it is a new experience? has anyone switched from guitar and piano and liked it better?

I prefer playing the Piano.

 

[911s55]

Sure. An electric guitar depends on the amp for sustain (or various pedal effects). A classical guitar is entirely acoustic and depends on the skill of the builder for what meager sustain it has!

Not entirely true. If you have a guitar that has a nice solid acoustic resonance and sustain even mediocre pickups will suffice, and it doesn't have to be a high end expensive model either. Lot's of Gibson, Fender, Guild, Gretsch, etc are acoustic turds, vintage ones included. If you need a pedal for sustain on your guitar you need a different guitar. If you want a pedal for an "effect" that's different.

 

[teal'c]

I enjoy both, but I don't think I've ever heard a piano scream.

 

[Quadman2]

Greetings!

Lately I've been playing alot of guitar but my progress is so/so. I was learning the goodbye to romance guitar solo which is surprisingly easy, however I still feel that the guitar does not feel as natural for me. I spend a lot of time playing each little lick super slowly to get the muscle memory down.

Any-who, I've started college again and decided to start learning piano. I already knew a little about sheet music and so far I've practiced two hours a day for 3 straight days and I'm loving it. Even after two hours I still want to keep playing. The piano feels more intimate and I feel I can express more emotion as well as the notes and progressions make more sense to me since its all laid out in one straight line unlike a guitar where its 6 strings.

I really love classical piano and am learning chopins 4th ballade to start and i'm loving learning it so far. I know thats ambitious for a newbie like me but I already understand the level of practice it takes to learn this stuff. Plus I have two hours a day for 4 days a week in between my classes. I practice all the same licks for two hours straight so it becomes muscle memory and i'm actually making some decent progress. and Im loving it so far. I also feel a really personal connection to ballade No. 4 and it reminds me of a girl who broke my heart as well as the progression of the piece has lots of parallels with my life over the last few years.

Like I said it feels more intimate and natural for me when I play piano and I am just loving it. I don't know if this is temporary though. Maybe im liking it because it is a new experience? has anyone switched from guitar and piano and liked it better?

I've read your initial take on the comparison of the two musical instruments and you tend to feel that the "piano" is a more "intimate" device that brings you closer to the music. Well, for you that is a subjective POV based on your experience.

Personally, I feel subjectively, that the guitar is the more intimate. In physical make up, the piano is acknowledged as being both percussion and stringed, while the guitar is just stringed. To be more exact the piano is a chordophone.

So, to my way of thinking, it's the guitar that brings you closer to the reproduction of the music and not the piano. In fact with the guitar, the ends of your fingers come in actual contact with the strings, while on the other hand, the piano has to rely on a series of moving joints connected to the keys which in turn hits the strings. In other words, you are more distanced from the mechanical manner when you intereact with the instrument.

This is not to say that the piano can not be expressive, as under the hands of a pro, he/she can also modify to an extent the sound of the music.

Bottom line, it's the players with their abilities who has mastery over either, but as far as intimacy, the guitar gets the nod from me...but neither are better than the other. You've decided on intimacy, as have I.

Q

 

[nick parkin]

I've read your initial take on the comparison of the two musical instruments and you tend to feel that the "piano" is a more "intimate" device that brings you closer to the music. Well, for you that is a subjective POV based on your experience.

Personally, I feel subjectively, that the guitar is the more intimate. In physical make up, the piano is acknowledged as being both percussion and stringed, while the guitar is just stringed. To be more exact the piano is a chordophone.

So, to my way of thinking, it's the guitar that brings you closer to the reproduction of the music and not the piano. In fact with the guitar, the ends of your fingers come in actual contact with the strings, while on the other hand, the piano has to rely on a series of moving joints connected to the keys which in turn hits the strings. In other words, you are more distanced from the mechanical manner when you intereact with the instrument.

This is not to say that the piano can not be expressive, as under the hands of a pro, he/she can also modify to an extent the sound of the music.

Bottom line, it's the players with their abilities who has mastery over either, but as far as intimacy, the guitar gets the nod from me...but neither are better than the other. You've decided on intimacy, as have I.

Q

I completely agree however...
(here we go again with the "however" I can already see the eyes rolling)

Yes it is all down to the musician but Volume for me is an important role. Ive listened to classical guitarist play and the natural volume is not exactly...gripping. With a guitar you can play some low notes and high notes and you can play them with a wide range of expressions, however with a piano you can play even lower which I find is very important. I believe guitars can play a little higher as well. The piano is capable of more volume and can deliver more punches than a guitar can to my ears, but at the same time you can make it sound almost as delicate as a classical guitar.


