If the long-term goal is to learn both instruments, which should be learned first? Piano or guitar?

Is there a value of learning one first that makes it easier to learn the other?

Or does it even matter?

its a matter of taste... and full love of each instrument

Guitar is easier to learn
Piano is more difficult

dexterity determines which one is easier. I think piano is easier because you can see the layout from a better perspective.

talmuzic said:

co-sign
Composition is knowing your music. Which ever instrument you feel more comphortable with will determine your next step. After that, try both!

I think piano is much easier at the beginning. Imagine a person trying to play a melody for the very first time on both instruments. No comparison IMO!

Luv4oneanotha said:

okay I think its the total opposite! Guitar is alot harder for me than piano is...

Attempting to learn guitar... I figure... I would like to take my instrument with me wherever I go...

Piano (played well) still and always will drive me insane.

NikkiH said:

basic guitar is easy, its just memorizing chords...
if your trying to solo, doing pull-ups and push-downs that takes me skill
you need to build up accuracy
but its pretty easy

Piano is easy as well...
but using both hands can get to someone...
unless your a chord progression pianist

Learning piano will make it easier to read music and understand music theory.
Learning guitar (if you're talented and driven) will have you playing in arock band in a couple of years, so you can experience playing together with other musicians.
Both are important. But since learning one instrument is hard enough, focus first on the one you really love most. What turns your head in the shop window? A Nord electro or a Gibson Les Paul?

You might also consider something else completely. If you play, say, trombone, you'll have an easier time finding a good band, cause trombonists are rare and guitarists/keyboardists aren't.

hectim said:

Few years?

try a few monthes
when i first started playing guitar
in 4 monthes i joined a band
of course i was just a rhythm guitarist then
now im a lead guitarist

I found playing the piano easier than the guitar even though I love and prefer to play the guitar??

hectim said:

Hello,horns and woodwinds are really difficult as well! Plus everyone doesn't have the lips for it...and then you have to worry about air flow,fingers,and brain coordination,at least with strings (a piano is technically a string instrument as well)you just have to worry about hands and brain...

Luv4oneanotha said:

just a rhythm guitarist? You mean like Prince and Miko Weaver and Catfish Collins and Jimmy Nolen and Steve Cropper? It took me about a year and a half to produce decent-enough pentatonic blues solos somewhere between the Stooges and Clapton and play Ramones style power chords. Then it took me 17 years to become a decent rhythm guitarist and I'm still working on it every day.

To be preecise-edit: (and I'll keep working on playing lead like George Benson for EVAH)
[Edited 4/27/05 0:25am]

NikkiH said:

Hello!
I didn't say they were easy, just that it's worthwile considering if you're starting from scratch and aren't sure about the instrument. Also, horn players don't have to lug all that damn gear around like we guitarists, keyboardist. I'm always SO jealous of the horn section in my band! One case, that's all. If I were to start again, I'd seriously consider the trumpet or alto sax.

hectim said:

True. But I assume that the piano and guitar are included in more bands...so there is more likelihood of getting a job.

Well, it depends, to be a virtuoso is quite hard on all instruments. I think it's more easy to make chords on keys. Like when you see a Dm7(9/13) it's very easy for me to do on a piano, in the guitar i waste some time to find. a fast pentatonic lick or fast arpeggio is much more easy on the keys too. On the other side transposing is ridiculously easy on guitar, so that helps a lot. And one thing that eases the playing on guitar is that you don't need to have a dexterity as good as piano players have. And i think pretty hard to get a groove in my rythm piano playing. I feel like my fings are glued somehow. After all things I said, i cannot answer what is more easy.

Alasseon said:

You have the mental and spiritual capacity and discipline to LEARN what you love to do then you can do it all at the same time. There is no limit in what you touch only that you touch... with discipline and a sincere heart.

And anybody subjecting you to OTHER THAN THE TRUTH is a lie... and therefore... meet that LIE halfway and WALK RIGHT THE (BLEEP) over it.

GODBLISS
SingMia
[Edited 5/2/05 13:22pm]

respectful said:

[Edited 5/2/05 13:23pm]

hectim said:

Call me a prodigy but i learned the guitar playing the petatonic blues scales
and learned playing Hendrix Barre chords
I understand what your saying though
but i've been mimicking Django Reinhardt solos for all i can remember
Rhythm guitaring was pretty easy compared
to yje Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers riffs
Are you a traditional guitarist or self taught?

