There really isn’t “one” main reason to play the guitar, at least not in the form of a business opportunity. However, this instrument can indeed bring happiness to almost everyone regardless of their original motives for taking up it. Some guitarists will probably ask me how long it’ll take them to really get good at the instrument.
I usually reply by telling them that they’ll never reach the top of the pile if they don’t work hard at it. Learning the basics of guitar playing is the best thing you can do. It will help you to have basic skills to start with, and it’s a great foundation for more advanced work.
The benefits of picking up some lessons will be far-reaching, including better coordination between your fingers and the other equipment of the instrument. If you’re serious about playing, you need to consider seriously the fact that you don’t have to be a superstar to have fun.
A few hours of guitar lessons every week can certainly make a difference to you! One of the most common questions about playing the guitar, asked by beginner players, is “What’s the difference between playing the piano and playing the harmonica?”
The answer is fairly simple: the harmonica is a much larger instrument, and therefore it has a bigger range of pitches. In other words, if you’re singing along to a song on the piano, you’re playing a chord – the same type of chord that the harmonica is capable of playing, but with a different key.
When you’re playing a chord on the harmonica, it’s always in the same key (usually G, C, D, etc), and the notes are always the same. On the other hand, if you’re playing a chord set (which means you’re using the same sheet music), and you’re singing, it makes much more sense to play a chord set in the same key (since the notes will match up).
For example, if you start in G, you then progress to C, then D. If you were to move your harmonica from one position to another while singing, it would make much more sense to keep your fingernails on the fretboard (since fingernails are the easiest thing to play with if you have a good piano playing technique) and then just pluck the notes with your fingers.
This keeps all the different keys open at all times, so your voice can freely flow over the entire chord set. So, let’s say you like playing your favorite songs on the piano, but don’t want to take the time to learn more complicated chords and scales. There are other essentials as outlined on Guitarguide.xyz which you will surely love!
Instead, what you can do is to use the harmonica with two instruments together. If you already know the basics of playing the harmonica (how to hold it, where to breathe, and how to blow through it), you can easily sing a simple melody or change the pitch of your voice while playing the harmonica with two hands.
This is an easy solution that will make a great concert ensemble sound great! Some beginners think that if they start playing the harmonica together with the guitar, they’ll lose the variety of songs they can play since they’ll be repeating the same notes.
This is not true. As long as you play with variation in your rhythm and note selection, you’ll find that playing the harmonica with the guitar and harmony will give you unlimited opportunities for musical exploration. Why?
Because you’ll be strumming and picking in different keys, and this will allow you to explore new notes and chord combinations. Another mistake that most new players make when learning the guitar is playing the instrument “cold.” They’ll start out playing very slowly and choose only one note or few notes to strum, and release.
But by playing the instrument slowly in this way, they are missing out on some wonderful textures that the instrument has to offer. When they try to play again by picking harder and making more sounds, they usually end up playing a bit flat, but without much variety in their playing.
If you’re going to take lessons about playing the harmonica with the guitar, consider having a professional guide show you how to go about playing the instrument in different styles.
For example, some songs have arpeggios, and others don’t. If your goal is to play single notes, make sure you practice arpeggios. In some songs, they are absolutely necessary.
Other songs may be played using just strumming, picking, and a variety of other techniques, and as long as you have these skills under control, you’ll be fine.
