All instruments have infinitely high skill ceilings, but all have different skill floors. Piano is one of the easiest instruments to play, yet has some of the most challenging pieces composed for it.
Not at all lmao piano is one of the harder instruments for beginners to grasp especially considering for instruments like guitar, bass you have readable tablature when with piano you have to actually learn how to read sheet music not to mention the fact on other instruments you don’t really have to learn syncopation between both hands but on piano it’s a huge part, I’d argue it’s in the realm of hardest instruments to start on
@@Bloorgusgoorge I'm talking about the skill floor.Its the easiest to play a note on.For example, it's easier to play Mary had a little lamb on piano than it is on guitar. It's easier to play a C major chord on piano than on guitar. There's a reason keyboard is usually the first instrument you learn to play in music class. Another example, most people would struggle to play even a single note on a flute, whereas literally everyone can play a note on the piano. I'm not saying the piano is easy, I'm a piano player and I know how difficult it is.
@@Ren-lx8wvyou didn’t learn how to play the piano, you learned how to repeat a song on it. You dont learn proper technique, develop rhythmic skills, or learn anything behind what you are playing. It’s monkey see monkey do. Not to take away from learning your song because music is beautiful and fulfilling, but playing songs and actually learning an instrument are completely different things
The difference between me and him is he gets 2.4k subs for it which has the potential to kickstart a career if used correctly meanwhile I’m useless all day long and don’t get anything from it
i don’t understand why people try to compare instruments like they are equal, they do different things and have different possibilities, thats the beauty of it all
right? obviously violin is one of the hardest instruments and they be like "wEll iF yOu saY s0, yoU aRe dIsREspEcT tO pIan0 aNd gUiTar..." that's sound so fcking stupid
Picking can be hard sure but no way harder than violin bowing. Also the very concept of playing a micro fretless neck is haunting for me That being said noise cancelation is a very tough skill as well
If you can play guitar you can play violin. That's what my music teacher told me. It's basically the same just with a bow. I've played guitar for 16 years now and picked up the violin and was playing simple songs in a week.
I’ve tried to learn both the guitar and violin, and playing the violin felt more natural to me. The guitar having two more strings made it more confusing to start off with, not to mention the tablature. I also thought the guitar’s strings were more painful to press However, the violin does have challenges too. Tuning the guitar was easy, but tuning the violin (with pegs) gives me anxiety! The bottom of the violin also gives me a “hickey” after I practice for extended periods of time. Bow alignment, tone quality, vibrato, staccatos, and intonation are also a pain in the ass. I haven’t learned it yet, but I’m certain left-hand pizzicato will be very difficult too Overall, I think both instruments would be very difficult to master, but the violin is more difficult to start. Posture, bowing, and intonation are very difficult when starting out, especially if the beginner doesn’t know if they are playing in tune Personally, I love classical music and prefer the violin, but I think the violin and guitar both shine in their own repertoires!
@@thedankknight8333 It’s good information for those considering learning! A beginner might not want to learn the guitar if they find out pressing the strings is painful (many don’t know before starting) Also, some instrument players (professionals and hobbyists) like comparing the difficulty of their instruments to make fun of other musicians (jokingly of course). It’s like how violinists sometimes make fun of violists for having easy parts
@@joebidet3606 I wouldn’t say “looked down upon” (maybe in the past), but violas are kind of the laughing stock of the string family (in a joking way). Their parts are usually easier to play, too, which may lead to the idea that violists are less skilled than violinists. I’ve definitely heard my fair share of viola jokes online and from musicians and students, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy a good viola joke. Here’s one for you! (I heard it from a violist) What’s the similarity between a violist and a lawsuit? Everyone is happier when the case is closed
@@Airlo-rk8wj not really because when you play something easy to play people always want the next level of skill. And when playing something hard to play everyone reaches a boundary they can't cross, usually around the same skill level. So no one's really regarded as a master.
I can play both. Once you memorise the note positions on violin, it's really not hard. The number of techniques on the violin compared to the guitar makes the guitar more difficult in the long run imo. Frets don't make things much easier when your instrument is as versatile as the guitar.
Lol if memorizing note position on the violin was the only thing making not that hard then everyone would be a pro. Intonation is already hard enough with the Bowing
It's kind of misleading when he says we have tons of space to fret a note when in reality we need to be accurate with our fretting hand as well. If you move further away from the fret you will either buzz the note or have to increase the force for pressing on the strings. High level guitar playing will make more use of the space in between frets especially with chords with big stretches.
@@tinyisnotugly9146 I mentioned only note positions because his argument was that guitar is easier because of the frets. There's intricacies to both instruments. I still hold however that a true master of the guitar has to account for more techniques and subtleties than a true master of the violin.
@@derrickkorstick8984 Nope, because he can’t 😂. They ALWAYS compare camp-fire strumming or easy rock guitar to classical virtuosic violin compositions…and somehow think it’s apples to apples. They can’t even name truly difficult guitar pieces, their perceptions are warped. Guitar might possibly have the highest skill ceiling of any instrument, though the skill floor is obviously easier than violin.
as someone who played violin for 7 years before guitar it depends a lot on what you're playing. for example playing fast without legato or even just basic arpeggios took a very long time for me to get comfortable doing on guitar and the scale length allows for the same note to be in multiple places all over the fretboard. it is an easier instrument to pick up but the versatility gives it a much higher skill ceiling
I'd caution saying it has a "higher" skill ceiling than violin given the utter insanity of most violin repertoire, the same if not higher level of versatility, and composers consistently pushing the boundaries of what is considered possible on the instrument. Pretty much every instrument has an infinitely high skill ceiling- there is ALWAYS more to learn and room to improve!
Guitar is beginner friendly but has a higher skill ceiling than violin. Everyone who plays multiple instruments knows that more technical abilities allow for higher skill ceilings.
As a guitarist and a violist (basically a slightly bigger violin) they play completely differently and both have their difficulties. Some things are easy on one and some things are hard but one isn’t necessarily easier or better, just different.
@@redrhododendron1023 A truly difficult piece, indeed. May I ask what you consider a difficult piece on the guitar? I would like to see if you’re capable of making equal comparisons.
Violin is harder to pick up and learn. But once you’ve gotten past a year or two of learning they both have insane skill ceilings that are incomparable to each other
It's not harder or easier it's different. To tack on to that as a classical guitarist bring out note and using the correct voicing is INCREDIBLY difficult. The guitar does have a low skill level but also an INSANELY high skill ceiling. People often don't even know about the depth of it because they don't listen to classical music ( not that it's superior you're just going to get higher level of specific technical playing). The violin is very hard to a newcomer (I used to play back in grade school) it does get easier as you go though and it's theory is easy to comprehend that's why it's an excellent student instrument (not that it's not a great instrument altogether.
Yeah we aint mentioning guitar techniques like alternate picking, hybrid picking, thumping, arpeggios, sweep picking, tapping, tapping natural harmonics, hammer ons, pull offs and many more difficult ass techniques
Violin also has its own set of techniques as well. Additionally, it also shares some of the techniques that you listed above; hybrid picking (its own version), arpeggios, hammer-ons and Pull-offs. In my opinion however as somebody who’s played both, the two are just too different in terms of playing to actually consider which one is "more difficult" because some things may be hard on the guitar than violin, vise versa.
@@bonbonbillyboo2649 yea and these techniques on violin take years to be able to play for each one. On guitar, it can take weeks of even just hours to learn things like pull offs and hybrid picking and right hand tap. Hardest on guitar such as sweep picking and pinch harmonica may only take a few months so yea violin is just objectively a harder instrument to play initially and master
You are still missing the point that the violin is harder, less flexible perhaps, but very difficult to make it sound good. Davie504 vs TwoSet demonstrates this. Not one of those techniques is easier on a violin incidentally, but all still possible.
