At this point, you’ve probably heard it all. “The guitar is really difficult!” And playing the guitar is quite simple. Finally, you now have 15 reasons why playing the guitar is simple.
1. Guitar Is the Least Nerdy Instrument
Although it may sound ironic, playing the guitar is one of those unfair instruments that you are quite unlikely to be made fun of, unless possibly by the band teacher who may assume that the guitarist cannot read music.
Trumpet players are mocked for being nerdy and having spit valves (and sometimes their egos). Flute players are referred to as sissies. French horn players have a distinct reputation, but it is one that has firmly entered the nerdy category.
None of that is understood by the guitarist. The guitar just seems “cool” in some way.
If you carry a tuba case everywhere, you can encounter some preconceived notions from people. However, if you carry a guitar bag or have one strapped on your back, nobody will bother you, and you might even hear comments like “that’s one awesome person, right there.”
Not right, is it?
2. Extremely Low TTS (Time To Song)
Basically, I’m talking about how long it takes to play a tune that sounds nice (a couple steps up from Mary Had a Little Lamb).
The guitar has one of the shortest TTSs of any instrument when viewed from the perspective of chord playing.
Another excellent benefit of the guitar is that, if you learn how to fret the notes correctly, it can sound great from the very first time you play it. It requires a lot of effort to fret the notes accurately and consistently, but unlike wind instruments or the violin, where the technique necessary to play a note that sounds any good is extremely tough.
With a few dozen tunes that use basic chord progressions, you will be able to learn.
3. No Micro-Coordination Necessary
Although the guitar requires a lot of coordination, it is significantly simpler than other instruments because it doesn’t require as much micro-coordination.
“Gross motor skills” and “fine motor skills” are used to monitor a baby’s growth. Although playing the guitar requires fine motor skills, if I were to add another category, it would be “micro motor skills”.
Why do I say that?
An outstanding illustration of micro motor abilities demanding a high degree of coordination is the brass embouchure.
A wind instrument player’s mouth and lips are simply referred to as their embouchure. Wind instrumentalists spend hours practising in an effort to enhance the coordination required for the embouchure.
4. So Many Learning Resources!
When compared to other instruments, the popularity of the guitar is wild. This popularity has the positive side-effect of making learning resources easy to come by.
For instance, if you go to Udemy and search for didgeridoo, you will only come across one person who has made didgeridoo-specific courses.
Or, in a similar vein, if you want to learn the bassoon on Udemy, there is just one bassoon teacher to choose from.
You won’t be able to scroll to the bottom for a few minutes if you try the guitar right now.
Although Udemy isn’t by any means the sole way to learn an instrument, it does highlight the variety of resources available for learning the guitar.
If you’re learning to play the guitar and you
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