By: Annika Getz

I’ve been playing guitar and piano since I was young, and I recently asked myself the question, “which is better?” I’ve heard this question be asked before, and I thought I’d give my take on the topic.

One good thing about guitar is that it takes less time to learn the basics. The chords are easy to learn, and once you have four or five of them down, there’s a lot of songs you can play.

With piano though, you have to learn more to be able to play the same number of pieces.

However, with piano, there really is just more to learn. With guitar, you learn the scales and the chords and that’s pretty much it. Piano you learn that, but then you can work on playing with two hands, and doing more advanced work. This could be seen as a pro or con depending on who you ask, so it really depends on your preference.

Now, let’s talk about the specifics with both instruments. The scales are easier to learn on piano, since it’s just going up and down. Less basic chords such as sevenths and minors are easier to remember on piano, since you change the same thing every time, no matter the chord, whereas with guitar different things change. However, I find that many of them (especially sevenths) are easier to play on guitar.

Another thing to consider is that with guitar there are several ways to play one chord, since you can use Barre chords. This also could be viewed as a pro or a con depending on who you ask.

Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a simple answer to this question, as it really depends on the players preference.

It’s my personal opinion that piano is easier, so if you’re looking for a challenge I’d suggest guitar, but beyond that, I’d say to try both and see what works best for you.