Hi,
I'm afraid this question has probably already been posed quite often but I'm currently facing the known dilemma of Piano vs Guitar. Back when I was a child, I had really small fingers and I ended up quitting my lessons as 'classical guitar' player in favour of playing football / soccer. Now that I'm older this is something I heavily regret and as a 27 year old I believe it's not too late to do something about it. I listen to music every day at work (software developer) and I have set my goals on finally learning music the right way, meaning:
- I want a basic understanding of music (including music theory)
- I want to learn an instrument that I can use to play songs all by myself as I will not join a band or perform. I prefer playing on my own instead of playing along to a pre-recorded song (Major thing for me as I find it relaxing to just do my own thing?).
I have no intentions to become a performer or take exams on music theory but I want to have the theory so I don't end up just mindlessly copying youtube videos.
Now here comes the real dilemma, currently I have an acoustic guitar (Eastman AC322) and I'm following JustinGuitars beginner guide. However I've been recommended by two teachers to first get myself a digital piano (for example the Yamaha P125) and start out on piano. According to them it's a much better instrument to start out on in case I want to learn music theory and play mainly solo.
Ultimately I'd like to be able to play both but on my age, I'm not sure how realistic that still is.
Regarding piano, I've found the following pro's:
- It's a better pure solo instrument according to the teachers I spoke to because you can play both melody & chords (Not sure how this compares to guitar when you don't have a singing voice to accompany the guitar).
- It's the base instrument to learn music theory on apparently.
- I can practice late at night with a digital piano by hooking up my IEM's to it (live in apartment currently).
- Very versatile
- Beginner friendly but hard to master (endless skill ceiling)
- I like how relaxing it is to listen to (example of one of my favorite artists: Alexis Ffrench)
Guitar:
- Portable
- I've always liked acoustic singer / song writer music (but I can't sing very well myself)
- I like the finger picking style songs (example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZYwuqCMXBM)
- Very versatile in both genres and techniques to learn
- Option to transition to electrical (blues/jazzy)
When it comes to sound and enjoying practicing on the instrument, I really have no preference as I like both alot. I'd say the guitar requires a bit more persistence in the beginning as even just getting a note to sound good requires effort in the beginning but I've become rather persistent as an adult since I studied and worked at the same time so I have no difficulties with that :-)
One thing that I do often wonder about is how much I'm missing out as a guitar playing when preferring to play completely on my own (without singing or accompanying instruments) as opposed to the piano which seems to sit comfortably on its own? Any experienced guitar players that can shed some light on that one?
Long story short, what would you recommend me to do?
- Get a teacher and continue guitar playing?
- Get a teacher to learn piano and music theory and continue to practice guitar on the side at home?
- ...
Thanks in advance
Kind regards
Submitted March 01, 2019 at 06:02AM by DenSpie https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/aw2qdx/adult_beginner_instrument_for_solo_only_player/?utm_source=ifttt