The reason my school does not have electric guitar in our band as an instrument option is because it is a very difficult instrument and most middle schoolers would not be able to learn it quickly, plus the first 6 months you get a crap ton of blisters. Guitar is arguably the one of the hardest instruments to play. I mean playing little riffs and one sting stuff is pretty easy, but once you start shredding it’s a whole other story, not to mention all the different techniques like alternate picking, hybrid picking, thumping, arpeggios, sweep picking, tapping, tapping natural harmonics, hammer ons, pull offs and many more extremely difficult techniques
Exactly, all the people saying guitar is easy have spent their time strumming chords and one string rhythms. In reality to be able to say how hard the guitar is, you must experience the top level of shredding
when I started playing guitar I just played through the pain of my fingers and now the blisters have built up so much that I can barely feel my finger tips
Violin is harder to start in but I feel guitar definitely has more challenging pieces you can play and advanced techniques like sweeping, tapping, and hybrid picking which some guitarists use all at once.
@@2174863 ?????? Guitar has more challenging pieces??????????? What?? Your challenging the violin on who has the hardest piece you know the hardest and most famous worldwide piece made by people like Paganini, liszt, Kreisler are all on the violin right. You can even transfer Mozart and Beethoven. Like do you know music theory at all. Argue with anyone teacher music professors and they would say the hardest pieces of music current exist in two instruments piano and violin. Not saying other instrument are easy but it’s just facts. Also I’m not biased because I played the guitar but transfer to violin and know differences now. Like hello la Campanella literally I took months to try to get how the angles work for the violin like you need to stroke at an specific angle just to make a sound…. Imagine playing caprice in D major or C major like it’s stupid hard
@@stevenchen9852 Yeah, but look at artists like Rafael Trujillo or some of Obscuras work their solos are insane. Bands like archspire, necrophagist, spawn of possession, beyond creation or even infant annihilator look at their solo on unholy gravebirth or crucifilth. May not be your style of music but these are very talented dudes who take guitar to the next level. The intricacy in their work hitting the strings in certain areas to affect tone. 180-200 bpm or more sweep picking, alternate picking runs etc. Tosin Abasi also has a very unique sound with his selective picking and thumping rhythms.
@@2174863 ok I said it already mastering any instrument is difficult in its own rights even people say mastering a triangle is hard. But I’m just saying violin is generally harder than an guitar I don’t know how to explain it because we can be comparing pieces for days I can get out like 100 of violin pieces that are really hard and you can probably too for the guitar but let just say this violin you have to find the notes guitar you don’t. And for the violin you need an certain stroking position in order to even make an sound and it has to be with precision if you don’t it will sound like you are scratching on a chalkboard, but for the guitar its pretty easy to make major key notes. Every instrument is hard to master but violin is just different idk how to explain it you have to play the violin to know I played the guitar for 4 years idk maybe google the violin or smth. I’m sry but I need to restate the argument there a reason why piano and violin can have an solo elite performance in front of many people on a completely empty stage and there’s a reason why these two are the instrument that rain supreme and change the music industry. Like who doesn’t know Beethoven or Mozart and if you have any contact with music you probably know fur elise, eine keline, alla turca
So, some rebuttals: 1) You cannot play anywhere inside the fret, it will go a micro tons flat if you go further back, and you will end up with fret buzz. 1a) on violin, you cannot press too hard on the string since it will always be the same note, but if you press the string too hard on guitar, you will go sharp. 2) the spaces in between allow you to raise/lower your pick/finger between notes, a micro motion that you do not have to do on violin, it actually will hinder the speed at which you can play. 3) there is absolutely a correct pressure that you have to apply to the strings using a pick/finger. if you pick too hard, it sounds rough, too soft and you will barely play the note. there are some examples as to why beginning to learn the violin is more difficult than begging to learn the guitar, but you missed on all the points you gave.
To be entirely fair classical guitar has the same (if not even higher) level of complexity since you directly control the tone with your hand(nails) giving you so much more colour and contrast and thanks to using your Fingers, youre able to play wayyy more polyphonic.
@@donaldmacgregor2628 no it’s basic knowledge check any video of guitarist on UA-cam absolutely no one will put the finger in the middle of the fret it’s always near the edge higher side
I would say guitar easily has the highest skill ceiling still. There are so many extra skills that you can pick up like fingerstyle, drumming, etc. that turn the guitar into a true force to be reckoned with. Guitar masters never cease to amaze me with their compositions + arrangements
The frets are there to give a specific sound not to tell you where the notes are. Hence the reason for fretless guitars. Also you don't just pick the string, you have to angle the pick for alternate picking or picking fast. Not to mention muting the strings not being played or palm muting for riffs. Also hybrid picking and economy picking are just a whole different world of practice.
I'm a bad violinist who's been playing violin for about eight years and guitar for two months. Both are hard bro. Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have started guitar by trying to teach myself a Metallica song but hey, there's progress at least. Meanwhile, for the violin... 😭😭😭 It is a labour of love either way. For an honest comparison of my experience, I found it easier to play "beginner" violin pieces than "beginner" guitar pieces. Twinkle twinkle on violin? Making a decent sound? It actually went pretty well for me. I had a good teacher. Meanwhile learning guitar chords is a pain and figuring out which finger isn't pressed down enough and is making a weird sound is kinda frustrating when you have four fingers on the fingerboard. Even switching between chords took long enough to be annoying af and my fingers would get all mixed up. So the beginning I would say guitar was harder. However I could never learn a violin alone purely because the techniques are too hard to self teach and the posture and stuff pretty much needs to be corrected by a teacher in order to make a decent sound. Also have fun trying to tune a violin on your own- tuning is an absolute nightmare compared to a guitar. When it comes to being able to play an instrument.... The violin stickers you start with a training wheels come off as you memorise the distances, but then you have to learn new hand positions for basically every scale- eg how to play flats and sharps. And then there's also shifting where you move up and down the fingerboard but uh, actually the distance between the notes decreases as you move higher, so you basically have to relearn what notes are where until you relearn everything and develop an intuition about what finger goes where. There's are many a fun techniques including artificial harmonics, vibrato, chords (bc yes, we do that too), left hand pizzicato, bowing techniques like hooked bowing, spiccato and even that one where you use the back of the bow to hit the strings, no I'm not joking. It gets worse than this but I wouldn't know 'cause I suck lol. To top it all off, we're supposed to be fluent in sheet music and play with proper expression and stuff, especially if you're studying classical stuff. (As I said, I'm a bad violinist so I could care less, but this stuff is hard and honestly way beyond me). You can probably play a guitar without requiring the knowledge of sheet music that violinists do, you don't have to relearn where the notes are every five seconds and you don't have to worry about bowing. On the other hand, for guitar you should learn chords and read tabs (not too hard from what I've seen), and for fingerstyle you pluck strings while plucking a melody as well and use things like "hammer-ons(?)" to play a note without actually plucking it. So far I haven't seen to many crazy techniques actually necessary to play a piece of music, though it understandibly takes ages to get good enough to move the large distance of the fingerboard quickly and efficiently, since it can be very fast paced with it's changes but such a large distance to move compared to a violin. I'm assuming there are harder more intricate techniques our there for guitar but those mostly seem to be fancy add ons and not basic requirements for playing a song. If anything it's easier to play popular music on a guitar than on violin- purely because the guitar chords are easier than violin chords typically and the frets show exactly where the notes are, you only have to practice moving faster between them. Meanwhile you can't exactly sing while playing a violin, so you'd usually have to play melody, a slightly less repetitive action which involves knowing where the heck the notes are and the best position to use to play them without it being awkward or overly difficult- which probably means having to at least learn the finger positions and conventions for that particular key. That's a fair deal of basic knowledge as a requirement. Rock is obviously suited better for a guitar and classical is better suited for a violin. Because that's literally his the music is written. Playing difficult rock music on a guitar is hard. Playing difficult classical music on a violin is hard. For both instruments in their main genres, they have had legends deliberately play music as difficult as possible to challenge their skills and take it to the next level. Mastering either is no easy task nor something than can easily be achieved without dedication and enormous amounts of work (unless you're a genius or smth, and even they still work hard). Anyone who plays both will probably tell you classical on a violin is harder. For reasons I'm not too sure about. Idk, maybe they're elitist or maybe they realise that even if you get good at guitar to the point where people around you go "wow dude that's insane," it's perhaps harder to impress the classical community? I'm not too sure those are just conjectures. Ask someone else about what that is lol. Basically violin is harder in general when it comes to gaining a decent playable level to play popular music. Meanwhile, both are incredibly difficult to master and truly reach the summit of and shine in different genres. At that point, comparing them is sort of useless imo. As for beginners making their first sound, my vote is on violin in easier, but really it actually comes down to your teacher and method of learning above all else.
