Guitar: The Best Instrument
Why the guitar is the best instrument to learn
The guitar is one of the most popular and widely used instruments. The guitar is popular because it’s portable, flexible, and approachable. The guitar’s popularity makes it an obvious choice for many who wish to learn an instrument. Due to its popularity, there is a plethora of material available to help you learn.
Here are some reasons why the guitar is so popular:
Portable
As far as portability goes, you can’t really beat the guitar. The acoustic guitar requires no amplification or electronics. It is lightweight and can fit easily in the trunk of a car or even the overhead bin of an airplane. After transport, it requires little maintenance or assembly. All one must do is tune it, and it’s ready to play.
Flexible
The guitar is a flexible instrument, whose tone and timbre are suitable for most styles of music. The guitar plays a central role in popular music, rock, Latin, funk, jazz, and more. It has also made its way into most other styles of music as a cameo instrument.
Wide range
The guitar’s range spans nearly four octaves, compared to about seven on the piano. This range is particularly wide given the guitar’s smaller form factor. It can produce notes from the higher register of the bass range and on up. Add a few extra low strings, and the range gets closer to that of a piano. And there are guitars with additional strings that can do just that.
Approachable
The guitar can be considered approachable because it is relatively easy to learn to play the first note, scale, or chord. The frets of the guitar provide a clear division between notes. In fact, one does not even need to know precisely where those points of division are. Unlike an instrument such as violin, which has no frets, it is easy to play a correct not on the guitar.
Popular
The guitar is also popular because it is used in so much music. In other words, the guitar is popular because it just is! When music learners want to start playing their favorite songs, they often find that the guitar is the best place to start, because it appears so often in popular music.
Of course, if you like another instrument better, there’s no need to force yourself to learn guitar. You should follow your own intuition in choosing what instrument to play. Although the guitar may just be the best instrument for beginning musicians, it is not without its own shortcomings. Be careful to avoid the pitfalls of poorly constructed instruments, and of the misinformation you may find in some of the available learning materials.
Many who set out to learn the guitar find their progress hits a snag after they learn the first few chords. To continue to reach for higher levels as a musician, you’ll want to include regular lessons into your routine followed by lots of practice. By taking guitar lessons, you are sure to be on the right path to learning what is arguably the best instrument to learn.