Piano Or Guitar?

[JazzAt52ndStreet]

Would you prefer to have a guitar or a piano?...If you dont have the choice to have both....just in general. Please state if you are a musician or not.

This is tough for me....but I think I would have to go with guitar.

-52nd Street

[Tom Storer]

I take it you mean would we prefer to hear a piano or guitar in a small group. I'd pick piano. Why? I just like the sound of a piano better--for me it has more possibilities, more versatility than a guitar. But I'm sure glad we don't have to choose in real life.

Oh, yeah - I'm not a musician.

So, why would you choose guitar?

[hglord]

Um, does "would you prefer to have ..." mean "own," "listen to," "play," what?

I own a piano and a guitar. So the "own" interpretation is moot for me.

If I could only own one of the two, it would definitely be a piano because I play it almost every day and I rarely play my guitar. I find guitar awkward and clumsy to say what I want to say musically. That's probably because I play guitar very poorly and play piano fairly well.

"Listen to" is much harder because those who play each well find ways to say what they want to say on each. I like to listen to them both when they're played well so I don't know how to determine which I'd rather listen to. In fact, I do listen to many more people (besides myself) play piano, but that might be because I'm a piano player and want to hear other people's ideas on the instrument. I seek out piano recordings much more often than I seek out guitar recordings.

Does this help?

[hornplayer]

Well, the poll header does not at all explain what kind of answer you want. I voted guitar... but I own a piano. and I play piano. but I DO love to listen to guitar. I also love to listen to piano. So, what's your point?
I am a musician....

[Mark Kleinhaut]

I vote guitar because that's what I play

"A piano is a monster that screams when you touch its teeth"- Andre Segovia

[Gentle Giant]

I'm a drummer, does that count as a musician?

I voted piano because it has such a greater dynamic and tonal range.

Of course, this depends on the type of music and the setting. For example, I would definitely take an acoustic piano over an acoustic guitar. And I would definitely take an electric guitar over an electric piano. But whether I would take an acoustic piano over an electric guitar would depend on what the musical context was.

Overall, however, I'd rather hear Bill Evans than Grant Green in a combo.

[pollo loco]

It simply depends on the context. Guitar is a wonderful instrument. I play it.
Actually, more guitar music has been written than piano music. Piano is a more modern instrument. However, the context is everything!
pl

[GoodSpeak]

Trumpet.

[Peterdubya]

Yes.

[BlueMiles]

I am not a musician, but I would vote for guitar.

Maybe that's partly due to piano being so common in jazz combos (over-exposed, though I kind of hate to put it like that)i.

But the bigger reason is that I really love the playing of artists like Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, John Scofield, and Bill Frisell. They are all not just fine soloists, but quite distinctive and superb at comping.

[JazzAt52ndStreet]

...yea, I guess I was kinda vague. I wasn't really getting at anything, was just just provoking dialogue.

...actually, I was thinking more of "which would you prefer playing with." I find I like the way a guitar is (traditionaly) played, over a piano. Now of course, there are exceptions to the way a musician plays an intrument, but most are not willing to take the risk, and step too far away from how the instrument has been played through out the years. So based on what I've heard, and who I've played with, I gotta go with the guitar.

Of course, there are certain piano players I absolutly looooove to play with and listen to. But in general, I'm going with the guitar, both to listen to, and to play with.

I'm a drummer, but I play several other instruments. IE Flute, saxaphone, Mallets.
-52nd

[derek]

Like most instruments it depends on whos playing.
I vote piano, and Herbie Hancock...

[Zulam]

Hi:

In general - the piano has been around for quite awhile. And a lot of musicians and artists, as well as composers during all these decades the instrument has been around - they have been all these times perfecting the techniques and developing possibilities of reproducing the sound - as it is today. The piano technology is therefore also in the forefront - and one can almost say .... the the piano "as an instrument as such" is already "fully developed" and matured - accoustically speaking!

