Musical Instruments...

Hello. Does anyone play a instrument...I want to learn the piano ...though I was thinking it might be really hard to learn?

No instrument is harder to learn than any other. Just depends on how much you practice, and what you want to get out of it.
I play a whole bunch (drums, gat, bass, keys) and they all have their own difficulties. Its all technique really, once you nail that, its just more about devoting time.

If you know nothing about playing an instrument, Id suggest a guitar. It's not so daunting to start with compared to piano. Piano from the get go is pretty much rooted in classical theory. Where guitar, you can learn a couple of chords and play a bunch of songs straight away.

Failing that, you could become a dj.....

Huh? Of course they are. Some instruments require you to learn completely new movements, varying levels of co-ordination, even developing muscles that we don't use in everyday life.. Trombone is markedly easier to learn than trumpet for example.

I can play trumpet, trombone, and I can play keyboard fine by ear. Oh and recorder :>

Read my post, Technique. Muscle memory and movements are technique.

Whilst I agree with you, I would add that if you intended to go further, that classical theory is probably a good grounding to have no?

Edit: I play harp.

Depends what you want to get out of it really dude.
Many great players (not piano, even honky tonk piano) have next to no classical knowledge, but of course if you wanna rule, you need to go deep in to everything.
That is for any instrument,

Jealous of the harp.

I play.

I play the roland-808

with yourself?

I did read your post. Specifically the part where you said no instrument is harder than another to learn, which is wrong? Whether it's 'technique' or not isn't a comment on how hard it is..

its easy to learn... hard to master

*flees*

This is technique. Some techniques are harder to learn than others.
For example, Blast Beating on drums requires superior speed and stamina, so you need to learn different techniques to master. No rock or jazz drummer who can really play, can hop on a kit and start blasting. If they do try, they will suffer from the most unbearable lactic acid cramps they have ever experienced.

A traditional style thumb behind the fret board guitarist who wants to start shredding wont have a shit show until they change their technique.

The hardest part is learning new techniques. Simple.

Any fuckhead could play Every Rose Has its Thorn, but try and get them to play "Eruption" without learning techniques? They will say "oooh thats too hard". But once they learn the techniques, the actual music/notes/progressions are a lot easier.

Im sick of typing techniques.

copy and paste bro, its the dubstep way

Sounds like you need to practise your technique typing technique.

KB & BD

You seem to be saying doing anything in life is no easier or harder than doing any other thing?

No, Im not very good at anything else in life (surfing maybe), so I wouldnt know.

Can you convert DVD to MKV?

Nah, I can convert high quality weed to ash.
Pretty good at that I reckon.

Yeah well back to the Piano

A highly dignified instrument for a lady

Hot.

And therefore some instruments are harder to learn than others, right?

With the right technique, sure.

No, the technique is harder, the instruments all remain the same

He's talking basics, the basics of any instrument is probably not different as far as a learning curve goes, you need the techniques to master the hard elements of said instrument

I can see what he's saying, and unless you've learnedereded every instrument, you actually can't prove him wrong, can you?

Instruments have differing levels of difficulty FACT.

Saying they don't is like saying converting from DVD to MP4 is the same as converting difficulty from RAR to ZIP omg LOLOL.

Well yes I can, because his claim is that no instrument is easier than any other. If I know that one specific instrument is easier to learn than any other specific instrument, then that entire argument falls flat, doesn't it? I don't have to go through every single instrument to further prove the point

It's nothing to do with 'mastering the hard' elements at all. The basics of some instruments are easier than the basics of other instruments. It's a pretty obvious fact, I have no idea why this is getting so much contention heh. Tell ya what, you go get a French Horn, I'll get a bongo drum, let's see who can play it to a reasonable standard first?

Playing a signle drum is not at all in the same ball park as playing an "instrument"...and with my stella co-ordination, I'd bet money I'd win

Well here is the thing: playing a melodic instrument (as opposed to a percussion instrument, lets not muddy the waters here) all share one thing that makes any instrument difficult at first: learning bloody music.
After that, most conventional instruments I think are much of a muchness. They all have their tricks, but you learn them, your body learns them and you move on. The next instrument will have a different set of challenges.

