3 Advantages Of Songwriting With The Acoustic Guitar

Are you an acoustic guitarist?

Good, because we’re going to talk about the 3 main advantages of songwriting with an acoustic guitar.

If you’re not a guitarist, hopefully this post will convince you to pick up the guitar!

It’s The Easiest Instrument To Sing And Play At The Same Time

The guitar is the epitome of easy to pick up, hard to master.

To nail impressive solos and pivot between finesse and shredding seamlessly is very hard. 

The best guitarists are universes ahead of that guy playing 4 chords on the college steps.

But, the guy at college who picked up the guitar a month earlier is competent enough to songwrite with it.

They also are close to the skills needed to play some basic guitar chords and sing at the same time.

I know very competent pianists who still can’t sing and play at the same time.

And I know countless 4-chord-knowing “guitarists” who can decently sing and play at the same time.

Think about it: When you think of a beginner pianist, what do you think of?

Probably someone using a single finger to pluck out a melody.

When you think of a beginner guitarist, what do you think of?

That 4-chord-college-guy, right? 

The reality is that the guitar is the best balance of useful long-term and easy to become competent quickly for songwriting and performing.

Even as someone who is a more competent pianist than guitarist, I do think the guitar is a much easier instrument to play and sing at the same time.

This can help immensely with your songwriting if you like to write melodies by singing on top of chords.

It’s A Strong Instrument Choice For Nailing Rhythm And Chords

Specifically for writing, the greatest strengths of the piano are writing the chords and melody at the same time.

With guitar, the greatest strengths are nailing down the chords and rhythm. 

Think about it. Basic guitar playing is strumming chords. So basic guitar playing is heavily utilizing rhythm and chords. 

I’ve talked about how the order a person does things shows their priorities, and your song will tend to be strongest in the areas you write first.

This is why my favorite instrument to write with is the piano– my priorities are lyrics, melody, and chords. Rhythm is less important to me, so writing with an instrument that allows me to nail down the aspects of a song I value most makes sense.

So, if you value rhythm and chords highly in your songwriting, or you just want to prioritize both of those in the song you’re working on, pick up the acoustic guitar for your writing. 

Of course, you could also utilize drums or bass to prioritize rhythm, but the ability to write rhythm and chords at the same time (as well as melody if you sing along) is a huge win as a songwriter.

The Guitar Is Most Neutral And Adaptable Instrument To Write With

The acoustic guitar might be the best combination of neutral and adaptable.

The acoustic guitar is a very neutral instrument because it can (and often is) used in all different genres. Hearing an acoustic guitar in pop, country, rock, folk, or pretty much anything else is common and expected.

Comparatively, a flute is probably not going to be in a rock song, a steel guitar or harmonica makes any song instantly sound country or folk, and electric guitars don’t exactly fit into the folk toolbox.

Even the Piano can be harder to fit into some harder rock than the acoustic guitar.

But, no matter what genre you write in, the acoustic guitar will fit well. 

The acoustic guitar is also highly adaptable.

If you play in a band, writing with the acoustic guitar allows you to write the parts for all your guitarists and even your bassist. If you’re in a band made of guitars, bass, and drums, the only part you can’t really write with your acoustic is the drums.

Another factor that makes the acoustic guitar so adaptable is how transportable it is. 

If you’re playing a solo acoustic show, what instrument are you playing?

You almost definitely answered the acoustic guitar. I’m more of a pianist than guitarist, but I still recognize the reality; keyboards are less transportable than acoustic guitars, and acoustic pianos are not something you can transport to a show.

The songs I wrote on the guitar would be easy for me to do an acoustic solo show with.

The songs I wrote on the piano? I’d have to figure out how to play them with the acoustic guitar.

There’s no easier transition to playing an acoustic version of a song live than writing the song with the acoustic guitar.

And I’m saying all of this as someone who believes the greatest songwriting instrument on the planet is the piano.

If you’re a guitarist, great. Utilize it in your songwriting. If you aren’t, it’s time to pick up the acoustic guitar.