ive gone from a fretted to fretless bass. its a bass sure but there wasnt much of a difference from what i felt, it felt easier to do certain things in fact
@@gmailaccount880 HAHAHAHAGAGAHAGAHGA. Tell that to everyone professional violinist who’ve been playing since they were a little child that STILL practice scales every single day. Ignorance is bliss I guess
I don’t even have enough energy to make my defence for the guitar. I’ll tell you, I’ve been playing for 51 years, and my grandpa for 84. There’s a reason we’ve stuck with it for so long
I've played and owned a violin for about 2 weeks now. And with the help of a phantom fret sticker, atleast 2 hrs+ of practice everyday, a little self taught and UA-cam on how to read sheet music and how to vibrato. It's been both fun and a workout playing, but already getting the grasp of things. I 100% recommend trying it out.
While the Violin is "harder to learn", it's at the same time more limited in what you can do with it compared to a guitar. What I mean is that in relation to playing Melody and Rhythm parts at the sime time, and to adapt to play in different keys, the guitar has a lot of advantages. Additionally, there is such a thing as Fretless Guitars, and Steel Guitars, where the same accuracy of note placement is just as hard to get right as on the violin; but more strings. Lastly I also wanted to give a mention to the National Instrument of Norway; the Harding Fiddle "Hardingfele" which again is an even more complex version of the Violin.
From my experience with cello and guitar, Jumping between strings is easier on bow than pick. And you do have to pick correctly to get the right tone. But the fret thing is true, learning the right positions on fretless is very hard.
As someone who has recently started playing guitar after previously having played violin for 3+ years. I would have to say guitar is much harder to learn at a minimum
The fundamentally easier an instrument is to play, the more complex compositions can possibly be played on it This is why piano will have INCREDIBLY complex compositions performed, guitar with less complex compositions performed, and violin with less complex compositions being performable And yet the difficulty of the most difficult piece on each instrument is basically identical, because all have been made popular enough to be pushed very, very close to their extreme limits, by very, very gifted and dedicated people
One of the best things about guitar is practically *anyone* can learn to play to _at least_ a basic level I learned from a book in 3 days - been playing for 20yrs 95% of guitar players don't sound like the other 5% though; and of that 5% only 1-2% actually master the instrument.. in that respect, I'd say the *vast* majority of violin players are more accomplished than most guitar players
Bro I love my violin but every day I wonder. Are we actually okay and did we actually OURSELVES choose to play this freaking impossible instrument without someone pointing a gun at us
Picking is something that sounds easy but its actually very difficult, especially if you stop looking down at where you are picking when trying to alternate pick different strings. I found starting on violin easier since your face is always looking at where you are bowing.
As a guitar player I won't try to argue the difficulty; however, pick attack on the guitar is something you need to worry about and people don't realize that and it's one of the things that adds to that stereotypical "beginner sound"
I’m a violinist. Every instrument has different levels of pick it up. Yes guitar might be easier to pick up than violin. However, every instruments have unlimited hardness eventually! Piano is super easy in the beginning, but see how it goes later!!
Well electric guitar is way easier, not sure it's a fair comparison. On acoustic guitar it does matter where and how hard you press within the frets, it affects the pitch and the clarity. Guitar it's also more physically demanding as you gotta press multiple strings, and the fretboard is longer and wider which means your hand has to jump around more than on the violin fingerboard, maybe a cello and double bass share this problem which would make them harder than violin.
Saying that electric guitar is way easier is not only insulting but shows absolute ignorance and lack of awareness to the levels of complexity that can be achieved on the electric guitar. In case you want to have an idea and drop the ignorance, check out artists like Jason Richardson or John Petrucci.
@@syndesys Well of course someone with an electric guitar profile picture would say that lmao I guarantee you whatever these guys are playing on electric guitar is much harder to perform using an acoustic guitar, they have higher action and thicker strings, not to mention you actually have to do the job when it comes to volume and projection instead of having an amp do it for you.
@@PabloCardonaMusic "of course someone with an electric guitar profile picture would say that lmao" - How ironic coming from you don't you think? And of course stuff made to be played on electric would be harder to play on acoustic. Impossible even. The scale runs reach the 24th fret on the electric guitar which doesn't even exist on acoustic. The reach for lightning fast scales on acoustic guitars past the 12-14 fret is so bad you can hardly consider it. And what is it that you're saying about the amp? You have to play extremely cleanly and mute strings perfectly and constantly so that the amp doesn't pick up unwanted sounds, even if it helps with quieter sounds like the ones from tapping. As an electric guitar player, I can play both electric and acoustic. I'm not sure you ever even tried to play an electric to say such things. I'll leave you 2 examples and you can tell me if they are even CONCEIVABLE on acoustic: ua-cam.com/video/FGrD9gfJLZ0/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/2yfX6SW9Xys/v-deo.html Meanwhile, there is nothing that you can play on acoustic that you can't play on electric. The skill ceiling on electric is therefore higher.
@@syndesys You just keep proving my point. Yes, you can play fast with more ease and that is precisely because electric guitar is easier to play lol Of course I've played electric, I always have to remind myself to loosen my grip because there's barely any action on the strings, on acoustic you actually need to strengthen your hand, and also since the amp is helping you with the volume you don't really have to put any weight on the pick. Which brings me to the videos you sent, yes I've actually heard things of that speed on acoustic, here's an example: ua-cam.com/video/XVlBPxSRlCQ/v-deo.html Do you really think those guys could play as fast and clear, and still be heard across the room, without amplification, and say it's easier? Obviously not, this is a non question, acoustic guitar is more physically demanding, that's why electric is much easier
Yep. Im a guitarist and violin is the hardest instrument. Though at the highest level they are even id say. Since all instruments become maxxed out the the capabilities of the human body at the highest level.
There are many techniques in playing guitar. Hold the fret and pluck doesn’t even scratch the surface. Do pinch harmonics for example, but do it consistently.
There are multiple techniques on violin also. The point being made is that even to sound reasonable on a violin is far harder than a guitar. Any mandolin player will tell you that bowing is super hard to sound good and even pizzicato sucks on a violin compared to a fretted instrument being plucked or strummed.
Both instruments require a great amount of skill to play well. Guitar is easier in the beginning, but both require countless hours of practice to master. Violin would be easier to play than guitar if you had spent your whole life playing the cello, but guitar would be easier to play if you spent your whole life playing the ukulele.
You don’t have all that space, the space is only for spacing out where you play so the strings sound right, you’re supposed to place your fingers as close to the fret as possible, you also only need to tune a violin. With an electric guitar you need to tune it find the amp settings get tone and sometimes a pedal
I’m mainly a bassist but have a guitar and a violin I will pick up the guitar time and time again but I don’t dare with the violin respect to everyone who plays an instrument though.
alright yeah, it is more difficult... but can you play the bass line, add the melody and play with the harmonies all at once?? not to even mention actual pleasing chords haha
You should watch Hilary Hahn play Erlkönig on the violin. It’s very cool! It’s a notoriously difficult piece that includes both an accompaniment and melody!
