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OT: Learning a musical instrument

(19 posts)
  • Started 8 years ago by Stickman
  • Latest reply from wingpig
  • This topic is not resolved

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  1. Stickman
    Member

    Completely OT, but thought I'd consult with the hive mind here...

    Inspired by my 10 year old niece, I decided to attempt to learn guitar. Something I've always wanted to do, but never really committed to.

    So at the start of December I bought an acoustic guitar and have been practicing away using an internet beginner's course. It's hard and frustrating, but I am trying to stay patient and think long term.

    Looking for some tips, advice, experiences from anyone who has learned an instrument as an adult.

    Over to you....

    Posted 8 years ago #

  2. SRD
    Moderator

    When I was doing crochet lessons with Mme Iwrats, I noticed people attending guitar lessons as part of the council's adult education programme:

    https://www.joininedinburgh.org/?q=Guitar&at=45&ns=

    Posted 8 years ago #

  3. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    One of Mme IWRATS' cousins is a professional flamenco guitarist. As I also recognised the need to learn an instrument and acquired an acoustic I did once ask him what the best way forward was. His answer was 'keep working hard at it.' It's fair to say that I haven't.

    I don't appear to be anatomically adapted to playing a B.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  4. Stickman
    Member

    @iwrats: heh. Why aren't things easy to pick up without putting in the hours? I've not got huge ambitions. My aim is to be competent enough to strum along quietly in the background in a pub which has an open jam session. Preferably with a good pint in front of me. I've done plenty of hours on the latter.

    @SRD: thanks. What is the quality of tuition at night classes like? If the tutor isn't named then there's a worry you might get a poor one (or equally get a great one!)

    Posted 8 years ago #

  5. SRD
    Moderator

    The crochet tuition was excellent, of course. Can't speak to the guitar, but I presume that they have fairly experienced teachers?

    Posted 8 years ago #

  6. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    There are YouTube guitar lessons. Try Justin Sandercoe.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  7. Stickman
    Member

    Yes, that's the one I've been using! He's really good.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  8. NiallA
    Member

    I've learned about 4 different types of instrument as an adult (not to any great standard, but enough to play in sessions in a pub). For me, the motivational drive was loving a particular genre of music (Scottish traditional music in my case) and really wanting to make that kind of music... Also, listen to as much of the music you want to make as you can - you learn a lot by doing that, plus it helps with enthusiasm (just don't get sucked into the "I'll never be good enough to do that" trap - that's a killer!)

    I'd also really recommend either classes or individual lessons - great for both technique and motivation/ enforcing regular practice. If the sort of pub session you have in mind is one playing trad, you might investigate the Scots Music Group for classes, or possibly David Boyter (edinburghguitartuition.com) - I've played in a session with him a little, and he's a terrific player and very nice chap. He also plays quite a variety of music, not just trad, so would be a good bet for more general guitar tuition. I think it's worth trying to match the type of lessons (and therefore style/ technique) to the type of music you want to play - happy to chat about trad music and guitar if that's of interest?

    Enjoy!

    Posted 8 years ago #

  9. chdot
    Admin

    So, CCE encourages cycling, "reluctant running" and now guitar playing (and baking and cafe visiting and kingfisher spotting and...)

    Posted 8 years ago #

  10. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Bass guitar playing too. There's nothing like an unlined fretless to make you concentrate on your listening.

    I had piano lessons when I was younger. But the music I was exposed to at that age – what we had in the house and the pieces I learnt – just didn't excite me at all. Once I'd discovered my preferred genre, much later, it was like a light bulb went on and I immediately picked bass. Rightly or wrongly, I taught myself by transcribing pieces.

    I did buy an old synth later to noodle on and perhaps pick up some of my latent piano ability. I'm still trying!

    Posted 8 years ago #

  11. Stickman
    Member

    Thanks for the advice all!

