10 Reasons to Play the Guitar

The guitar, in all its varieties, is a very popular instrument. Here are 10 reasons to learn to play it today:

10. Electrify your performance
The electric guitar is a versatile instrument, capable of generating an extraordinary range of sounds with the aid of amplifiers, foot pedals, computers, etc. With it's light strings and narrow neck, it's also the easiest type of guitar to learn to play.

9. Unplugged
The sound of the steel-string acoustic guitar is as familiar as an old friend. An acoustic guitar can produce many different tones and be played in a variety of styles, from quiet classical songs to jazz to fast-moving rock or country music and more. The acoustic guitar can be picked or played with the fingers, played very loudly or very softly, and can even be "amped" with an acoustic microphone pickup placed inside the guitar or over the sound hole.

8. Easy like Sunday morning
A classical guitar uses nylon instead of steel strings (the 3 lowest-pitched strings are typically wound with a metal coating) and has a wider neck than a steel-string guitar to facilitate easier right-hand plucking of individual strings. With a quiet, warm, and romantic tone, the classical guitar is the perfect instrument for playing melodies and harmonies simultaneously.

7. Readability
Guitar players can learn to read music using multiple methods. Whereas most piano music is written in standard music notation, guitar players can choose from several different options. A guitarist can read standard notation (which uses the treble clef), tablature (a method of notation that indicates which fret and which string should be held down for a particular note), chord diagrams, or create an entirely original notation method.

6. Off the beaten path
The guitarist has access to a variety of other instruments in the guitar family. 12-string guitars are similar in almost every respect to 6-string guitars but have additional strings that add new dimensions to the sound. The 4 lowest-pitched strings of a standard guitar are tuned the same as the electric bass (although the bass is pitched an octave lower), making it easier for a guitarist to learn to play this instrument. The guitarist can also experiment with alternate tunings, raising or lowering the pitches on each string to create unique sounds and make songs easier to play.

5. The traveling bard
The guitar is a very portable instrument, making it possible for the guitarist to play his or her own instrument at gigs, camping trips, road trips, etc. The purchase of a soft case with backpack-like straps can make it even easier to travel with. A hard case can be used if the guitarist wishes to protect the instrument from damage on, for example, airplane flights.

4. I guess that's why they call it ...
Unlike a piano, which is operated by mechanical levers, a guitarist has direct contact with the strings. This makes a variety of intonations and sound effects possible through techniques such as hammer-ons (where a finger is placed onto an already-vibrating string to alter the sound), pull-offs (where a finger is removed from an already-vibrating string), and string bending (where a note's sound is altered by bending a guitar string, creating a distinctive bluesy sound). Conscious use of open vs. fretted strings and careful chord voicing can also create varied tones to help the guitarist play more expressively.

3. Sing to your heart's content
The guitar is the perfect instrument for a singing performer. Many find the guitar easier than the piano when it comes to playing and singing at the same time. The guitar also allows pitch changes with the use of a "capo," a device clipped onto the strings at any fret that allows the guitarist to play the same string patterns but sound at different pitches. This allows a song to be easily played in any vocalist's range.

2. Write a hit
Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but the guitar is a songwriter's best friend. The guitar allows songwriters to experiment with different chord progressions and melodies. Because the guitar can be fairly easy to notate, songwriting ideas can be captured rapidly.

1. Make music today
The guitar is an affordable and comparatively simple instrument to learn. While there are aspects of guitar playing that can take years to master, a beginner can become proficient with a few chords in a short period of time and use those chords to play hundreds of songs.