🎸 Eric Johnson: Playing Piano Improves Your Guitar Playing

Sound Advice

In a 2016 Music Radar interview, guitarist Eric Johnson offered a surprising piece of advice:

“Speaking of which, I think understanding the piano really helps… And you don’t have to become a great pianist; that’s not really important. A lot of people play just enough piano to write a song or figure out chord changes.”

He goes on to explain that the piano provides a different perspective which can then be transferred to the guitar or other instruments. Johnson started on piano as a child and started playing guitar later on at 11 using his piano knowledge as a foundation to explore blues, rock, jazz and and classical music. There’s video of him playing Hendrix’s “The Wind Cries Mary” on piano.

Advantages To Knowing The Piano

For guitarists, knowing piano has the following advantages:

• Learn To Play With All 10 Fingers — Playing piano requires the use of all 10 fingers. It’s specially beneficial to finger 5 (pinky) which has to be used in well-formed chords and scales.

• Simpler Note Layout — The piano has exactly one note for every key o the key bed. It’s like having a direct view of the music and the relative interval between notes.

• Easier To Read For — Guitar notation is famously difficult to read. The piano is much easier due to the aforementioned simpler layout. However, with one staff (tremble and bass) for each hand, things can get very tricky.

• Wider Range For Songwriting and Orchestration — With 88 keys on a standard key bed, the piano covers more notes than the guitar and bass alone, making it perfect for songwriting and orchestration.

• Chameleon Sound Palette — Synthesizer pianos can be made to sound like any keyboard instrument such as acoustic, electric and organ pianos. They can also imitate other instruments such as violins, brass, reed instruments and even human vocals.

Famous Piano Playing Guitarists

Other guitarists who can play piano include:

Tony MacAlpine — This multi-instrumentalist musician has perfect pitch, started playing piano at 5 years old and guitar at 12.  MacAlpine studied classical piano and violin for a number of years at the Springfield Conservatory of Music in Massachusetts, as well as various music programs at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. Most of his studio albums include instrumental classical piano pieces by Frédéric Chopin.

Eddie Van Halen — The Dutch-born guitar virtuoso started playing piano at 6 back in Holland and won piano playing prizes in the US, after his family settled there in 1962. Although mainly known for his groundbreaking & innovative guitar technique, he is also responsible for the acceptance of synthesizers in hard rock.

Trent Reznor — The groundbreaking musician began playing the piano at 12 and learned to play the tenor saxophone, tuba in high school. He learned guitar after being inspired by Prince to play all the instruments (except the drums) for his band Nine Inch Nail.

Jake E Lee — The former Ozzy guitarist started playing classical piano at 6 and later guitar at 13. He started teaching himself guitar by transferring his knowledge of piano.

Mike Keneally — An ex-member of the Frank Zappa band and frequent Steve Vai collaborator. Keneally started playing the piano/organ at 7 and guitar at 11. He said he interviews that he learned most of his theory from his childhood piano teacher.

Shawn Lane — This incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist was well-known for recording entire instrumental albums by himself and jumping from one instrument to another when playing live. Lane began playing piano with his sisters at the age of 8, but did not play guitar seriously until he was 10. As a guitarist, he was known for being incredibly fast while still being melodic and creative.

Rick Beato — This ex-music college professor and jazz musician is now a huge YouTube star thanks to his seemingly endless stream of musical knowledge. Beato seamlessly moves from guitar to piano and bass as he continues to inspire several generations of musicians and music lovers. 

Prince — Early in his career, Prince took pride in playing all the instruments, including guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. He also lent his studio-playing talent to other artists.  

Dave Evans (The Edge) — The U2 guitarist can be heard playing piano on their early hit “New Years Day”. As a child, he received piano and guitar lessons, and received his first guitar at the age 7 when his mother bought him a Spanish guitar. 

Taylor Swift — This superstar singer-songwriter received her first guitar at age 12 and plays the piano, banjo and ukulele. In the guitar manufacturing industry, she is credited for inspiring a whole generation of young girls to pickup the instrument and thereby becoming the most influential guitar player since Eddie Van Halen. 

Tom Scholz — The principal songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer for the band Boston studied classical piano as a child, and later taught himself to play guitar, bass and drums. He gigged for years with Boston-area rock bands while studying electrical engineering at MIT and working as a senior research engineer at Polaroid. 

John Lennon And Paul McCartney — The original songwriting powerhouse. They both played guitar and piano as Beatles and/or as solo artists. As a teenager, McCartney wrote his first song, "I Lost My Little Girl", on the guitar, and "When I'm Sixty-Four" on the piano.

Zakk Wylde — The wild man of hard rock started playing guitar at the age of 8and by 14 was practicing guitar all night despite having to go to school the next morning. He learned piano as a teen after being influenced by Elton John. 

Mike Shinoda — Linking Park’s co-founder, guitarist and keyboardists was encouraged by his mother to take classical piano lessons when he was 6. He later added the guitar and rap-style vocals to his repertoire during his middle school and high school years.

Geddy Lee — The influential Rush bassist began playing music in school when he was 10 or 11 and got his first acoustic guitar at 14. He also took basic piano lessons independently as a teenager in a bid to improve his musicianship.

John Paul Jones — Led Zeppelin would not have sounded the same without Jones’ excellent bass and keyboard playing. He started playing piano at age 6, learning from his father, a pianist and arranger for big bands in the 1940s and 1950s. At the age of 14, Jones became choirmaster and organist at a local church and during that year, he also bought his 1962 Fender Jazz Bass which he used until 1976. 

Practicin’s Take

Practicin has built-in support for keyboards, guitar and bass, making it the perfect tool to practice those instruments and compare them side-by-side. A beginner piano/keyboard can cost as little as a fancy guitar pedal or a practice amp. Therefore, it’s a no brainer to pick one up and start seeing music from a fresh perspective.