On the fence about what instrument to learn? Been thinking about picking up a guitar for the first time? Then today’s post should help your decision making. Guitar is one of the most popular instruments on the planet, and is synonymous with learning music.
There are SO many benefits to playing guitar and learning music. After 20 years of playing guitar, here are five reasons I still try and pick it up every single day.
Community
One of the best things about playing guitar is that it can be very therapeutic if you’re just playing by yourself. But once you start jamming with other people, you’ll find out that you’re now part of the musical community. You’ll make new friends, be able to use your creative muscles to try out new song ideas, and learn how to connect with so many different personalities.
If you start a band and play shows, you could even go on tour. Think about seeing the entire country while playing music. I’ve been able to tour the country a couple of times, and can assure you that they were some of the most life changing years I’ll always remember.
If you’ve ever had trouble socially, being able to play guitar can help overcome that awkwardness. From playing in front of people, to having guitar or music be a conversation starter, guitar is a very social instrument.
Anyone Can Play & It’s Inexpensive to Start
Whether you’re 3 years old or 100 years old, it’s likely that you’ll be able to pick up the guitar and start learning it. After having taught so many students and listened to so many people who wanted to always try and pick up an instrument, many of them have more excuses than hours played.
Even people who have disabilities have been able to overcome and make great use of limitations (Django, Tony Iommi, anyone?) No matter what your circumstance in life, if you can get your hands on a guitar, it’s one of the most gratifying instruments to learn.
If you don’t think you can afford a setup, there’s good news there as well. Thankfully guitars have gotten way more cost effective over the years. You can get a good guitar and amp for a decent price, and start learning today. If you don’t have money for lessons, the internet (especially YouTube) is filled with nearly anything you want to learn on guitar.
Being Able to Create
Guitar is different in that you can bend, use vibrato, pull-offs, hammer ons, and lots of other techniques that you can’t do on many other instruments. Try bending notes on a piano! Guitar is also one of the instruments closest to the human voice. You always hear about players making their instrument “sing”.
Guitar has lots of vocal qualities, which makes creating on the instrument such a fun thing to do. Being able to think of an idea and attempting to translate that to the fretboard just feels good.
If you have a phone you can easily be your own rhythm partner. Record a couple of chords and then you’ll have a home-made jam track to practice lead ideas over. You can get a surprisingly good audio interface for about $100 which will allow you to record on your computer.
Writing songs and just strumming chords can really make your brain start kicking into high gear. Once you start learning guitar, you might find yourself excelling in other aspects of life too.
You Can Take It Anywhere
The guitar is super portable. You can sling an acoustic or electric on your back, bring it with you on a plane, and take it all over the place. Whether you want to plug into an amp and rock out, or if you need to be quiet while playing, there are so many ways you can take your setup with you.
With the introduction of amp sims you’re able to have tons of amps and effects right in your pocket. If you have an iOS device, you can even record guitar direct to your iPhone or iPad!
Guitar Has Always Been, and Will Always Be Cool
I’m sure I’m biased, but guitar has always been a cool instrument. You can use it in nearly any style of music, which makes it really versatile. The guitar also looks cool. The way the guitar is shaped just oozes coolness. Guitars are similar to chips — once you get one, you might not be able to stop (also see guitar pedals).
People who play guitar are usually pretty amazing. Think of Steve Vai, Slash, Van Halen, Angus Young, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Nita Strauss,...the list goes on and on. Those players are just a tiny fraction of amazing guitar players.
With all of those guitar heroes already out there, there’s a lot of experience to draw from. By listening to and studying their songs, you can pick a riff, chord, or technique from lots of different players, and develop your own signature style.
Guitar Is The Best
What’s your favorite instrument, and why? Even if you play piano, sax, bass or something else, it’s always worth it to pick up the guitar. For the reasons above and more, guitar is one of the best instruments of all time!