I bought a new keyboard. A Roland FP-30. I want to explore the guitar voice.

[SeaGtGruff]

But then it sure seems like Canon (1500's) should be played rolling the chords. But maybe that came out of the harp era? The first "pianos," the harpsichord, I'd bet the idea was to try to emulate the harp.

Well, the "arp" in "arpeggio" and "arpeggiated" does come from "harp":

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/arpeggio

Origin
Italian, from arpeggiare 'play the harp', from arpa 'harp'.

 

[Alchemy]

One cool thing with playing guitar on keyboard is that you can drop out of range for example dropping to a C from an E bass. If you are playing online and a guitar player is paying attention they might be like "wait, how you do dat?"

 

[Alchemy]

Well, the "arp" in "arpeggio" and "arpeggiated" does come from "harp":

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/arpeggio

WOW

 

[Fred Coulter]

One thing to remember about playing chords like a guitar is that the chord is much more open than a typical keyboard chord. For example, if you want to play a C major chord on the keyboard, you'll generally play C, E, and G. One hand, three notes, tightly together.

But the guitar strings aren't close enough together to play those notes that closely together. You'll need to add space between the notes.

Let's look at the first guitar chord, the E major on all six strings. You hold the second fret on the second and third strings, and the first fret on the fourth string. (It's easy. Even I can play this chord.) So, what notes are playing? From the bottom, you've got an E, a B, another E, a G#, a B, and another E. Notice how the chord is spread out among two octaves. So, in addition to strumming the chord, you've also got to be careful with the chord voicing.

 

[Alchemy]

Great point Fred. For the left hand I do mostly "sus chords" unless it's a full melody.
On the lighter side: In fact, when I first graduated from heart and soul I unknowingly picked up the style of my favorite guitarist then, Tony Iommi, rofl . I remember being in a very high end dept store on the piano floor and started ripping some black sabbath. A salesman immediately rushed over, accused me of not being able to play and took over by playing something like Liberace.