Depends on what you're playing. Polyphia riffs are harder on guitar because of the intricacies they introduce, such that even an experienced guitarist struggles if they don't have experience shredding, while someone who's really good at Polyphia might really struggle with Frusciante's weird thumb muting because the hand positions are entirely different, whereas once you've truly mastered the fundamentals of the violin there's very little that challenges you on the higher levels. The skill curve for violin is front heavy while for guitar it's end heavy. Simple as that
Depends on what genre you play, if you play some of that pop crap it's supeeeer easy just play a few chords and then you can call it a song. But if you play the more Heavy stuff like Thrash Metal, Death Metal, 80s hard rock there will be a bunch of crazy solos you have to play. But overall the violin might be harder idk.
As someone who plays both. The violin is the hardest to learn at first. But the guitar becomes a lot more complicated when you get past the basics. I think both instruments sound amazing and are worth learning
The thing is, an instrument that is easier to play will allow you to play even more complex technical music, so it evens out. But if you just mean to play basic music, then yes, violin is harder than guitar.
For guitar it's not as simple as just strumming. There are endless ways to play a guitar, just as there are with a violin. But these techniques are different and I personally don't think one is harder than the other. It takes incredible talent and practice to be excellent at both.
I'm not a violin player, but after playing guitar for 8 years, can say that these points mentioned here are only for those looking at the instruments as prospects to play. Fret markers and string spacing are not big factors. Now what makes the Violin easier in my observation would be the lack of spacing on the fretting hand. This allows wider interval playing with much more ease due to the smaller neck of the instrument. The next observation would be that the Violin does not have the concept of string entrapment. On guitar, depending on the direction your pick is traveling in conjunction with the next string destination, you will get stuck between strings (or outside of them in the opposite scenario) this is a very complex issue and is the cause of many styles of playing, to circumvent this very problem. Now both instruments have their own class of techniques, not all mutually exclusive, but I think the position of the instrument is something harder to adjust to with Violin, and the instrument also seems like it would be harder to maintain. As for technical complexities, I'd be interested to learn of some which rival the ones I mentioned relative to guitar.
dude, yes. i commented most of these points to him regarding fretting hand pressure/picking pressure and how a TON of micro movements are involved in making a guitar sound good. this guy is clearly a violinist at heart and doesn’t know that much regarding guitar, but it’s still an interesting take
The way I look at it is some instruments may be easier or harder to make a proper sound on, but past the rudimentary skills required to play the instrument, it doesn't really make sense to talk about one instrument being more difficult than the other. There are some things on every instrument that can only be done with years of dedication and practice.
To be fair, violin is famously a difficult instrument. But the advantages that guitar has which make it easier, such as frets, also enable you to play chords, and bend notes. A large part of what makes guitar so special is stuff that just isn't even possible on the violin in the first place. In fact, that's what makes every instrument special. It has unique attributes that nothing else has. Despite both being stringed instruments, they're too different to compare
as a guitarist learning the violin, the left hand doesn't bother me that much, the lack of frets is relativly easy to deal with, but the bow, holy shit the bow sucks
All instruments have infinitely high skill ceilings, but all have different skill floors. Piano is one of the easiest instruments to play, yet has some of the most challenging pieces composed for it.
Not at all lmao piano is one of the harder instruments for beginners to grasp especially considering for instruments like guitar, bass you have readable tablature when with piano you have to actually learn how to read sheet music not to mention the fact on other instruments you don’t really have to learn syncopation between both hands but on piano it’s a huge part, I’d argue it’s in the realm of hardest instruments to start on
@@Bloorgusgoorge I'm talking about the skill floor.Its the easiest to play a note on.For example, it's easier to play Mary had a little lamb on piano than it is on guitar. It's easier to play a C major chord on piano than on guitar. There's a reason keyboard is usually the first instrument you learn to play in music class. Another example, most people would struggle to play even a single note on a flute, whereas literally everyone can play a note on the piano. I'm not saying the piano is easy, I'm a piano player and I know how difficult it is.
@@Bloorgusgoorge bruh I learned to play. Kamado Tanjirou no Uta in one day without ever touching a piano before. It’s pretty damn easy to start out.
@@Bloorgusgoorge music theory has nothing to do with making an instrument sound.
Also there aré piano tablatures you know?xD
@@Ren-lx8wvyou didn’t learn how to play the piano, you learned how to repeat a song on it. You dont learn proper technique, develop rhythmic skills, or learn anything behind what you are playing. It’s monkey see monkey do.
Not to take away from learning your song because music is beautiful and fulfilling, but playing songs and actually learning an instrument are completely different things
If you ever felt useless just remember that this video exist of a guy watching the same thing we’re watching and adding NO commentary
The difference between me and him is he gets 2.4k subs for it which has the potential to kickstart a career if used correctly meanwhile I’m useless all day long and don’t get anything from it
the commentary is the text above him and he is demonstrating how to do it right
There commentary in text above him you idiot
ironically imagine being the one complaining about it, who do you think is more useless?
@@eeeeee8762 take a deep look on the mirror lol
you know how to make the guitar sound good? -Proceeds to pick a note badly
Right lmfao
Exactly 😂
Yes, even picking a single note takes months to practice. Learning proper two handed muting takes years.
That honestly hurt to watch.
he sucks at both lmao mofo should take the harmonica instead
i don’t understand why people try to compare instruments like they are equal, they do different things and have different possibilities, thats the beauty of it all
Mhm
right? obviously violin is one of the hardest instruments and they be like "wEll iF yOu saY s0, yoU aRe dIsREspEcT tO pIan0 aNd gUiTar..." that's sound so fcking stupid
This guy is going to lose his mind when he finds out about fretless guitars
Oh Violin frets :D
Fretless micro tonal 7 string.
@@TallicaMan1986exactly lmao wait until he finds out what slide guitar is
Still easier than violin due to the strings being longer.
@@-.a no instrument in easier or harder
It depends on how you play
Just like you, can't play either of them decently
The dude just really dismissed the entirety of picking technique.
Picking can be hard sure but no way harder than violin bowing. Also the very concept of playing a micro fretless neck is haunting for me
That being said noise cancelation is a very tough skill as well
I’ve played both and I think guitar is harder
@@rayres1074 youre forgetting about the multitude of picking techniques on the guitar especially if you play metal
If you can play guitar you can play violin. That's what my music teacher told me. It's basically the same just with a bow. I've played guitar for 16 years now and picked up the violin and was playing simple songs in a week.
@@themaskedmusician4846 playing both and playing both good is not the same😂
I’ve tried to learn both the guitar and violin, and playing the violin felt more natural to me. The guitar having two more strings made it more confusing to start off with, not to mention the tablature. I also thought the guitar’s strings were more painful to press
However, the violin does have challenges too. Tuning the guitar was easy, but tuning the violin (with pegs) gives me anxiety! The bottom of the violin also gives me a “hickey” after I practice for extended periods of time. Bow alignment, tone quality, vibrato, staccatos, and intonation are also a pain in the ass. I haven’t learned it yet, but I’m certain left-hand pizzicato will be very difficult too
Overall, I think both instruments would be very difficult to master, but the violin is more difficult to start. Posture, bowing, and intonation are very difficult when starting out, especially if the beginner doesn’t know if they are playing in tune
Personally, I love classical music and prefer the violin, but I think the violin and guitar both shine in their own repertoires!