    @arellcat: like you say, the music you're expected to play as a child determines whether you stick at it. I played bagpipes at school but didn't really like the regimented traditional pipe band music I was taught. Now I really like the more "freestyle" piping. If I had been taught that then I may have stuck with it. I also mucked about with bass at uni but didn't really get very far beyond basic riffs. Fretless is impressive!

    Posted 8 years ago #

  12. Darkerside
    Member

    I'd add that it's definitely worth finding a group to play with if at all possible. The enjoyment of playing with other folk can carry you through a lot of dodgy moments (said as someone who once played second bassoon in a concert whilst having the fingering chart adjacent to the music...)

    Posted 8 years ago #

  13. wingpig
    Member

    A friend who had proper electric guitar lessons said that they were all conducted with flat toning and no reverb or effects whatsoever, to focus attention; homework was requested to be done the same way. The acoustic equivalent would be playing in the least echoey room available.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  14. Mandopicker101
    Member

    +1 for the Scots Music Group. It's a very good environment for learning, although I found the emphasis on learning by ear difficult (I'd been taught to play music by reading notation).

    You might want to try out the Slow Session class run by the excellent Nigel Gatherer. There's usually a Slow Session in a pub after the class (you don't have to be in the class to go to the session of course).

    Nigel also runs various workshops for mixed instruments throughout the year. His Mixter Maxter days are excellent fun. Nigel has arrangements of various tunes on his website and has some very good tunebooks to buy as well.

    One to One tuition might also be a good way to develop playing skills early on and avoid bad habits. As an adult learner (mandolin), I found lessons very helpful and the guy I went to for lessons was a hugely interesting individual and introduced me to a wealth of music I'd never considered before.

    Once you've really got going, you should consider checking out the Edinburgh Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra (EMGO). Mixed and varied musical repertoire and lovely people to play with. They've got some footage on YouTube I think and a lot of recordings on SoundCloud.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  15. gembo
    Member

    ukulele is apparently not hard to learn to play. Concert uke's make a nice sound, red dog sell you a gretsch for £90.

    remember too that the great Keith Richards goes with five strings and open tuning on his guitars. Said it changed his life.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  16. Stickman
    Member

    Continuing excellent advice from all - thanks!

    Bonus: just learned how mandopicker1 chose a user name!

    Posted 8 years ago #

  17. wee folding bike
    Member

    Played piano and accordion in school. The piano fell into abeyance when I left home as they weren't easy to carry around then. Boys have been learning piano for a few years and had to get a full size electronic Yamaha a few months ago because they had run out of notes on the one they had. It's in the living room anyway so I started playing it again. Like Arelicat it's a lot more fun when you can play what you like. In school I played Queen tunes, these days I'm playing Madness. You can download sheet music from the intarwebs. Mike Barson must have hands like a gorilla or he's not playing all the notes on the page either.

    I got a wee ukulele a few years ago for £15 and fooled around with it but the management wasn't keen. I picked it up again in the autumn and decided to be more serious about it. Santa brought me a nicer one from Fender. Not tried a bigger one yet. At the moment it's OK for boys to singalong and I've started working on the finger picking. Soprano and concert usually use the same tuning. Number one son got me a clip on tuner and a gig bag for Christmas so now it can go on holiday with us. His mother's joy at this development is incalculable.

    As well as piano the boys play trumpet but we really need someone to take up the sax.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  18. neddie
    Member

    +1 for the Uke.

    Easy to learn. Extremely portable. Inexpensive. The kids love it. Plus, because the strings are not in ascending pitch, you get a lovely sound from it & a great variety of strum patterns.

    Concert ukes and tenor ukes have the exact same tuning as a standard uke, but have a much richer sound.

    If interested, recommend you spend approx 100 on either a tenor or a concert.

    Posted 8 years ago #

  19. wingpig
    Member

    Concert ukes are also much less dauntingly tinyfiddly compared to sopranos if you already have experience of guitar. Still makes a guitar feel as large as a bass when you go back to it, though.

    Posted 8 years ago #

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