Bard using Harp

[KitingGenbu]

Honestly, many bard classes in games do not always use musical instruments. Some utilized dagger/swords/ranged weapons since they were essentially assassins that utilized an instrument as a cover of sorts (Dragon Age is a prime example of this). Also keep in mind that some bards didn't utilize instruments at all and would use their voice (For example, FFXI allowed you to just sing your songs if you wanted, just limited how many songs you could have up and their effects). Pretty much, its easier to alter a couple of animations and some lore versus altering every aspect of the job. Maybe even implement a job called Troubadour like Everquest has, since they have both bard and that class.

Lets also keep in mind that its not completely outside the realm of possibility to have jobs sharing the same type of weapon. Even though SCH and SMN were 'intended' to be that way since they originate from one class, people can not honestly believe there is a difference between a cane that a WHM uses and staff that a BLM uses. They are essentially the same thing. So it is easy for SE to just add more jobs with similar weapon types in the future with just different models and stances.