Why does it matter if one is more difficult. Shouldn’t it be a burden (not talking to you specifically)
@@thedankknight8333 It’s good information for those considering learning! A beginner might not want to learn the guitar if they find out pressing the strings is painful (many don’t know before starting)
Also, some instrument players (professionals and hobbyists) like comparing the difficulty of their instruments to make fun of other musicians (jokingly of course). It’s like how violinists sometimes make fun of violists for having easy parts
@@redrhododendron1023is it true that violists are looked down upon by violinists and cello players
@@joebidet3606 I wouldn’t say “looked down upon” (maybe in the past), but violas are kind of the laughing stock of the string family (in a joking way). Their parts are usually easier to play, too, which may lead to the idea that violists are less skilled than violinists. I’ve definitely heard my fair share of viola jokes online and from musicians and students, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy a good viola joke. Here’s one for you! (I heard it from a violist)
What’s the similarity between a violist and a lawsuit?
Everyone is happier when the case is closed
@@thedankknight8333 that's literally the topic of the video
The initial skill curve of violin is harder, although getting to a professional level on both is about the same difficulty
definitely not the same my dude
W take
anyone who disagrees hasnt played either. for eg you never see jazz musicians having arguments like this, just saying from experience lol
Sussy baka, do you even know who Paganini was?
Stfu
@@eelamite absolutely wrong. actually think before commenting next time
What I've learned from playing multiple Instruments is that even though an instrument maybe easier to play it will be harder to master
Both of these are hard as hell to master though
@@Airlo-rk8wj not really because when you play something easy to play people always want the next level of skill. And when playing something hard to play everyone reaches a boundary they can't cross, usually around the same skill level. So no one's really regarded as a master.
@@fallsunset5862 Define “master”.
@@coolguy4709 Having complete knowledge and control
.
Conclusion: playing guitar poorly is easier than playing violin
Exactly
Man’s A string is sharper than Einstein
I can play both. Once you memorise the note positions on violin, it's really not hard. The number of techniques on the violin compared to the guitar makes the guitar more difficult in the long run imo. Frets don't make things much easier when your instrument is as versatile as the guitar.
Lol if memorizing note position on the violin was the only thing making not that hard then everyone would be a pro. Intonation is already hard enough with the Bowing
It's kind of misleading when he says we have tons of space to fret a note when in reality we need to be accurate with our fretting hand as well. If you move further away from the fret you will either buzz the note or have to increase the force for pressing on the strings.
High level guitar playing will make more use of the space in between frets especially with chords with big stretches.
@@tinyisnotugly9146 I mentioned only note positions because his argument was that guitar is easier because of the frets. There's intricacies to both instruments. I still hold however that a true master of the guitar has to account for more techniques and subtleties than a true master of the violin.
@@celestialrift I dont know about more techniques than violin at a proficient level but we can agree to disagree.
Lmao you definitely don't play violin
Violin is harder to pick up for a beginner, but they're both equally hard to master
Wrong
@@michaelwojcik2597 care to explain how so? 🤣
@@derrickkorstick8984 Nope, because he can’t 😂. They ALWAYS compare camp-fire strumming or easy rock guitar to classical virtuosic violin compositions…and somehow think it’s apples to apples. They can’t even name truly difficult guitar pieces, their perceptions are warped. Guitar might possibly have the highest skill ceiling of any instrument, though the skill floor is obviously easier than violin.
@@paulgordon1595 cause mods violinist are fucking nerds who dont know shit about guitar lmao
as someone who played violin for 7 years before guitar it depends a lot on what you're playing. for example playing fast without legato or even just basic arpeggios took a very long time for me to get comfortable doing on guitar and the scale length allows for the same note to be in multiple places all over the fretboard. it is an easier instrument to pick up but the versatility gives it a much higher skill ceiling
I'd caution saying it has a "higher" skill ceiling than violin given the utter insanity of most violin repertoire, the same if not higher level of versatility, and composers consistently pushing the boundaries of what is considered possible on the instrument.
Pretty much every instrument has an infinitely high skill ceiling- there is ALWAYS more to learn and room to improve!
Guitar is beginner friendly but has a higher skill ceiling than violin. Everyone who plays multiple instruments knows that more technical abilities allow for higher skill ceilings.
As a guitarist and a violist (basically a slightly bigger violin) they play completely differently and both have their difficulties. Some things are easy on one and some things are hard but one isn’t necessarily easier or better, just different.
Slightly bigger and slightly out of tune
@@marcgimenez9729 viola jokes, viola jokes! Violas are a also important to the string family, to the orchestra, just like any other instruments!
Viola
I played violin as a kid and learning guitar is so much harder for me
guitar might be easier at first but its skill ceiling is way higher 💀
The violin arrangement of super difficult pieces like Der Erlkönig might make you change your mind
@redrhododendron Yep, I tried learning the violin and still can't play ode to joy in tune for about 2 years, then I kinda changed into percussion
@@redrhododendron1023 A truly difficult piece, indeed. May I ask what you consider a difficult piece on the guitar? I would like to see if you’re capable of making equal comparisons.
Nah just search for Marcin Patrzalek and we're done
Violin is harder to pick up and learn. But once you’ve gotten past a year or two of learning they both have insane skill ceilings that are incomparable to each other
It's not harder or easier it's different. To tack on to that as a classical guitarist bring out note and using the correct voicing is INCREDIBLY difficult. The guitar does have a low skill level but also an INSANELY high skill ceiling. People often don't even know about the depth of it because they don't listen to classical music ( not that it's superior you're just going to get higher level of specific technical playing). The violin is very hard to a newcomer (I used to play back in grade school) it does get easier as you go though and it's theory is easy to comprehend that's why it's an excellent student instrument (not that it's not a great instrument altogether.
Yeah we aint mentioning guitar techniques like alternate picking, hybrid picking, thumping, arpeggios, sweep picking, tapping, tapping natural harmonics, hammer ons, pull offs and many more difficult ass techniques
Violin also has its own set of techniques as well. Additionally, it also shares some of the techniques that you listed above; hybrid picking (its own version), arpeggios, hammer-ons and Pull-offs. In my opinion however as somebody who’s played both, the two are just too different in terms of playing to actually consider which one is "more difficult" because some things may be hard on the guitar than violin, vise versa.
The video only makes sense if we're talking about which one is harder to play chords on tbh
@@bonbonbillyboo2649 yea and these techniques on violin take years to be able to play for each one. On guitar, it can take weeks of even just hours to learn things like pull offs and hybrid picking and right hand tap. Hardest on guitar such as sweep picking and pinch harmonica may only take a few months so yea violin is just objectively a harder instrument to play initially and master
@SubLevelSeverty11 and all that?
You are still missing the point that the violin is harder, less flexible perhaps, but very difficult to make it sound good.
Davie504 vs TwoSet demonstrates this.
Not one of those techniques is easier on a violin incidentally, but all still possible.
The reason my school does not have electric guitar in our band as an instrument option is because it is a very difficult instrument and most middle schoolers would not be able to learn it quickly, plus the first 6 months you get a crap ton of blisters. Guitar is arguably the one of the hardest instruments to play. I mean playing little riffs and one sting stuff is pretty easy, but once you start shredding it’s a whole other story, not to mention all the different techniques like alternate picking, hybrid picking, thumping, arpeggios, sweep picking, tapping, tapping natural harmonics, hammer ons, pull offs and many more extremely difficult techniques
Exactly, all the people saying guitar is easy have spent their time strumming chords and one string rhythms. In reality to be able to say how hard the guitar is, you must experience the top level of shredding
when I started playing guitar I just played through the pain of my fingers and now the blisters have built up so much that I can barely feel my finger tips
If you want to experience top level shredding, watch Hilary Hahn play Paganini.....
@@YacheezReal same lol
I'm a guitarist but I'd also say violin is harder.
as someone who played violin for four years and could barely even play ode to joy (i play guitar now) yeah, it’s way more difficult 💀
Violin is harder to start in but I feel guitar definitely has more challenging pieces you can play and advanced techniques like sweeping, tapping, and hybrid picking which some guitarists use all at once.
