The piano is obviously Lady Gaga’s go-to instrument, but can she also play the guitar?
Lady Gaga can play the guitar but doesn’t do it frequently. “Million Reasons” and “A-Yo” are her most notable guitar-driven songs, and she repeatedly played the guitar while performing them live.
Lady Gaga’s Guitar Skills
There’s evidence that Lady Gaga can play the guitar, but it’s unclear how well since she doesn’t do it often and mostly uses the instrument as a stage prop.
The music video for her 2016 hit “Million Reasons” showed her playing the guitar, but it wasn’t a relevant reflection of her skills. Hillary Lindsey and Mark Ronson were listed as guitar players on this track, so it’s highly likely she just did it for the aesthetics.
Live performances of “Million Reasons” were a different story. Lady Gaga proved the world that she can really play the guitar during her set at the 2016 AMAs, where she delivered a heart-wrenching rendition of this power ballad.
The singer revealed that the stage was a replica of her own backyard where she spent a lot of time singing with her guitar. That’s another hint that Lady Gaga can really play this instrument, but it seems she needs a lot of practice to nail a single song.
Lady Gaga also played the guitar during her Saturday Night Live performance in 2016. She picked the country-inspired track “A-Yo” for the occasion and later performed it with a guitar during “Joanne World Tour” and the Coachella in 2017.
Despite the fact she can play the guitar, Lady Gaga usually relies on other people during her live performances. Guitarists Tim Stewart and Ricky Tillo accompany the singer at her shows and tours, allowing her to fully focus on other aspects of her performance.
The Right-Handed Guitar
Lady Gaga may not be an extremely skilled guitarist, but it’s impressive that she can play this instrument in the first place considering that she’s left-handed. Many southpaw musicians have custom-made left-handed guitars, but she opted for a right-handed model instead.
It hasn’t been confirmed why she went down this road, but there are a few logical explanations. Left-handed guitars aren’t easily accessible and cost much more, so it’s possible that she couldn’t afford one in her youth.
It’s also possible that Gaga didn’t want to go to the trouble of looking for left-handed guitar since she doesn’t play it on a regular basis. She probably wanted to learn a couple of basic chords, and being a leftie didn’t stop her from doing that since this instrument requires the use of both hands.
Gaga’s hero David Bowie also happened to be a southpaw who learned to play a right-handed guitar, so maybe she just took a page from his book.
Playing Other Instruments
The guitar is only one of the instruments that Lady Gaga can play, and it’s not even her favorite. She’s much better at playing the piano, which doesn’t come as a surprise since she’s been doing it since age four.
The singer started taking lessons at an early age because her mother wanted her to be “a cultured young woman”. It quickly turned out that she’s not a huge fan of reading sheet music and does much better when playing music by ear.
At the very start of her career, Lady Gaga used to hop from one dive bar to the next with her keyboard in hand. She also can’t resist a good keytar and has been spotted with several flashy models during her live shows.
The Grammy-winning singer delivered some of her most memorable live performances on the piano and this instrument is an essential part of her songwriting process. She believes that “all good music can be played at a piano and still sound like a hit” and stripped-down renditions of her biggest hits convinced us that she’s probably right.