Advice for beginning playing an instrument?

[Parks]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 10:44am

I've always wanted to play either the piano or guitar, but I've never really known where to start. We'll talk in terms of beginning playing the guitar, since I've heard it is easier to play.

Where do you begin? Take lessons from a professional? From a friend? How much time a week do you think one should devote to practicing? What worked best for you?

Really--I'm just looking for tips on how to get started and have some kind of success (sticking with it and being able to play decently some day, hopefully).

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 10:46am

It depends what kind of guitar you want to play. If you just want to strum along, it's ok to go to a friend or learn from a book. Guitar for Dummies (no offence) is supposed to be good. But lead, classical, more dexterous types, require a teacher.

[caitiesus1522]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 10:59am

I am in the same boat and everyone I have talked to that plays has said to get lessons from someone more qualified to teach than a buddy. See if there are lessons at school, they are (I think) $400 for the semester if they have it. If that is too much, you can always try to find someone studying to give lessons for less (I think they get credit for it too).

For piano - there is a group class offered and private lessons. Unless you are doing one of these you can't get into practice rooms, so they are worth it!

There are other options obviously, but you might as well use the resources available.

[wonkit]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 11:02am

And my advice is - be patient. Unless you can practice for longish periods virtually every day, it takes a while to train the brain and all those muscles. If you already read music, that will help a lot. And enjoy!

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 11:04am

With piano, it just depends on how good you want to be. If you don't take lessons from a pro, it will limit your growth abilities on it. My mom, a good player but not a pro, taught me herself, starting when I was about 5, and while she taught me most of the basic skills, I missed out on a lot of the technique and then had to unlearn a lot of bad fingering habits I picked up on my own. Through her and some later lessons from a pro, I worked myself up to about church pianist/organist levels, which is about all I needed (and a great way to earn extra money on the side!).

BTW, that old canard about not being able to teach adults to play the piano (or foreign languages, etc.) well is not entirely true. If you put a lot of time into it, and would mean pretty much daily practice or at least several times a week, and make it a focus rather than just one of many things you're doing, you could learn as well as a child. BTW -- practice sessions don't have to be long, either, as many people commonly think.

Oh, and go ahead and make the fingering habit jokes. I know you want to.
Updated On: 1/16/09 at 11:04 AM

[jessica0414]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 11:15am

For guitar, if you just want to play chords and popular songs it's pretty easy to teach yourself (imo, anyways, I did just Google-ing guitar chords and tabs). I agree with other posters, though, if you want to learn classical guitar you should probably take lessons. Same goes for piano, if you want to play out of the "easy" level books and can read both treble and bass clef you can probably do it yourself but it would be beneficial to have a teacher if you want to learn proper techniques for more advanced playing.

[blondebaby589]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 11:16am

With piano, it just depends on how good you want to be.

That's very true. If you want to learn how to play so you can accompany yourself or play some tunes for fun (which is my use haha) then learning from a friend would probably be fine and less costly. But if you want go above and beyond that, I'd recommend getting lessons from a pro. Just make sure you learn the basics from someone so you don't acquire bad foundational technique. And my advice is be patient. Sight reading is difficult at first but you get better the more you practice. Best of luck :)

[wonkit]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 11:31am

The only reason to have long practices is the development of stamina. It is amazing how physically tiring it can be to play piano for any length of time if you are not accustomed to it. But if it is just "for fun," when you get tired you will stop anyway.

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 1:39pm

I've started and stopped trying to learn piano more times than I can count and I've now come to the conclusion that until I have a teacher (either pro or a friend) I'm simply not going to learn it. I have books that supposedly teach it, and I've done well, but then I hit a point where there are three or four lessons in a row where I simply don't know the songs and therefore have no idea if I'm playing correctly or what it's supposed to sound like. Caitie got the Broadway Piano Music for Dummies book for me for Channukah, hoping it would have lessons to teach using that, but the book is really just sheet music with tips on how to play - you already need the basics to make it work. (Fortunately I know enough that I can bang out some stuff on the treble clef on my own...)

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 2:15pm

Patience is a virtue with any instrument, that's the primary thing.

Secondly; I would maybe start with the piano. With the piano you get to learn a lot of nifty things that'll end up helping you in the future (supposing you want to pursue other instruments that is). I'd also invest in a professor or something of the sort. Not everyone can teach themselves, and even those who can do it, do it very slowly, and usually get frustrated and stop, So a professor would be a good way to start.

[antonijan]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 2:52pm

How about arthritis? Would that affect a person's ability to learn?

How do youb guys handle that problem?

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 3:17pm

It depends how bad the arthiritis is.

But unfortunately, most people with arthiritis/diabetes usually have to give up playing at one point or another.

But if you have a medication, then it's tolerable.

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 1/16/09 at 7:11pm

If you don't know how to read music or you know how to read music but you're not very good at it, then I would get a teacher. If you know how to read music I'd take a few lessons just to get a feel for the instrument and to make sure I wasn't picking up any bad habits, and then I would teach myself from there.

Good Luck!

[KrissySim]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 2:53am

There's some good advice here already, but here's my take on it:

1) Get an instructor, if for nothing else than to get the basics, get on the right footing.

2) Practice. Practice often but don't practice mistakes. Set aside time every day. I would practice at least 4 hours a day for a long time. Now it's at least two, but that easily slips into 4 or more. You should not have to force yourself too much to practice, you should want to do it.

3) Train you ears. Search for the sounds you want.
Know what notes that bird outside is singing. Copy notes and sounds.

4) Even if you can't get a great instrument at first (referring to a guitar) at least get a good one. You will learn faster. Your instructor may be able to recommend one suitable for you.