How to learn quickly?

Firewalkwithme

I'd love to be able to play a musical instrument but since I know nothing about music aside from listening to it I don't know where to start. What's an easy instrument to pick up or learn on? I was thinking of either keyboard or guitar - how long would it take to get up to speed and what's the best way to go about it?

CherieAmour

The biggest thing about starting to learn an instrument is co-ordination, as your 2 hands are doing different things no matter what instrument you learn.
I started playing the recorder, the piano and then the guitar. Pick whichever one you actually WANT to play because you're more likely to stick at it!
The hardest thing about learning the guitar is getting your fingers used to pressing down on the strings. They will shake, and pain you but please persist, because once you get over that, you'll be able to play the guitar any time for the rest of your life. I've stopped playing for weeks and picked it back up without it hurting me at all.

There is no quick way to learn as it takes patience, but you can get away with only learning 3 chords on the guitar for a lot of ballads and other songs. Tablature books available in Waltons & Tower are a great way of learning while playing songs you actually like. There's nothing worse than learning 3 Blind Mice or Bob Dylan songs you hate (sorry, that's just me )

Good luck!!

Firewalkwithme

thanks cherie

Kenny_D

If you're thinking of getting a keyboard to later upgrade to a piano. Thats cool but they reckon it takes up to 10 years to become good on the piano

The guitar is a bit easier to learn but it depends again what kind of music you want to play. When I started the guitar I became pretty good (I could play lots of full songs at a decent standard) after about a year. I got a piano last year after having done lessons for 2 years when I was younger and I'm finding it a lot harder now to learn the piano than I did the guitar

Another factor is the amount of time you practice( not play). Since I got my guitar I kinda became addicted and literally played it for hours every day for months. Even now I rarely go more than a day without sitting down to play and usually no more than 2 days when practicing

If you get a good teacher you will probably learn faster as well. A lot of people, myself included, teach themselves to play guitar. There are some good websites on learning to play the guitar. Piano on the other hand really requires a good patient teacher to get to a good level

Hope some of this info is of some use. Whatever you decide to go with, take some time to look into the factors above and dont worry about learning quickly. Worry about learning properly (technique etc) and have fun while playing. You'll end up giving up or really enjoying playing the instrument and then develop faster because you're enjoying it and wanting to come home and practice

Maccattack

pick whichever instrument you like best.

then learn to play it.

makes sense no?

Firewalkwithme

Thank GStormcrow - that seems like sound advice.

CherieAmour

No probs Cartoon Head - and one more thing, as far as guitar goes, make sure you get private lessons! Group lessons may sound more comfortable to attend for some people, but they're a right pain as there will always be people better than and not as good as the rest and it's just a bad mix!
I went to lessons for 6 months 10 years ago and after that I felt I was in a position to take it from there myself. I've been playing ever since.

!_Brian_!

Agreed with the above. I used to teach small groups and it was a bit of a nightmare sometimes. Different levels make it really hard to get a lot done in the time alloted with everyone. Assuming you want to play guitar I'd suggest the same as above, buy a guitar and a good book, theres loads available and learn the basic chords. You'd be amazed how many songs you can play with the C, D and G chords for example. Your fingers are gonna hurt a bit at first and learning to change chords is gonna drive you absolutly nuts for a couple of months but once you get over those two hurdles you'll be flying!

steveland?

CherieAmour wrote:

No probs Cartoon Head - and one more thing, as far as guitar goes, make sure you get private lessons! Group lessons may sound more comfortable to attend for some people, but they're a right pain as there will always be people better than and not as good as the rest and it's just a bad mix!
I went to lessons for 6 months 10 years ago and after that I felt I was in a position to take it from there myself. I've been playing ever since.

I did group guitar lessons for a couple of years, first year was OK but the next year there was a deaf guy in the class who decided he wanted to learn the guitar... The whole thing was then devoted to him...

So I spent the next 5 years learning on my own...

leninbenjamin

if i were giving my honest opinion there are no quick ways to learning an instrument.

I'd actually say learn the piano first (all the best good musicians i know started out on piano, and its what i was told when i frist wanted to play music). The layout of the piano is such that it makes learning the basic theory of music (such as yer scales and keys) much easier imho. Because they are all laid out in front of you i always found it much easier to see the relationship between the chords and notes in the all the keys, and its much easier to read music for the piano than for the guitar (it helps that there is only one middle C on the piano, whether you have 5 different ways of playing it on guitar), so you would pick up the theory faster in my experience. and once you have a good theoretical knowledge of the keys etc. you can apply it to any instrument.

(many people might argue with that, but i've always found that someone who played piano has a much better understanding of thoery. i have friends who play guitar better than me, but they often can't explain to me what chord they are playing and its position in the key etc., which can make pleying in a group situation difficult).

but this all depends on how high a level you want to get to in music. if all you want to do is play a few party pieces then it doesn't really matter what you start with.

but the biggest thing to learning any instrument is time an patience though, i don't really believe there are any quick ways to learning one.

Rigsby

Words of wisdom from all of the above. Dont be in a hurry to "get up to speed". Also you NEVER really stop learning music. Best of luck in whatever you choose.