Guitar vs Piano

[BNW]

Which is better and why?

I for one believe that piano is a much more versatile instrument, but guitar has been in my blood for ages now. It has, for me, the idea of the rebel, the indication of craze and hardness. Piano reminds me of calm and beauty.

[KinGAleX]

Piano is great for scalar, chordal, and harmonic virtuosity, and is a staple instrument of most of my favourite music. I find it to be one of the happiest instruments which means a lot to me. Guitar however has a larger timbral range, and
Many more techniques can be used to alter the timbre and harmonic series used, making it a more versatile instrument, but due to physical limitations, hardly as simple to perform certain chord permutations and combinations of tones, such as are possible with a piano. I strongly enjoy the combination of the two instruments and appreciate them equally, but they're defintely suited to differet purposes.

[TribulatioN]

I personally would go with piano, for the reason that I can play it quite well.
But then a guitar, can be quite fitting for more than one occasion, from solemnity to thrashing and slashing.
Both are equally important as a whole viewpoint, it's just when and how it is used.

Edit: KinGAleX said almost the exact same thing as me, just with more words, and about 5 seconds faster. =P

[BNW]

Considering I have played guitar for some time and have become well acquainted with it. It is only natural for me think it easier than piano. I play keyboard every once in a while, and it is great for certain things, but you can't get quite the range a guitar can in the same amount of time.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

I prefer Mac OS X to both. It's much more beautiful and functional, and it's easy to use as ever while still allowing for highly technical use by power users.
Just get a Mac.

[jean-luc]

I think the guitar is definitely more flexible. I prefer the piano though, and it is a unifying element of much of the music I like.

The theremin beats all, though.
And the glass harmonica.

[DemonzLunchBreak]

I think the guitar is definitely more flexible. I prefer the piano though, and it is a unifying element of much of the music I like.

The theremin beats all, though.
And the glass harmonica.

I play theremin! Woo!

[smartalco]

Guitar, because I have metal in my blood.

[BNW]

Guitar, because I have metal in my blood.

Umm... what about certain keyboards that are used in metal? When I say piano, it isn't just the normal Grand Piano. It is everything that encompases pianos, just like how we aren't confined to just acoustical guitar or non distorted electric. Many types of metal and such use keyboards.

So I don't believe that just because you have metal in your blood means you don't have an opinion for piano.

[a happy song]

Guitar, but both are great. How alex said.

[George]

Both the piano and guitar have their merits. In terms of versatility, a piano keyboard can do almost anything an electric or bass guitar can. They offer two completely different timbres which really make it a difficult choice. It really depends on the context.

[handofgod]

Both are great instruments.

the guitar has the power to be flexible and manipulate.

but the piano has a much grander, more emotional sound.

Its a tie. Bass wins!

[Geti]

ahahaha yay bass :P

i love the sounds that come out of both, when played correctly. guitar is harder to be HUGE on unless you have a powerful amp, but is good for a large range of emotional genres, and piano is tricky to make sound angry, but i love both.
why is it always vs.? instruments dont fight, theyre nice and calm and fun.

i play guitar mostly, but have done keyboard and piano.

[wolfgang]

I'd have to side with guitar, mainly because I don't think I've ever heard a pianist capture the same energy and intensity that I can hear in a electric guitar.

[otters]

I'm in favor of the keytar.

[jean-luc]

The keytar does seem like a viable alternative. Better still, however, is Randall's (I think it's Randall, but could be totally wrong) instrument from the Red Green Show.

[a happy song]

but the piano has a much grander, more emotional sound.

See, to me this is like categorizing one single genre of music as 'emotional' (emo), or those edgy hardcore tosspots who tell you "If it don't got screaming in it the singer ain't got no emotion!".

It's Pish Posh, to be clear.

[Turtle]

They're both wonderful in different ways, but I prefer the piano.

[notsteve]

The keytar does seem like a viable alternative. Better still, however, is Randall's (I think it's Randall, but could be totally wrong) instrument from the Red Green Show.

its /not/ randall, its harold

[Zora_S_Kenneth]

In my (humble) opinion, piano beats guitar in anything BUT portability.

[BNW]

In my (humble) opinion, piano beats guitar in anything BUT portability.

Would you care to elaborate on this? I would like some reasons that seem to make you think that one instrument is wayyy better than the other in any way, except the fact that it is portable.

Have you ever tried to play with a slide on a guitar? Try making that sound on a piano.....

[jean-luc]

I really want a piano with a wammy bar. It's possible, but I think it'd warp the soundboard, so you'd end up retuning the piano freakishly often. Nonetheless, it'd be fun.

I think the piano has a better sound to it, really, but the guitar is definitely a lot more flexible. It does totally have the piano beat in terms of portability.

[numa_ninja]

Well, guitar is much more versatile with its sound. Different techniques make different sounds, while the piano just has the sustain pedal.

[Evil_Sire]

Sorry to point this out, but a keyboard is not a piano. It's made of plastic chips and so. Making a piano and guitar is a craft, therefore they are more expensive and have a finer sound when tuned correctly.

This also explains the time to create them, incase you don't know, making a keyboard is by computers and takes around an hour. Piano's (specially grands) can take weeks.

I prefer neither

[origami_alligator]

Sorry to point this out, but a keyboard is not a piano. It's made of plastic chips and so. Making a piano and guitar is a craft, therefore they are more expensive and have a finer sound when tuned correctly.

This also explains the time to create them, incase you don't know, making a keyboard is by computers and takes around an hour. Piano's (specially grands) can take weeks.

I prefer neither

Sorry to point this out, but an electric guitar is not a guitar. It's made of circuits and so. Making a guitar and piano is a craft, therefore they are more expensive and have a finer sound when tuned correctly.

(I don't know the time it takes to create an electric guitar if you're someone like Fender or Rickenbacker, but hey, I'm sure it's made by computers as well and then the pieces put together by hand, making it incredibly faster than doing it all by hand.)

I prefer both.

See, it's not fair to say that keyboards aren't pianos because they are definitely the electric alternative to the non-electric instrument. Same with guitars and electric guitars. You /could/ say that because electric pianos are newer technology they aren't really pianos but electric guitars then wouldn't really be guitars either if we were following the same route with this argument 60 years ago. They are both there to gain more than just the traditional sound of each respective instrument. It doesn't make them any more or less of an instrument because of it.