What instrument should I learn theory on; Piano or Guitar?

What instrument should I learn theory on?

  • Piano

    Votes: 7 70.0%

  • Guitar

    Votes: 3 30.0%
  • Total voters
    10
D

DimensionX

New member
Finally decided im going to learn some music theory but after some serious thought into it I have stumped myself on which instrument to learn it on. Ill say one thing - one of the reasons I got into computer music is because I was sick of the physicality; I just wanted to compose without having limitations of how many instruments/notes I can play at once with the 2 hands and 10 fingers I got.

I've played guitar for over 10 years and have composed extensively on it. I also play a little piano.

Thoughts - Guitar has a lot of different positions for the same chord which at one angle can be inspiring because you have different fundamental frequencies for the same chords but at another angle seems distracting/gimmicky toward just composing music OUTSIDE of sound production (bare with me). Where as with piano it's all laid out in front of you and corresponds to the frequency chart in a nice easy linear way (which for dyslexic people like me; is quite peachy).

Now I'm not saying Im never going to play one if I learn the other, because I believe the more instruments you play; the more different ways you can connect to writing music, but...

Guitar:

1. Since I've already composed extensively, it may benefit me to understand what the hell I've been doing all these years

2. Since in Ableton it shows the notes via piano roll, I would know which notes im playing on my guitar (which could be complicated since guitar is non linear unlike piano)

Piano:

1. Once I've learned theory, I COULD just FIND the songs I've written on piano so that way im still connecting to piano using my ear (and knowledge of course)

2. This is one of the biggest ones since in my future im making WAY more computer music than instrumentals: can use MIDI (and please don't suggest midi guitars because I REALLY don't like them!!)

3. I don't have to learn all these extra ways of playing the same chord!!

So I guess the question is how fast do I want to get to writing music and which instrument will benefit me the most down the road. Im just not sure which one, it would be cool to learn piano and have a way to actually play the notes into ableton without having to do crazy adjustments to the velocity, but it would also be cool to keep the physicality separate from computer music (not religious about it, but the I value the consistency) which would teach me to get more in touch with writing in a human-played way in a way that doesn't involve playing an instrument (making small adjustments on the grid so it doesn't sound so robotic).

~ Your input is appreciated as always ~

Thank you
 
I've always had guitars and although I 'play' them regularly I wouldn't call myself a guitarist... Anyway, I took bass lessons for a round 3 months just before I got married - the result was that as well as becoming more proficient on bass guitar that both my acoustic guitar playing and keyboard skills became vastly improved. At the moment I'm playing the acoustic a fair bit as finding studiotime with a baby is difficult. Picking up a guitar for 5 or 10 minutes a couple times a day is much easier.
I plan on taking a few months of keyboard (maybe jazz piano) lessons in the new year but as my current keyboard is midi (no sounds, no speakers without laptop) but I still envisage picking up the guitar more (at least until baby is sleeping in his own room). I really just want the exercises, scales etc out of keyboard lessons - dexterity comes from practice and practice breeds improvement.

An acoustic guitar is quicker and easier to just pick up and practice for a few minutes when you're short on time... There's nothing to set up. Just keep her tuned and you're good.
 
If you're planning on adding piano as a second instrument, learn theory on piano. Otherwise, you might as well apply theory to the instrument you're currently playing. While learning theory is easier with piano (IMO), you are already proficient at your main instrument. You don't necessarily have to learn extra chords and such for the sake of theory, you can play whatever you want however you want. (Granted, I wouldn't know since piano is my main instrument.)
 
I'd go ahead and learn theory on the guitar. Learn the notes of the first 12 frets, double up and you know the neck. The non-linear stuff isn't much of an issue, learn to tune the guitar from the E string and it'll show you the relationships between all the strings. Would help to know what you've been composing, like a chord melody or chord progressions or whatever. Like what chords you know and why you think you can play more variations on a guitar than a piano.
 
TheSynthapist said:
piano/keys if your gonna make beats
Click to expand...

I don't think this is nessessarilly true; depending on the kind of beat you make and the workflow you use...

I have a couple keyboards but my own beats are sample based, using Maschine a turn table and a bass guitar for the main body of the work... I may or may not play some keys (or pitch up/down a sample on the keyboard) every now and again but bass guitar hits 60% of my tracks. Keys maybe 20%. 20% of finished tracks will all sampled and played in via pads on the Maschine...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top