@@2174863 yeah. It’s also difficult to get the dexterity to do all of that in an actual song even after you learned to do the techniques
@@2174863 ?????? Guitar has more challenging pieces??????????? What?? Your challenging the violin on who has the hardest piece you know the hardest and most famous worldwide piece made by people like Paganini, liszt, Kreisler are all on the violin right. You can even transfer Mozart and Beethoven. Like do you know music theory at all. Argue with anyone teacher music professors and they would say the hardest pieces of music current exist in two instruments piano and violin. Not saying other instrument are easy but it’s just facts. Also I’m not biased because I played the guitar but transfer to violin and know differences now. Like hello la Campanella literally I took months to try to get how the angles work for the violin like you need to stroke at an specific angle just to make a sound…. Imagine playing caprice in D major or C major like it’s stupid hard
@@stevenchen9852 Yeah, but look at artists like Rafael Trujillo or some of Obscuras work their solos are insane. Bands like archspire, necrophagist, spawn of possession, beyond creation or even infant annihilator look at their solo on unholy gravebirth or crucifilth. May not be your style of music but these are very talented dudes who take guitar to the next level. The intricacy in their work hitting the strings in certain areas to affect tone. 180-200 bpm or more sweep picking, alternate picking runs etc. Tosin Abasi also has a very unique sound with his selective picking and thumping rhythms.
@@2174863 ok I said it already mastering any instrument is difficult in its own rights even people say mastering a triangle is hard. But I’m just saying violin is generally harder than an guitar I don’t know how to explain it because we can be comparing pieces for days I can get out like 100 of violin pieces that are really hard and you can probably too for the guitar but let just say this violin you have to find the notes guitar you don’t. And for the violin you need an certain stroking position in order to even make an sound and it has to be with precision if you don’t it will sound like you are scratching on a chalkboard, but for the guitar its pretty easy to make major key notes. Every instrument is hard to master but violin is just different idk how to explain it you have to play the violin to know I played the guitar for 4 years idk maybe google the violin or smth. I’m sry but I need to restate the argument there a reason why piano and violin can have an solo elite performance in front of many people on a completely empty stage and there’s a reason why these two are the instrument that rain supreme and change the music industry. Like who doesn’t know Beethoven or Mozart and if you have any contact with music you probably know fur elise, eine keline, alla turca
I never once thought violin was easier than guitar
So, some rebuttals: 1) You cannot play anywhere inside the fret, it will go a micro tons flat if you go further back, and you will end up with fret buzz. 1a) on violin, you cannot press too hard on the string since it will always be the same note, but if you press the string too hard on guitar, you will go sharp. 2) the spaces in between allow you to raise/lower your pick/finger between notes, a micro motion that you do not have to do on violin, it actually will hinder the speed at which you can play. 3) there is absolutely a correct pressure that you have to apply to the strings using a pick/finger. if you pick too hard, it sounds rough, too soft and you will barely play the note. there are some examples as to why beginning to learn the violin is more difficult than begging to learn the guitar, but you missed on all the points you gave.
he sucks at both thats why lmao
To be entirely fair classical guitar has the same (if not even higher) level of complexity since you directly control the tone with your hand(nails) giving you so much more colour and contrast and thanks to using your Fingers, youre able to play wayyy more polyphonic.
I agree it’s easy at the beginning but any instrument is as hard as you decide to make it.
There's, no "all that space" to play a note beacouse you must put your finger nearly on the fret beacouse either way your strings will buzz
your guitar must be set up horribly if that’s the case
@@donaldmacgregor2628 no it’s basic knowledge check any video of guitarist on UA-cam absolutely no one will put the finger in the middle of the fret it’s always near the edge higher side
@@donaldmacgregor2628 bro, it is common knowledge...
Damn, I feel bad, I’ve seen the strings in my orchestra have to play Tchaikovsky😭
Guitar is easier, but which one has the badass solos and power chords
The violin has some pretty badass solos too! Check out a few violin concertos and you’ll see what I mean :)
I would say guitar easily has the highest skill ceiling still. There are so many extra skills that you can pick up like fingerstyle, drumming, etc. that turn the guitar into a true force to be reckoned with. Guitar masters never cease to amaze me with their compositions + arrangements
Violin imo is one of the hardest instruments to learn
Yeah but it really shouldn’t matter
@@thedankknight8333 wdym?
@@sle3povers boi don’t act like you made a comment saying it doesn’t matter. Stay mad
@@thedankknight8333 ?
@@thedankknight8333 lmao what are you on
The frets are there to give a specific sound not to tell you where the notes are. Hence the reason for fretless guitars. Also you don't just pick the string, you have to angle the pick for alternate picking or picking fast. Not to mention muting the strings not being played or palm muting for riffs. Also hybrid picking and economy picking are just a whole different world of practice.
I'm a bad violinist who's been playing violin for about eight years and guitar for two months. Both are hard bro.
Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have started guitar by trying to teach myself a Metallica song but hey, there's progress at least. Meanwhile, for the violin... 😭😭😭
It is a labour of love either way.
For an honest comparison of my experience, I found it easier to play "beginner" violin pieces than "beginner" guitar pieces. Twinkle twinkle on violin? Making a decent sound? It actually went pretty well for me. I had a good teacher.
Meanwhile learning guitar chords is a pain and figuring out which finger isn't pressed down enough and is making a weird sound is kinda frustrating when you have four fingers on the fingerboard.
Even switching between chords took long enough to be annoying af and my fingers would get all mixed up.
So the beginning I would say guitar was harder.
However I could never learn a violin alone purely because the techniques are too hard to self teach and the posture and stuff pretty much needs to be corrected by a teacher in order to make a decent sound. Also have fun trying to tune a violin on your own- tuning is an absolute nightmare compared to a guitar.
When it comes to being able to play an instrument....
The violin stickers you start with a training wheels come off as you memorise the distances, but then you have to learn new hand positions for basically every scale- eg how to play flats and sharps. And then there's also shifting where you move up and down the fingerboard but uh, actually the distance between the notes decreases as you move higher, so you basically have to relearn what notes are where until you relearn everything and develop an intuition about what finger goes where.
There's are many a fun techniques including artificial harmonics, vibrato, chords (bc yes, we do that too), left hand pizzicato, bowing techniques like hooked bowing, spiccato and even that one where you use the back of the bow to hit the strings, no I'm not joking. It gets worse than this but I wouldn't know 'cause I suck lol.
To top it all off, we're supposed to be fluent in sheet music and play with proper expression and stuff, especially if you're studying classical stuff. (As I said, I'm a bad violinist so I could care less, but this stuff is hard and honestly way beyond me).
You can probably play a guitar without requiring the knowledge of sheet music that violinists do, you don't have to relearn where the notes are every five seconds and you don't have to worry about bowing.
On the other hand, for guitar you should learn chords and read tabs (not too hard from what I've seen), and for fingerstyle you pluck strings while plucking a melody as well and use things like "hammer-ons(?)" to play a note without actually plucking it. So far I haven't seen to many crazy techniques actually necessary to play a piece of music, though it understandibly takes ages to get good enough to move the large distance of the fingerboard quickly and efficiently, since it can be very fast paced with it's changes but such a large distance to move compared to a violin.
I'm assuming there are harder more intricate techniques our there for guitar but those mostly seem to be fancy add ons and not basic requirements for playing a song.
If anything it's easier to play popular music on a guitar than on violin- purely because the guitar chords are easier than violin chords typically and the frets show exactly where the notes are, you only have to practice moving faster between them. Meanwhile you can't exactly sing while playing a violin, so you'd usually have to play melody, a slightly less repetitive action which involves knowing where the heck the notes are and the best position to use to play them without it being awkward or overly difficult- which probably means having to at least learn the finger positions and conventions for that particular key. That's a fair deal of basic knowledge as a requirement.
Rock is obviously suited better for a guitar and classical is better suited for a violin. Because that's literally his the music is written. Playing difficult rock music on a guitar is hard. Playing difficult classical music on a violin is hard.
