is it harder to learn how to play piano or guitar?

8 Comments

1. Lalalala says:

   January 29, 2010 at 21:01

   Guitar, definately. With guitar, you must learn about how to play a chord, chord patterns, and all this other stuff.

   Once you learn it, it is very easy. It just takes a while to learn EVERYTHING that there is to know.
   Good luck!
2. Smooth Criminal says:

   January 31, 2010 at 19:11

   Hey! Guitar is much easier than the piano. The piano is sophisticated. I recently passed my Associate Diploma of Music Australia. Been playing for 9 years.
   I also play the guitar, but just for fun.
   It depends… do you want to play for fun or want to reach a professional level and play classical guitar? It’s easy to learn how to read tabs, play chords, and play electric guitars riffs etc.

   Edit: With piano, its not just chords. It’s dynamics, complicated fingering etc. Just look at piano’s piece of music, for example Chopin, and compare it to guitar…

   But if you know how to play the piano well, then it’s easier to learn any other instrument, because the piano is like the main instrument.
3. gtatix says:

   February 3, 2010 at 14:07

   If you could learn piano then you can learn guitar.

   The poster above me seems to be somewhat ill-informed.

   To MASTER the piano is NOT easier than MASTERING the guitar.

   Both have their difficulties.

   I suggest learning yourself – don’t PAY a teacher – find a good online source for the basic “how-tos” and then work on a style you may like later.

   I would suggest that different teachers could offer different value depending on the style of music – genre etc – you may like.

   If you’re planning on playing electric like Eddie Van Halen – then you’d need some guidance and TRICKS that only a very specialized teacher could offer.

   So, get a flat-top and get started. Find a good beginners curriculum online – preferrably a video one! – and get to work.

   UPDATE:
   =&aq=f
4. gszg x says:

   February 3, 2010 at 17:21

   I’d say it’s more personal opinion and coordination, this is an opinion question and opinions vary, but in regards to the poster saying by no means pay a teacher, beginning guitar can be frustrating without some form of guidance from a teacher, and online courses are vague or require monthly fees anyway. I’d say get a teacher, learn the basics, take 6 months to a year of lessons, and if you want to continue pursuing guitar you can then decide if the lessons are still improving you or if you wish to continue self taught. The mistake most people make is thinking they’re gonna “rule the neck in 4 lessons” as i see in so many banner ads, then they end up self taught with horrible habits or just get frustrated by slow progress and either give up or never achieve any musical goals. Even with your past musical experience, they’re two very different instruments with two VERY different styles of play, so don’t think knowing how to play piano will help with anything other than music theory for the most part. The techniques need to be learned properly to become a good guitarist.
5. Cloak says:

   February 6, 2010 at 14:41

   Piano. The “frets” aren’t marked like a guitar, you have to play both the bass clef and the treble clef simultaneously (Imagine playing Guitar Hero with two tracks instead of one.) I only know how to play guitar, and piano just scares me.
6. Mustaches Are Cool says:

   February 8, 2010 at 16:28

   Any instrument is hard, UNLESS you put your mind to it!
   I play violin, piano, organ, and guitar (not to forget my kazoo)

   and KAZOO WAS THE HARDEST! just kidding, but they get harder each step you take.

   Piano is a bit mentally harder, but guitar, you go through pyhsical pain.
   Just set your mind to it, work hard, and practice. and you can become victorious!
7. Sal Chaech says:

   February 11, 2010 at 14:04

   “Harder” is more about your mentality than it is about the actual difficulty of each instrument.

   I find that piano is trickier, then again, I started on guitar so maybe I’m a bit biased. I had been playing guitar for 15 years before I began to tackle piano. One thing that I had the most difficulty with was separating my two hands. With guitar, my left hand would essentially take the duties that both hands cover while playing piano. My right hand would be concerned with rhythm, and choosing which strings to pick. Then I tried to learn piano, and my left hand would want to take the lead, with my right hand keeping rhythm, which is essentially backwards from the way piano is traditionally played. But, like I said, I’d been playing guitar for 15 years, and I won’t say I’m the greatest guitarist but I’m certainly no slouch. And so, being the cocky ******* that I am, the first song I set out to learn was the first movement of Beethoven’s Moon Light Sonata, which took me several months to learn, but I did it.

   The whole point of that story is that music is music. It may not be an easy transition, because learning a new instrument rarely is. There are a few advantages that playing piano first will give you. You actually know notes, probably chords and a good chunk of theory. Most guitarists these days learn using tablature (usually shortened to tabs) which reduces notes to just fret numbers.

   So basically, if you want to learn guitar, it won’t be easy, but it’ll be easier for you than for most because you know a thing or two about music already.
8. Kab says:

   February 12, 2010 at 04:23

   Learning to play almost any instrument takes some work, but for someone who already plays an instrument guitar should come easy. If you learned piano by reading music, I suggest you do the same with guitar. If you learned by ear, learn guitar by ear. If you took lessons, take lessons.