Fretboard Vs Piano

Sunday, February 26, 2006

There are a lot of similarities between playing the guitar and playing piano. While the fretboard is setup in a 2 dimensional setup where there are numerous positions to play the same notes, the piano is setup in a linear fashion. This difference alone will cause you to love or hate piano.

The linearity of piano keys makes it easier for you to learn and comprehend complex theory. It also makes learning the notes and reading music much easier. You will be able to quickly play by sight since you can look at the spacing of the intervals. On a guitar you would have to learn a lot more to play from written, non-tabbed, music.

However, this linearity makes it a bit more difficult to start playing "rich" music. It requires more diligence and understanding of classical music terms than guitar. With guitar, if you know a few chords, you should be able to strum along with some of your favorite songs.

The six-string nature gives you the ability to play with six "voices." This difference is what leads to the guitar having a fuller sound when you are just learning it. With piano, you can probably play one or two notes at the same time when starting out. With guitar, you can easily play 6 at a time.