Why Do We Play Guitar

First Principles#

Time to get our philosophy on. It’s prudent to stop sometimes, look around and be conscious: what am I doing and why? So let’s revisit some first principles. Why play the guitar at all? Why play the guitar instead of some other instrument? What does this instrument really want to do? What are its limitations? What are its strengths? Why do we love it so much? Why is it so maddening?

I once heard Charlie Hunter on a podcast opine about its limitations. His point was that the guitar, compared to other instruments, is mediocre on all fronts: soloing, sounding chords, and making rhythm. Want to solo? Why not a wind instrument — saxophone, trumpet — which provides so much more dynamic range and expressivity, such an easier way to get a legato sound, more facile to play at tempo. Want to play chords? Why not the piano? It offers much more: 88 color-coded keys, up to 10 simultaneous notes, and infinite harmonic potential. Want to play rhythm? Why not percussion, like the drums? Four limbs, all the sound and timbre variation of a drum kit — as opposed to swiping your wrist back and forth on some strings.

Not only is the guitar inferior on all these fronts, but it’s a challenge to play. Consider again the piano, our chordal sister. With the piano, all ten of your fingers can access the same twelve note locations with the same spatial orientation. It’s laid out on a color-coded horizontal plane, such that you can visualize the intervals and how chords are constructed. You can clearly see how all the notes relate to one another. Not to mention that getting a note to sound is simply a matter of pressing a giant key which is (presumably) in tune and has no intonation problems.

Compare that to the guitar. Then, we have a 6 × 22 grid of confusion that gets smaller as you go up the neck. There are often four different places to play the exact same note. And let’s not forget the psychotic nature of one pair of strings tuned to a third instead of a fourth, so there’s always an exception to the patterns you memorize. Our sister string instruments — violin, bass, mandolin — are all tuned to the same intervals. They don’t have this curveball thrown into the middle. The guitar simply doesn’t lend itself to visually understanding music and presents a huge cognitive challenge to anyone who chooses to tackle it.

And, let’s not forget the challenge of getting a good sound out of the instrument. Of course, every musician works on getting a good tone, but our instrument has the added challenge of so many variables: picks, strings, pickups, pedals, amps, knobs, effects. Pressing metal strings to wood has a plethora of difficulties including raw finger and hand strength as well as perils of intonation and keeping the instrument in tune.

Renewed Vows#

So why do we love this instrument so much? Given the above, perhaps we need to renew our vows and remember why we got married in the first place. Back to Charlie Hunter. After opining about its limitations, he notes that when all the elements come together, the guitar can make magic like no other instrument. And the guitar can do things that others can’t. It does things a horn can’t — accompanying ourselves while soloing, chord melodies, double stops, changing our sound with the click of a pedal. It does things a piano can’t — slide strings, bend notes, switch keys and use all the same licks and voicings without a thought. (Try going from a Cmaj7 chord to a C#maj7 chord on the piano — no easy feat!) It does things drums can’t do — like play notes.

And unlike any other instrument, you can cradle it in your lap, feel its vibrations against you. Or put it in a case and take it to the park on a sunny day. (Try that, piano players!) Or noodle with it on the couch while watching TV. It really is the greatest instrument, with the ability to jump between genres no problem. Not to mention, it is the foundation of most American music: rock, blues, country, folk.

And let’s be real: you look the coolest playing the guitar. You don’t see anyone playing air saxophone or air piano.

If you are reading this, you’re a guitarist. Congrats, you’re playing the greatest instrument ever invented. Welcome to the club. Let’s get to work.