For both instruments in their main genres, they have had legends deliberately play music as difficult as possible to challenge their skills and take it to the next level. Mastering either is no easy task nor something than can easily be achieved without dedication and enormous amounts of work (unless you're a genius or smth, and even they still work hard).
Anyone who plays both will probably tell you classical on a violin is harder. For reasons I'm not too sure about. Idk, maybe they're elitist or maybe they realise that even if you get good at guitar to the point where people around you go "wow dude that's insane," it's perhaps harder to impress the classical community? I'm not too sure those are just conjectures. Ask someone else about what that is lol.
Basically violin is harder in general when it comes to gaining a decent playable level to play popular music. Meanwhile, both are incredibly difficult to master and truly reach the summit of and shine in different genres. At that point, comparing them is sort of useless imo.
As for beginners making their first sound, my vote is on violin in easier, but really it actually comes down to your teacher and method of learning above all else.
Violin is easier for playing fast notes and scales accurately, but sounding good is easier on guitar
im not a violinist so i cant really say much but how is it easier to play scales on a violin accurately? dont u have to care about intonation
@@taffles7498 it’s not that hard to learn basic intonation if you put some tape in the right spots to memorize it
ive gone from a fretted to fretless bass. its a bass sure but there wasnt much of a difference from what i felt, it felt easier to do certain things in fact
@@gmailaccount880 HAHAHAHAGAGAHAGAHGA. Tell that to everyone professional violinist who’ve been playing since they were a little child that STILL practice scales every single day. Ignorance is bliss I guess
@@Aschuff22 dawg i played violin for like 10 years
I don’t even have enough energy to make my defence for the guitar. I’ll tell you, I’ve been playing for 51 years, and my grandpa for 84. There’s a reason we’ve stuck with it for so long
I've played and owned a violin for about 2 weeks now. And with the help of a phantom fret sticker, atleast 2 hrs+ of practice everyday, a little self taught and UA-cam on how to read sheet music and how to vibrato. It's been both fun and a workout playing, but already getting the grasp of things. I 100% recommend trying it out.
While the Violin is "harder to learn", it's at the same time more limited in what you can do with it compared to a guitar.
What I mean is that in relation to playing Melody and Rhythm parts at the sime time, and to adapt to play in different keys, the guitar has a lot of advantages.
Additionally, there is such a thing as Fretless Guitars, and Steel Guitars, where the same accuracy of note placement is just as hard to get right as on the violin; but more strings.
Lastly I also wanted to give a mention to the National Instrument of Norway; the Harding Fiddle "Hardingfele" which again is an even more complex version of the Violin.
比较谁更难意义不大，最重要的是谁作用更大。用锄头重地比开拖拉机种地难，但没有意义产量太低
Wise words from a wise man.
Wise
TwoSet approved.
Thank God for the translate update im saving that quote for later .. wise saying
I play both. Violin is hard as fuck
That's cos ur noob
From my experience with cello and guitar, Jumping between strings is easier on bow than pick. And you do have to pick correctly to get the right tone. But the fret thing is true, learning the right positions on fretless is very hard.
Yes the violin is harder
But guitar just sounds better💀
We dont have to fight for whats the most difficult to play instrument, every instrument is diffrent
As someone who has recently started playing guitar after previously having played violin for 3+ years. I would have to say guitar is much harder to learn at a minimum
The fundamentally easier an instrument is to play, the more complex compositions can possibly be played on it
This is why piano will have INCREDIBLY complex compositions performed, guitar with less complex compositions performed, and violin with less complex compositions being performable
And yet the difficulty of the most difficult piece on each instrument is basically identical, because all have been made popular enough to be pushed very, very close to their extreme limits, by very, very gifted and dedicated people
One of the best things about guitar is practically *anyone* can learn to play to _at least_ a basic level
I learned from a book in 3 days - been playing for 20yrs
95% of guitar players don't sound like the other 5% though; and of that 5% only 1-2% actually master the instrument.. in that respect, I'd say the *vast* majority of violin players are more accomplished than most guitar players
Bro I love my violin but every day I wonder. Are we actually okay and did we actually OURSELVES choose to play this freaking impossible instrument without someone pointing a gun at us
It's all about getting used to the instrument. Once you get used to the guitar, you can play without looking at it.
to be honest that goes for violin too
@@claryyy exactly.
Picking is something that sounds easy but its actually very difficult, especially if you stop looking down at where you are picking when trying to alternate pick different strings. I found starting on violin easier since your face is always looking at where you are bowing.
As a guitar player I won't try to argue the difficulty; however, pick attack on the guitar is something you need to worry about and people don't realize that and it's one of the things that adds to that stereotypical "beginner sound"
I mean, playing bass there are 2 directions I can go with this…
Yep 😂
I do feel that guitar has a higher skill ceiling though
Violin and viola are absolutely some of the top hardest instruments
I’m a violinist.
Every instrument has different levels of pick it up.
Yes guitar might be easier to pick up than violin.
However, every instruments have unlimited hardness eventually!
Piano is super easy in the beginning, but see how it goes later!!
Well electric guitar is way easier, not sure it's a fair comparison. On acoustic guitar it does matter where and how hard you press within the frets, it affects the pitch and the clarity. Guitar it's also more physically demanding as you gotta press multiple strings, and the fretboard is longer and wider which means your hand has to jump around more than on the violin fingerboard, maybe a cello and double bass share this problem which would make them harder than violin.
Wait till he hears about sweep picking, shredding and basically all the coolness
Saying that electric guitar is way easier is not only insulting but shows absolute ignorance and lack of awareness to the levels of complexity that can be achieved on the electric guitar. In case you want to have an idea and drop the ignorance, check out artists like Jason Richardson or John Petrucci.
@@syndesys Well of course someone with an electric guitar profile picture would say that lmao
I guarantee you whatever these guys are playing on electric guitar is much harder to perform using an acoustic guitar, they have higher action and thicker strings, not to mention you actually have to do the job when it comes to volume and projection instead of having an amp do it for you.
@@PabloCardonaMusic "of course someone with an electric guitar profile picture would say that lmao" - How ironic coming from you don't you think?
And of course stuff made to be played on electric would be harder to play on acoustic. Impossible even. The scale runs reach the 24th fret on the electric guitar which doesn't even exist on acoustic. The reach for lightning fast scales on acoustic guitars past the 12-14 fret is so bad you can hardly consider it. And what is it that you're saying about the amp? You have to play extremely cleanly and mute strings perfectly and constantly so that the amp doesn't pick up unwanted sounds, even if it helps with quieter sounds like the ones from tapping.
As an electric guitar player, I can play both electric and acoustic. I'm not sure you ever even tried to play an electric to say such things.
I'll leave you 2 examples and you can tell me if they are even CONCEIVABLE on acoustic:
ua-cam.com/video/FGrD9gfJLZ0/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/2yfX6SW9Xys/v-deo.html
Meanwhile, there is nothing that you can play on acoustic that you can't play on electric. The skill ceiling on electric is therefore higher.
@@syndesys You just keep proving my point. Yes, you can play fast with more ease and that is precisely because electric guitar is easier to play lol
Of course I've played electric, I always have to remind myself to loosen my grip because there's barely any action on the strings, on acoustic you actually need to strengthen your hand, and also since the amp is helping you with the volume you don't really have to put any weight on the pick. Which brings me to the videos you sent, yes I've actually heard things of that speed on acoustic, here's an example: ua-cam.com/video/XVlBPxSRlCQ/v-deo.html
Do you really think those guys could play as fast and clear, and still be heard across the room, without amplification, and say it's easier? Obviously not, this is a non question, acoustic guitar is more physically demanding, that's why electric is much easier
Yep. Im a guitarist and violin is the hardest instrument. Though at the highest level they are even id say. Since all instruments become maxxed out the the capabilities of the human body at the highest level.
