Peterdjones comments on Cheat codes - Less Wrong

36 Post author: sketerpot 01 December 2010 09:19PM

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Comment author: Benquo 21 June 2011 02:12:07AM 7 points [-]

It seems as if the guitar benefits from these qualities:

  • Sufficient tonal depth to sustain a melody (i.e. not a drum)
  • Sufficient harmonic depth to be a solo instrument
  • Since it's a "plucking" instrument (rather than blowing or bowing) it's less sensitive to the quality of the musician's touch - an amateur can play a single note almost as well as a professional

Am I missing some crucial element? It looks like these attributes are not all present in the drum, trumpet, clarinet, viola, &c., but are all present in the piano, harpsichord, harp, &c. Maybe piano, harp, and harpsichord are all more difficult to learn than the guitar?

Comment author: Peterdjones 21 June 2011 03:43:52PM 3 points [-]

Out of the instruments that are usable for both melody/soloing and harmony/accompaniment, the guitar family has the clinching virtues of being cheap and portable. Like keyboard instruments it is also applicable to virtually any genre of music. K/b instruments are more suited to complex material (hence their use in composition), whereas the guitar family allows more expression than instruments that are essentially controlled by switches.

These advantages entail one overriding disadvantage: ever other bugger plays one. So it is proportionally harder to get into a band or college. If you want gigs,play something cumbersome, like drums, double bass or euphonium.