Learning a Musical Instrument

kellyreilly

I'm thinking about taking up a musical instrument.

If there is such a thing what is the 'easiest' one to learn.

Anyone have any experiences ?

leninbenjamin

first off - instruments forum

I always recommend people learn the piano first myself. while difficult to master, i find the piano makes musical theory and all that more approachable. the main advantage though is that once you've got some experience on the piano it makes learning other instruments a much easier prospect.

_Whimsical_

That's very true about the piano. You really learn so many of the musical basics that you need to apply to any instrument while learning the piano. They are a pretty big financial and space commitment though if you don't own your own house.
I know it sounds a bit of a weird option but I know someone who took up the tin whistle last year in a class and is already a bit of an expert. He used to hate traditional music but now he goes to sessions in pubs and is competent enough to produce his tin whistle and join in! I have to say it never appealed to me before but now the idea of being very good at something so quickly is kind of tempting.It might be an "easy" one worth looking at.

Malice

leninbenjamin wrote: »

first off - instruments forum

I always recommend people learn the piano first myself. while difficult to master, i find the piano makes musical theory and all that more approachable. the main advantage though is that once you've got some experience on the piano it makes learning other instruments a much easier prospect.

With all due respect, I disagree about learning the piano first, it depends on what kind of music the OP wants to play. If they want to be the next Hendrix/Clapton/Slash for example, then they should start on the guitar as the piano will probably bore them . Second hand guitars can be bought and sold quite cheaply and there's no shortage of learning material available on the Internet.

leninbenjamin

malice_ wrote: »

With all due respect, I disagree about learning the piano first, it depends on what kind of music the OP wants to play. If they want to be the next Hendrix/Clapton/Slash for example, then they should start on the guitar as the piano will probably bore them . Second hand guitars can be bought and sold quite cheaply and there's no shortage of learning material available on the Internet.

perhaps, but as someone who aspires to be the next Hendrix/Clapton I can tell you my learning of the guitar was made a lot easier by having the piano behind me.

BostonB

leninbenjamin wrote: »

perhaps, but as someone who aspires to be the next Hendrix/Clapton I can tell you my learning of the guitar was made a lot easier by having the piano behind me.

I hated learning the piano. I learnt the quitar myself, by learning music I liked to play. While I don't disagree you will be better with the theory behind you. I don't think you have to learn the theory to be good, or to enjoy playing it.

Malice

leninbenjamin wrote: »

perhaps, but as someone who aspires to be the next Hendrix/Clapton I can tell you my learning of the guitar was made a lot easier by having the piano behind me.

But how did learning the piano help you learn the guitar? Do you mean from a music theory perspective?
I was sent to piano lessons as a six year old child by my parents and I absolutely hated them. I didn't touch another musical instrument until I learnt the violin for Junior Cert. I then picked up the bass a couple of years later and from there transitioned to the guitar. Not learning the piano didn't make learning the guitar any more difficult .

leninbenjamin

malice_ wrote: »

But how did learning the piano help you learn the guitar? Do you mean from a music theory perspective?

sort of. in the piano all the notes are laid out on front of you, it's very easy to see the relationship between notes and chords as your playing them. guitar, because you only have six strings, and multiple different shapes for the same chord can often lead to a bit of confusion I've found. piano also helps in dexterity

BostonB wrote:

I hated learning the piano. I learnt the quitar myself, by learning music I liked to play. While I don't disagree you will be better with the theory behind you. I don't think you have to learn the theory to be good, or to enjoy playing it.

ok, the common theme here seems to be having the piano forced upon you as a young 'un and feeling bitter because of it. you're right though enjoyment is key but just because you didn't like it doesn't mean others wont. in fact i used to dislike the piano for period as well when i was younger, but i stuck with it and i'm glad i did. 10 years on of playing both guitar and piano, i've found the guitar to much more limited in scope, i've found myself having to back to piano to broaden my musical horizons. the piano opens more musical doors. it will always be much easier to go from the piano to guitar, than from the guitar to piano. that's why i'll always recommend the piano

BostonB

My point was not don't do the piano because I didn't like it.

But learn and instrument/music you like, not just the one which is easiest.

Malice

leninbenjamin wrote: »

in the piano all the notes are laid out on front of you, it's very easy to see the relationship between notes and chords as your playing them.