There are many techniques in playing guitar. Hold the fret and pluck doesn’t even scratch the surface. Do pinch harmonics for example, but do it consistently.
There are multiple techniques on violin also. The point being made is that even to sound reasonable on a violin is far harder than a guitar.
Any mandolin player will tell you that bowing is super hard to sound good and even pizzicato sucks on a violin compared to a fretted instrument being plucked or strummed.
Wait til that guy hears about complex guitar parts
Technically you can play pizzicato with the violin so a bow isn’t strictly needed for a sound to be made
*pedal steel guitar enters chat*
I play all 3, guitar, pedal steel and violin....
Wtf is wrong with me?....
“You just pluck the string” lmao this guy would have a heart attack trying to alternate pick 😂
This vdo is just like comparing a baby lion with a grown dog
A violinist holding a guitar and comparing it to the violin
It's kinda insult if u ask
Both instruments require a great amount of skill to play well. Guitar is easier in the beginning, but both require countless hours of practice to master. Violin would be easier to play than guitar if you had spent your whole life playing the cello, but guitar would be easier to play if you spent your whole life playing the ukulele.
I take pride in knowing that violin is harder.
I don’t. That doesn’t make it better or more fun to listen to
It is more difficult to cultivate with a hoe than to drive a tractor, but it makes no sense as it yields to low… - Japanese guy in the comments
@@thedankknight8333 Nobody said that. Y'all act like it's a competition like bro it's harder than a lot of instruments so what?
@@sle3povers your proving my point. There should be no pride in knowing one is harder than the other meaning there’s no reason to compare
@@sle3povers you literally just said what he said lmao
Tell that to a 12 string guitarist, especially fingerpicking
honestly, they are both equally hard, and music are not related to who's hardest, right? I don't understand why people are making these videos ngl
You don’t have all that space, the space is only for spacing out where you play so the strings sound right, you’re supposed to place your fingers as close to the fret as possible, you also only need to tune a violin. With an electric guitar you need to tune it find the amp settings get tone and sometimes a pedal
No one ever said "I want to be a violin star"
thousands of people have said that before
I’m mainly a bassist but have a guitar and a violin I will pick up the guitar time and time again but I don’t dare with the violin respect to everyone who plays an instrument though.
There is fretless guitar, so...
Hear me out!
VIOLINS WITH FRETS!!!!
Edit: They already made it. It seems someome already taught of this.
alright yeah, it is more difficult... but can you play the bass line, add the melody and play with the harmonies all at once?? not to even mention actual pleasing chords haha
Actually yea. It's hard as fuck to do, and the bass line will only be as low as G3, but it can.
You should watch Hilary Hahn play Erlkönig on the violin. It’s very cool! It’s a notoriously difficult piece that includes both an accompaniment and melody!
Okay 5 notes at the same time violinists 😢
@@thedankknight8333 Might as well ask guitarists to try vibrato and trills while you’re at it 😜
@@redrhododendron1023 guitar vibrato is a bit different from violin but we can do both of those 🤨
Man forgot that fretless guitars exist
Depends on what you're playing. Polyphia riffs are harder on guitar because of the intricacies they introduce, such that even an experienced guitarist struggles if they don't have experience shredding, while someone who's really good at Polyphia might really struggle with Frusciante's weird thumb muting because the hand positions are entirely different, whereas once you've truly mastered the fundamentals of the violin there's very little that challenges you on the higher levels.
The skill curve for violin is front heavy while for guitar it's end heavy. Simple as that
As a violinist, I can confirm
Depends on what genre you play, if you play some of that pop crap it's supeeeer easy just play a few chords and then you can call it a song. But if you play the more Heavy stuff like Thrash Metal, Death Metal, 80s hard rock there will be a bunch of crazy solos you have to play. But overall the violin might be harder idk.
As someone who plays both. The violin is the hardest to learn at first. But the guitar becomes a lot more complicated when you get past the basics. I think both instruments sound amazing and are worth learning
No bro playing violin has never been easy at any point
@@nathanchishi7245 never said it was easy
The thing is, an instrument that is easier to play will allow you to play even more complex technical music, so it evens out.
But if you just mean to play basic music, then yes, violin is harder than guitar.
For guitar it's not as simple as just strumming. There are endless ways to play a guitar, just as there are with a violin. But these techniques are different and I personally don't think one is harder than the other. It takes incredible talent and practice to be excellent at both.
I'm not a violin player, but after playing guitar for 8 years, can say that these points mentioned here are only for those looking at the instruments as prospects to play. Fret markers and string spacing are not big factors. Now what makes the Violin easier in my observation would be the lack of spacing on the fretting hand. This allows wider interval playing with much more ease due to the smaller neck of the instrument. The next observation would be that the Violin does not have the concept of string entrapment. On guitar, depending on the direction your pick is traveling in conjunction with the next string destination, you will get stuck between strings (or outside of them in the opposite scenario) this is a very complex issue and is the cause of many styles of playing, to circumvent this very problem.
Now both instruments have their own class of techniques, not all mutually exclusive, but I think the position of the instrument is something harder to adjust to with Violin, and the instrument also seems like it would be harder to maintain. As for technical complexities, I'd be interested to learn of some which rival the ones I mentioned relative to guitar.
The spacing of the fretting hand killed me when I tried the guitar haha. I switched to the violin and experience less pain from it now
dude, yes. i commented most of these points to him regarding fretting hand pressure/picking pressure and how a TON of micro movements are involved in making a guitar sound good. this guy is clearly a violinist at heart and doesn’t know that much regarding guitar, but it’s still an interesting take
The way I look at it is some instruments may be easier or harder to make a proper sound on, but past the rudimentary skills required to play the instrument, it doesn't really make sense to talk about one instrument being more difficult than the other. There are some things on every instrument that can only be done with years of dedication and practice.
OPINION! I play piano harp cello and I played violin for 5-6 months and I learned so much more
what an insightful video
i dont know what i would have done without the guy on the right nodding in acknowledgement
piano: easy to learn hard to master
guitar: kind of easy to learn hard to master
Oml if your even slightly off of where your finger is supposed to be on a violin string, then it sounds awful! It’s so hard to play 😭
As someone who plays the violin, I can confirm it takes time to get good at it, but guitar feels more awkward in my opinion.
I loved playing viola in school
Every instrument has its quirks but I’d say it’s easier to pick up guitar than violin but at a professional level they’re just about equal
To be fair, violin is famously a difficult instrument. But the advantages that guitar has which make it easier, such as frets, also enable you to play chords, and bend notes. A large part of what makes guitar so special is stuff that just isn't even possible on the violin in the first place. In fact, that's what makes every instrument special. It has unique attributes that nothing else has. Despite both being stringed instruments, they're too different to compare
violin is harder cause is an inferior instrument stuck in the past just like classical guitar lmao
Bro does not know about our fingers becoming french fries while playing chords 💀
Love the title here.
"Why the violin is harder than the violin"
Every instrument is difficult it takes practice to be good at any instrument
as a guitarist learning the violin, the left hand doesn't bother me that much, the lack of frets is relativly easy to deal with, but the bow, holy shit the bow sucks
Anyone can play the guitar and it’s pretty easy but mastering the violin is much harder and sounds way better
As a violinist and bass guitarist I go through this on the daily
Guitar is much easier to "learn" compared to violin, but many times more difficult to master.
I would say they are both insanely hard to master.
I started on violin. Guitar is very very easy to play. But so much to master in each genre.
The first time I tried a violin in elementary school, I literally couldn't make a sound. That's why I play clarinet now!
Not exactly the same but picking up bass guitar after playing cello for 6 years felt like heaven.
Yeah because bass guitar is the greatest instrument that mankind has ever created.
Started getting anxiety with the millimeters comment, secretly have a new appreciation for my frets..😂
This is such a qualunquism
I literally played violin for 5 years and just started guitar like a year ago so all i got to do is do what i mostly do but longgerr