“There are just so many problems with the electric guitar”: Robben Ford explains why the guitar is the “most difficult instrument to play”
Though by many metrics the most popular instrument in the world, the guitar is one which takes many years to master. Robben Ford would even go as far as to say it’s the “most difficult instrument to play”.
The 73-year-old blues ace has had quite the storied career and certainly knows his way around the fretboard, but as he acknowledges in a new interview with Guitar World [via Ultimate Guitar], the guitar isn’t the easiest instrument to play.
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Learning the guitar is a journey with no real end, and as Ford explains, he’s been focusing on his picking technique as of late.
“It’s something I never really worked on, which is why over the last couple of years I’ve started working on that more than anything else,” he says.
“I sort of decided on an approach and ran with it a long time ago. The guitar is a really hard instrument, the most difficult instrument to play. Trumpet players might argue with me, but the thing about the guitar is that you can play the same note in four different positions.”
He goes on: “And because the guitar is tuned in fourths, except between the G and the B string, there’s already a really different thing happening right there. So your picking techniques all have to be worked out.
“Sonically, electric guitars are a bitch. There are all kinds of difficulties with being too loud – and shitty amplifiers. There are just so many problems with the electric guitar.”
While Ford is certainly right that his assertion that the guitar is the hardest instrument to play will likely draw some debate from other instrumentalists, it’s an interesting perspective, and one which many guitarists might resonate with.
“I feel good about my background and the choices I made because of my love for the blues,” Ford continues. “It’s just a fantastic grounding for learning the guitar and chords. I wanted to learn chords and understand harmony, so that’s really been a good foundation. But the picking and fingering? I just didn’t focus enough on it.”
The post “There are just so many problems with the electric guitar”: Robben Ford explains why the guitar is the “most difficult instrument to play” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
