Piano or Guitar?

Exploring Two Popular Instruments

Did you take piano lessons as a child? Or maybe you got the urge to become a guitar hero as a teen? These two popular instruments, played alone, evoke their own particular sounds that may be just the ticket for a scene in your next show.

CSS Music has an abundance of solo piano tracks and a respectable number of solo acoustic guitar tracks. (We recommend using the Keyword Alpha Search and choosing Acoustic Guitar from the A-G drop down menu and Solo Instrument from the R-Z menu.) Why so much piano music versus guitar?

First, the piano is the only instrument that essentially covers the entire music spectrum. The low end of the piano covers the range of the contrabass (or bass guitar) while the upper range goes nearly as high as a piccolo. The acoustic guitar on the other hand, while flexible in the midrange and upper end, lacks the lower note range of the piano. Add the fact that you can have 10 “instruments” (fingers) with the piano, the guitar only allows for 5 (or most commonly 4) “instruments.” On the other hand, (pun intended) you can’t bend notes on a piano, a hallmark technique of the guitar.

So the issue becomes, which of these solo instruments is best for a scene? If you want something with a Country feel, a Floyd Cramer-style piano (i.e. “Closing Time” Reprofile Plus Volume 7) may fill the bill. But this is one of those situations where you’ll probably find more Country variety with a guitar-based track. Need something classical? While an Adrés Segovia-style guitar track might work, you’ll probably have better luck with one of CSS Music’s piano renditions. When the need is for a Nature scene, chances are the acoustic guitar wins out; not to say a light piano track couldn’t work just as well. Need Jazz? Probably a toss up—depending on tempo, each instrument brings its own flavor to the table.  

While both the guitar and piano are now electrified, there’s still nothing like the purity of their acoustic predecessors. CSS Music will continue to provide updated music using these wonderful instruments to keep your shows fresh and timely.