That's a good point but in my case when I was starting out I learnt a lot of songs on the guitar simply by playing power chords. Once you get your fingers used to the chord shape you can move it up and down the neck and the relationship between chords and notes is obvious given that, for example, a G power chord starts on a G note. You're not going to be finger picking your way through Stairway to Heaven after a couple of days practice but should be able to play something like Polly.

leninbenjamin wrote:

enjoyment is key

Absolutely! I couldn't agree more. Nearly all of my friends picked up (or were forced into learning) a musical instrument in their teens. Very few of them still play now and it's only the ones that really enjoyed what they were doing so that the practising didn't feel like a chore.

leninbenjamin wrote:

i've found the guitar to much more limited in scope

It is? How?

stevecrow74

never mind all those :eek::eek:

best thing to do is go out and listen to music, whether its bands or orchestral compositions etc etc, find out which instrument appeals to you the most, thats the one you'll have fun learning, it may be hard to begin with getting your head around how to make a good sound out of your instrument, but in the end it will be worth while, there are two routes you can go down after buying the instrument of your choice

first is find someone else who is willing to teach the basics to get you started and then lessons from there.
or secondly the harder but more rewarding way, teach your self from scratch, a few books with accompanying cd's that teach you good structure and a few basic scales (also with tablature and notation, i.e.finger position or music dots)

after that you'll find it fairly easy to get to learn songs..

and for a good grounding learn the major, minor and pentatonic scales... when you master them you are covered for a few thousand songs

learning theory is all well and good for writing music but not necessary for learning to play...
nothing is impossible
ps, i'm a bass player and an orchestral composer..
my bebo music profile
myspace music profile

Fobia

chilly wrote: »

I know it sounds a bit of a weird option but I know someone who took up the tin whistle last year in a class and is already a bit of an expert. He used to hate traditional music but now he goes to sessions in pubs and is competent enough to produce his tin whistle and join in! I have to say it never appealed to me before but now the idea of being very good at something so quickly is kind of tempting.It might be an "easy" one worth looking at.

Gonna have to disagree a little there. As far as I know (I did play one as a child but that's a long time ago) tin whistles are single key, ie to change key you need a different tin whistle. While I'm not saying there aren't excellent tin whistle players (along with excellent harmonica players etc etc) you're probably best to start on a more wide-range instrument such as piano or guitar to make the transition to other instruments easier.

Other than that, everything has been covered I think..personally I started on piano at the age of 5, guitar at 12/13 and harmonica about a year and a half ago. Piano certainly helped me, and it is the common route to being a multi-instrumental person, but it's certainly not the only route!

"What worked for them might work for you!"

padraig71

Whatever instrument you choose, it definitely pays to learn some music theory - theory and practice are intimately connected, and the better you understand what you are doing when you play, the more that understanding will inform your playing.

The layout of notes on the piano keyboard is quite 'transparent' with regard to learning or explaining theory, but the learning curve for playing it is relatively steep. The layout of the guitar is much less immediately clear for the purpose of demonstrating theoretical concepts, but you can get started playing with a few chords pretty quickly.

Whatever you choose, have fun.

BostonB

Or you could just go out and make what ever noise sounds good to you.

Mrs OBumble

Fobia wrote: »

Gonna have to disagree a little there. As far as I know (I did play one as a child but that's a long time ago) tin whistles are single key, ie to change key you need a different tin whistle.

Not quite: all of 'em have two keys immediately, and another with only a small amount of mucking around (called "half-holing").

OP, I'd also say +1 to the piano, except that I'd suggest an electronic keyboard rather than a piano, as they're a lot easier to move around and keep in tune.

And that said, I think we really need to know more about what sort of music you want to play and why to give you any advice that's worth having.

stevecrow74

Fobia wrote:

Gonna have to disagree a little there. As far as I know (I did play one as a child but that's a long time ago) tin whistles are single key, ie to change key you need a different tin whistle.

JustMary wrote: »

Not quite: all of 'em have two keys immediately, and another with only a small amount of mucking around (called "half-holing").

OP, I'd also say +1 to the piano, except that I'd suggest an electronic keyboard rather than a piano, as they're a lot easier to move around and keep in tune.

And that said, I think we really need to know more about what sort of music you want to play and why to give you any advice that's worth having.

well in that case i could say they have 4 keys, you have to take there relative minor keys into consideration (i suppose knowing music theory does come in handy )

trust me.. you don't need theory to learn an instrument.. ok it may help, but if you have a good ear your sorted.. i spent 6 years playing without knowing theory... bass, drums, guitar, whistle, bodhrán, piano i gave it all a go (in that order too) before learning theory, and I'm not a natural musician, just persistent.. skill comes with practise, practice comes with persistence, persistence comes with the love of an instrument and the music you play.. there is no such thing as a bad musician, they are just someone who hasn't learnt what there instrument can do