For me, piano is more well-rounded...you get a better idea of how melody and harmony work and how they work together since you're playing them at the same time. It's a more complete, full experience, though of course a guitar is most often played with other people. Piano is more difficult because both hands have to hit the notes...you have eight fingers to worry about instead of four. I never found the guitar that gratifying because it cut my fingers and caused me pain. But then again I never sweated it out.

It's an important choice because certain instruments are geared for certain genres. You can never play a saxophone in an orchestra, for instance. And you can't play a violin in a marching band. So it's good to consider what you want to do with it in the long-run, what music you want to play, and who you might want to play with, if anybody.

Luv4oneanotha said:

Both, I took classical lessons and am taking bebop lessons right now, but in the blues & rock stuff I've played most of my muiscal career, I'm self taught.
To be more specific about the rhythm thing: there are so many feels between straight eights and swung triplets, so many nuances, playing a little behind the beat, playing on top of it, and then there's the different effect all those will have on different bands: one drummer sounds great when you're behind, another sounds best when your on top so HE can drag it a little bit. Also, how much dragging or pushing can a band take until the tempo starts to change? Then there's the matter of accents and counter-rhythms: at what points do your accents follow the snare drum and hi hat patterns and at what points do they play around them? What about the relationship to the keys and bass parts? Then there's staccato vs legato: How long do your chords last? And then there's the area of chord choices: anything from a full barre chord to a one note-chunk. Emphasizing 1s and 5's for a rock feel, or playing only colour tones on the higher strings for a funky/jazzy sound. In pop, there's all the possibilities open strings (and a capo) give you for a chiming byrds style sound. Then there's open tunings. And there's country blues-style rhythm/bass combined. All these choices don't only influence your own sound, but the way your entire band plays. Prince is one rhythm guitarist who can push his entire band to great heights with his rhythm playing, conciously or subconciously playing with all the different elements I just named. Wich isn't meant to disparage lead playing (which I love to do and hear) but to say: never underestimate the power, value and complexity of rhythm playing, especially in funk or funk-influenced music.
h

A good friend of mine started his music career as a pianist.
It gave him a good grounding in Music theory.
He took up guitar when he realised it was easier to carry around .

I learned to play piano by ear first. It's just easier to form chords and find the melody on piano. Guitar - you have to learn how to TUNE the thing before you do anything else. And it's hard to learn what goes where on the guitar, but, once you get past that part, learning to play guitar came a whole lot faster than piano. I'm still sucking on piano. I'm sucking less on guitar.

otan said:

Piano is the most difficult if you want to play it VERY well....
Guitar is easier...

krayzie said:

So playing guitar like Wes Montgomery is easier than playing piano like Herbie Hancock? How do you know? Can you do both?

hectim said:

I never said that...


I play guitar and piano....
I learn piano first but when I started playin guitar it was very easier...

I play classical music and IT'S VERY difficult, extremely difficult to play...
You got to be VERY skilled...
[Edited 5/6/05 15:31pm]

There's no way to say which one is more difficult to play well.

Apples and Oranges: Which one tastes better?

Same useless debate.

krayzie said:

Well, do you know classical guitar?!

Every instrument played on the highest level possible is difficult, don't matter if it's guitar, piano or triangle. There are differences especially at the beginning. To play a melody or a chord on piano can be achieved in a much more intuitive way.
[Edited 5/6/05 11:12am]

SimonaleX said:

I think maybe what he's saying is that after you learn to play one instrument, learning to play another isn't as hard because you know HOW to learn. I play guitar, piano, bass, drumz,and trumpet, and though I started out playing classical piano, I learned what I needed to do to improve on an instrument, so when I finally got around to learning how to play drumz, it wasn't as hard to get better because I already KNEW how to get better.

And in response to what someone was saying about rhythm guitar.....it takes a lot more to be a good rhythm guitarist than a good lead player. How many guitarists do you know that have good rhythm? Just because they're a rhythm player doesn't mean they HAVE rhythm!