This thread has taken an interesting turn! :)

I enjoyed these observations:

Originally Posted by: snojones

It is easier to learn the names of the notes because there are just about half as many choices and they are laid out in black and white. There is a reason they teach university throry classes around the piano.[/quote]

This is a real good observation.

Besides guitar, the piano is one of the only instruments on which the arrangement of musical alphabet notes is directly perceivable. Not just easy to see, but possible to see. The percussion family is related to piano (glockenspiel, xylophone, vibes, marimba) & you can see the notes.

But, if you look at brass or wind instruments you see buttons, levers, valves. There are no notes directly visible. The violin family has no frets. So, again, no notes!

The guitar makes it possible to see the notes, but there's a lot of potential confusion because you can play the same note in more than one place.

But this disadvantage turns into an incredible advantage in one aspect:

[quote=snojones]However just try and transpose anything into the key of F# or Bb, on the fly and you will see where the strength of the guitar neck comes into play.

Exactly!

Learn one scale pattern & you know a physical fretboard layout of all 12 possible scales. Learn one chord shape (especially a barre chord) & you automatically know all 12 possible major or minor chords using that one shape.

This is an incredible tactical advantage that I wish more guitar students were aware of. Thanks for calling it out!