We can think of the guitar as having similar characteristics to those of the piano (and harpsichord), i.e. the ability to create two or more simultaneous voices (called polyphony as introduced on page 37), albeit on a smaller scale, combined with the singing and tonal qualities of stringed instruments such as the violin and cello. Beethoven once described the guitar as a "miniature orchestra” because of its composite nature and myriad of sound possibilities. For this reason, the guitarist should always be experimenting to find the “orchestral instrument" best suited to describe any given musical passage.