

Ask HN: Any advice on the best way to learn a musical instrument? - mhidalgo


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mjuhl24
It really depends on the instrument. While there are many instruments that are
fairly easy to "teach" yourself, in almost all cases it is good to have
someone guide you in the learning process. There is so much information
available on the internet for free, and with instruments like guitar it is
easy to get started on your own - but even then you should seek advice from
someone who plays. Most professional or even intermediate musicians will be
able to give you some good tips just by watching and listening to you for a
few minutes.

If you're looking to learn something like viola or trombone, you will almost
definitely want to take lessons.

One great resource is undergraduate music students. They are generally
desperate for income (I know from experience) and would probably be willing to
take a few minutes to help you out.

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mhidalgo
I would say Guitar and Piano are the instruments I would like to pick up

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mjuhl24
These are two instruments that you can do a lot with on your own.

I learned to play guitar [mostly] on my own, with information I found on the
internet. I would recommend that you pick up a decent acoustic guitar and
google 'beginning guitar' and start from there. It's really helpful once
you've piddled with it some to have someone else who plays decently listen to
you. Guitar lessons are usually rather cheap, too, if you want to go that
route. Even just a few lessons could really get you started.

Piano is a little more complicated. You can do a lot with a piano if you have
a good ear and good coordination. For me, personally, piano is a struggle and
has taken a lot more work/patience/practice. Most likely, if you want to play
piano you'll definitely need lessons.

The good thing is that there are always a lot of people who play these two
instruments, and a lot of them give lessons for reasonable prices.

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sky87
<http://www.pianofundamentals.com/> has important advices

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farout
Learning a musical instrument as long as you are willing to practice is easy.
Really.

I would recommend against hiring a undergraduate music student. The may be
economical option but these folks may have the "The Curse of Knowledge" as per
the book Made To Stick. They will not have the patience to understand what it
is like to learn something since it has been a long time since they were in
the same shoes.

A seasoned teacher will understand where you are likely to get confused and
need to really focus on to help you with the bumps and learn more quickly.
They will have also reasonable expectations. This is along the same lines as
Sir Ken Robinson stated in a TED presentation that college professors and TA
are the worst teachers since everything came easy to them so they never fell
into the same pitfalls that most students are stuck in. And so are unable to
really help these students who initially struggle.

Hope that helps. PS Pick someone who really enjoys the instrument. Yes there
are teachers that hate the instrument they teach.