Whereas the guitar - actually, technique-wise, is still some way behind the development of the piano. The (classical) material of the guitar is also not of the same multitude as with the piano. I only know Segovia, who has perfected his flamenco-playing techniques ... there are less (classical) guitar composers .... Although there are still a lot of classical musicians "experimenting" and refining the accoustic guitar techniques, fingering, tunings, etc ... it seems that the development and maturity of the instrument is still lacking behind ..... However, in terms of the technology and developments of the accoustic guitar, this seems to be momentarily at a standstill. The electronics, synths part of it though, has been developing quite rapidly in the past decade, we now have the "tapping technique", the Chapman Stick .... which are solely non-acccoustical "guitar-types" of instruments ..... and these "electric instruments" are mostly being utilized by "contemporary (non-classical) musicians" ....

Such as with these new "types of playing the guitar" (tapping, other tunings, etc) .... the techniques of such is also still to be developed and all these "new things" has not come into maturity yet .... !

So, in conclusion I might say - accoustically, I would rather like to hear the sounds of a grand-piano, played by a Keith Jarret, or Vladimir Horowitz .... instead of the guitar -- except then .... played by Segovia, or Pat Metheny ....

But anyway -- Keep the Music Alive and Swinging,
Z

[Scott Yanow]

I'll always remember that Jeff Lorber once called a piano a "retro keyboard."

[JazzCat]

To listen to, I would choose piano, and that''s coming from a guitarist. I just like the way a good jazz piano player sounds versus a good jazz guitar player.

P.S.- Mark, I like the Segovia quote. I also like Segovia.

[Pete C]

Piano. More firewood for an emergency.

[pollo loco]

Lots more, when you get right down to it!
pl

[clinthopson]

I figure all you young dudes would go for the guitar (rock influence, y'know) but innovation in jazz has come much more with the piano than with the guitar.

Sure, there have been Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery, but how can that compare with James P. Johnson, Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, Bud Powell, Herbie Nichols, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and Jimmy Rowles?

[Thelonious Nick]

Well, if I had to pick one to have in my very own house, I would pick guitar. It is more flexible, you can carry it around to different rooms or even outside. I think it is also easier to learn to play fairly well than piano. I base this on my own experience, as I took both piano and guitar lessons growing up, and actually achieved some competence on the guitar, but never the piano.

As for listening to in a jazz context, I prefer the piano. I have found far more recordings in which I found the piano to be interesting to listen to than the guitar.

[pollo loco]

The BIG problem with piano has to do with all the lousy pianos there are out there. I love Bud Powell, and I have lots of his recordings. However, he seldom played on good pianos, and some his stuff is recorded on the Worst.
Oscar Peterson, on the other hand, learned early on that whoever hired him had to offer a Bosendorfer in tip-top shape. Meanwhile, I always catch Hank Jones when he's in L. A., because he doesn't fool around with lousy pianos--nor does Ahmad Jamal. Those two guys always get what they ask for.
Of course, the guitar is quite another matter. Ron Eschete has a fine one, a seven string job. When he was alive, Joe Pass was my idol. Bluesmen Doug Macleod, Keb Mo, Taj Mahal, and B. B. King (plus lots lesser lights) play good instruments. Matter of fact, tell me who among the name guitarists don't play first-class instruments.
pl

[Richardo Caerleoni]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Piano. More firewood for an emergency.

Great! A bit like the old Ronnie Scott joke when he was asked if he liked "banjos" in the rythmn section (sic) - It was the 60s UK Trad Jazz boom.

Scott said..."On balance, I prefer Ukuleles, they're a hell of lot easier to stamp on".

[Jazz-in-Aust]

I'd have to say the piano, only because i have to choose one from the other. Don't get, when listening to a hard core blues or funk, I cannot go past a guitar. But I've always prefered, not necessarally the sound of the piano, but sound that it makes with the ensemble, if you can understand what I mean. Still, i'll always a love a bit of blues guitar

And in regards to whether i'm a musician or not, let's just say watch out for me in 7 years time ; )

[bostontricky]

I've picked piano. I was trained as an architect, so there's something I get out of literally seeing the space between notes on the keyboard that I never could get out of the trumpet.