What's the attraction to guitars?

[mc1]

They are cumbersome, and hard to tune. Limited n range. Not so sonorous as as piano, the king of instruments. Not as majestic as the lute.

It's portable, and somewhat in tune, Is that its appeal?

[mercy]

its personal, you hold it and it sounds great. Violas and cellos sound great and you hold but its not the same somehow. As far as piano which is sterile and sounds like breaking glass. The only good tones on a piano are the low tones which I really like. As far as the Lute, are you kidding me?

[David Eastwood]

Have you ever tried to have a conversation while playing an oboe?

I rest my case.

[pagedr]

They attract the ladies

[srick]

Guitars are polyphonic... you can play rhythm and lead at the same time. Trumpets and bagpipes just can’t do that !

[Martz911]

Guitar tones are from the cosmos. Whether the notes are coming from an acoustic soundbox in your lap or through an amplifier on the edge of distortion, you either feel the sound or you don't. And the sound either changes you or you move on. You are helpless in the choice.

Apologies to Carl Sagan. I think.

Well well well isn't someone playing the devil's advocate this evening, hmm?

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by srick

Guitars are polyphonic... you can play rhythm and lead at the same time. Trumpets and bagpipes just can’t do that !

And you can sing and play at the same time - try to do that with a woodwind or brass instrument.

And you can also walk around and play and sing - try that one with a piano.

I can't speak to the supposed attraction it has for the girls. Didn't work for me (or .... hmmmm ...maybe it did and I would have otherwise lived in a sexual desert without my guitar). They say its shape is reminiscent of a woman; bass drums or bassoons sure aren't.

[Lee Callicutt]

Pianos are so portable and you only have to pay for professional tuning after a move . . . and lutes are so ubiquitous in popular music . . . one really has to wonder about this perverse state of affairs.

[Tnfiddler]

Because fiddles are so hard to play!!

[KarenB]

Like others have said, you can sing and accompany yourself on guitar. It's relatively easy to get going and play simple songs. Much lighter than lugging around a piano, even an electric one, sounds great, can play classical, rock, folk, jazz, whatever--it's a very versatlie instrument, you can bond with it, you can hang out on this fun forum. The downsides...you have to feed it good food (strings), and when the food (strings) get stale, it stops playing pretty for you, you can spend more than you make on high end picks and accessories, you have to take it the doctor for tune ups every now and then, sometimes it throws an end pin at you, or pokes you in the eye when feeding it new food (strings), the wooden ones get tempermental in too low or high humidty, but all in all, it's a great friend and soul companion.

[thepassivevoice]

Acoustic guitars are versatile. Second only to the acoustic piano, but smaller, cheaper and portable.

[RussL30]

They’re fun.

Also a non musician like me can pick one up and actually make it sound somewhat like music.

[Tico]

Originally Posted by pagedr

They attract the ladies

They attract the gentlemen too.
Actually, they just attract people who like the sound, and might like the player, if (s)he plays well.

[warfrat73]

Easier to carry around than my tuba.