Learning an instrument - where to begin?

SWEETCAN2000

I would love to learn an instrument - the piano or the violin. Can anyone give me an estimate of how much lessons would cost in Dublin/Bray? Also, I might be able to get my hands on a keyboard, would that do for the piano? ...but how much would a violin cost?
I assume you'd have to have your own instruments for lessons and that they would teach you how to read music? Am I right?

Thanks a mil!

BLITZ_Molloy

My girlfriend teaches kids trad fiddle/piano in Clare and charges 10 euro an hour I think? You can get a starter violin for 90 or 100 euros. Skylark is probably the most popular and sounds pretty decent. Obviously it's not world class or anything but there's no point in buying a good one until you've had a few years practice.

Assumptions would be correct. You'd really need your own instrument to practice and get good value out of the classes.

A keyboard is fine. Most people don't have access to a real piano. Maybe someone else can recommend a good entry level one.

Best of luck with it. I play the flute myself and it's a great social outlet, as well as satisfying in its own right. I don't practice as much as I should be at least once you've got over the beginners hump then you know you can always pick it up pretty quickly again when you want to.

SWEETCAN2000

BLITZ_Molloy wrote: »

My girlfriend teaches kids trad fiddle/piano in Clare and charges 10 euro an hour I think? You can get a starter violin for 90 or 100 euros. Skylark is probably the most popular and sounds pretty decent. Obviously it's not world class or anything but there's no point in buying a good one until you've had a few years practice.

Assumptions would be correct. You'd really need your own instrument to practice and get good value out of the classes.

A keyboard is fine. Most people don't have access to a real piano. Maybe someone else can recommend a good entry level one.

Best of luck with it. I play the flute myself and it's a great social outlet, as well as satisfying in its own right. I don't practice as much as I should be at least once you've got over the beginners hump then you know you can always pick it up pretty quickly again when you want to.

Thanks a million for your very informative reply

dan_d

I've picked up the violin this year, having abandoned it about 10 years ago (!) and playing the piano for most of my life. My teacher teaches adult beginners and yes, she teaches you to read music, and all the techniques required.Fiddle is a bit different, some teachers teach you by ear, rather than by teaching you to read notes;just something to be aware of. Violins are about 90-100 eur for a starter one, and keyboard will do you fine to start off in piano. Lessons vary wildly in cost...mines working out about 20eur a week. I did a lot of hunting to find my teacher, as my piano teacher was very reasonable pricewise and an excellent teacher, so I had a very good idea of what was wildly expensive , and I wanted a teacher in the city, as I work long hours and wanted to be able to go straight from work. (I found places like Walton's Schoool of music prohibitively expensive and not very flexible, just for an example). Anyway, do a bit of research, try private teachers too, and if they can't take you, ask them can they give you the name of someone else, who might be able to. The Abbey School of Music is where I go (on Abbey street obviously!)
Good luck