I also find when I listen to classical guitar I need to turn the volume up louder to get all the fine details and to have it deliver a more gripping experience, however once I do so it is just as enjoyable to listen to as piano.

Ballade no 1 in G minor by krystian Zimmerman IMO is the pinnacle of contrast in expression which I find incredibly enjoyable. it is a mix of depressing, dramatic, fun, and blissful sounding passages that put incredible images into my head.

It is @ 15:10

Just curious, do you know any classical guitar pieces that you think rival ballade No 1 in expression and imagery? id love to hear them!

 

[Pianist1]

Interesting, I recently returned to the guitar! It just feels more natural to me. I think I wanted too late in life to play the piano pieces that I would like to learn. I just need to keep a more open mind toward the guitar's repertoire.

Dang...how do I change my user name?

 

[Quadman2]

I completely agree however...
(here we go again with the "however" I can already see the eyes rolling)

Yes it is all down to the musician but Volume for me is an important role. Ive listened to classical guitarist play and the natural volume is not exactly...gripping. With a guitar you can play some low notes and high notes and you can play them with a wide range of expressions, however with a piano you can play even lower which I find is very important. I believe guitars can play a little higher as well. The piano is capable of more volume and can deliver more punches than a guitar can to my ears, but at the same time you can make it sound almost as delicate as a classical guitar.


I also find when I listen to classical guitar I need to turn the volume up louder to get all the fine details and to have it deliver a more gripping experience, however once I do so it is just as enjoyable to listen to as piano.

Ballade no 1 in G minor by krystian Zimmerman IMO is the pinnacle of contrast in expression which I find incredibly enjoyable. it is a mix of depressing, dramatic, fun, and blissful sounding passages that put incredible images into my head.

It is @ 15:10

Just curious, do you know any classical guitar pieces that you think rival ballade No 1 in expression and imagery? id love to hear them!

I can understand your POV on this topic with your focus on volume. So, it's more the percussion side of the piano make up that draws your your attention. Loudness does play a factor for me as well in appreciation, esp with an electric guitar as it jams into a fav riff.

Neither of us sees the intimacy equation in the same light, but as individuals, that's what makes music, with all its genres so darn interesting, along with the people attached to them. Imagine the world with just the one!

Have great listening this year, nick.


Q

 

[sKiZo]

I enjoy both, but I don't think I've ever heard a piano scream.

Try any Norah Jones lately? <G>

I thought my system was adequately tuned, but her voice and piano drove me to distraction with hard reflections here. Went thru a LOT of work to tune the room to compensate - big difference having her licking my ears and not stabbing them with a dull knife ...

 

[teal'c]

Try any Norah Jones lately? <G>

I thought my system was adequately tuned, but her voice and piano drove me to distraction with hard reflections here. Went thru a LOT of work to tune the room to compensate - big difference having her licking my ears and not stabbing them with a dull knife ...

Isn't that your system screaming?

 

[sKiZo]

screaming is screaming ... ;-}

Unless it's the "wilhelm scream", used in almost 400 films over time. Nobody even knows for sure who did it originally. Some even credit it for the wookie scream in Star Wars, but the insiders are pretty much mum about that being true ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream

 

[nick parkin]

Here is the piano I have the pleasure of playing on at my college. It’s a 1978 Steinway Model B tha has been restored.
The action is flawless and the sound is incredible!

 

[scoloheros]

This thread has only showed me that I can't play my guitar very well, ...but good enough! The guitar has always felt awkward to play for me, I don't like rotating my wrist to press the frets down, never been comfortable doing that. I even have to back off at times for a few days because my wrist hurts in one spot having to rotate it. My parents have had a piano in their house since before I was born, I never learned to play it but I can tell it would be much easier for me.

 

[Ross6860]

An acoustic guitar can be a percussive instrument. You can finger drum the top, or play it like a bongo. You can palm-mute the strings and get a percussive tone. You can pluck a string and let it slap the fretboard...

Great thing about not being "trained", you also aren't limited or restricted in style or technique. Not that I have anything against classical training, I was a "trained" organist, but that was over 40 years ago.

I still would like a Hammond B3, or equivalent. Alas, I have no room for such a beast...

 

[SuperLead100]

The one you love to play more is better...