I can't speak for wind instruments, I've never really played one.

As for the original question, it's a challenge at first but its fun and rewarding and no it's not "hard". Well, it gets less "hard" the more you practise.

I cant read music so it would be good to learn....Now to find a piano tutor patient enough to teach me some mad piano skills ...

I like to play my balls like bongos, does that count?

For me piano would seem to be the "easiest" to learn on, because it has only on and off for each key and left to right for frequency. A basic melody is a matter of seconds for anyone with a musical ear to be able to knock out a vague replica on a keyboard, and you don't need to develop calluses or special dexterity.

From personal experience, as I am trying to gradually learn guitar myself, I can tell you for a mother fucking fact it is a whole lot easier to make the note I hear in my head and want to play on a piano than it is on a guitar :>



Now someone show me which single finger I use to make an F on a guitar plz <:

Plenty of people don't know how to read music but still play wonderfully; learning to read music is (probably) cunty and boring ^_^

Well a guitar isn't as obvious but you get to know the notes the more you fuck around with it. Starting with the strings then the chords, they all tend to spell out where the notes are. F is one after E, you know where E is in at least 4 different places easy

I was going to concede a point that on second look I realise that you didn't even make. Thats that guitar hurts your fucking fingers at first. You need a decent quality guitar really to make it easier.
On the finding a note thing, I can't do it now cos I never play but I could find the right notes pretty quickly and sorta play along to stuff on the guitar, and it tended to sound better than when I tried to do the same on the piano. I dunno how I did it, I guess you just muck around for long enough it comes to you somehow.

As for reading music, nah it's cool to be able to pick a up a piece of music and play it. I didn't have formal training on piano but I got to a point where I could sort of sight-read and sort of pick up stuff but er... not "in real time". I wish I'd kept it up, I think if you attack music from lots of different angles, your more likely to succeed with it. Only a few people can just start belting out music and playing along with no help whatsoever.

To clarify (been a while since I've given this stuff thought *sigh*), learning musical theory give you an ear for what you are listening to.
I think people who are musical hear things totally differently from everyone else. They recognise timbres and chords and know when it's a chord and when it's a single note (sounds obvious but I have heard some weird interpretations of music by people), interesting musical ideas, stuff beyond the most basic repetitions, the role of different instruments and how they work together, soundscapes, and I could go on... Basically it gives them a more qualified opinion of music and individual taste aside, they know the difference between good or interesting music and the utter utter shite that rules most of the airwaves and popular culture...

Yup, good call tbh; I was thinking of the cunty chord which I just cannot hit quickly enough to make *insert any fucking song* sound good enough. and comparing a chord to a note ain't accurate

i play piano, not by ear tho, I use my fingers.

Groucho Marx just called etc...

If you already understand musical theory then by means means piano, if you have no patience for that learn guitar - plebs have done away music in favour of tab which allows you to play all the right notes (even if you don' understand the timings), if you lack the dexterity to play guitar learn bass, you can still use tab but don't have to play chords. If you want to learn wind instrument start with clarinet, although playing that instrument pretty much makes you a nerd.

Sorry I shoukd clarify... It is impossible to look cool playing clarinet, and if you don't look cool what is the point of playing?

if you have an ipad...
http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2011/09/15/140502368/rethinking-sheet-music-with-a-few-bells-and-whistles

*puts her clarinet away*


yeah clarinets are not cool or sexy at all.



I started playing the clarinet in high school.... with the intention of moving on to the saxaphone once I'd mastered the awesome super sexy cool clarinet.

Hmmmm..... 13 years out of high school and still no saxaphone.

no Klezmer fans here then

clarinets are cool - FACT

fools

Legally they are not. Fact.

today I learnt my Lawyer isn't always right

a jury of my peers and members of the Jewish Council agree

one more word against the clarinet and I get all godwin on this thread

Bass clarinet is dope as:

Play the Teremin, can't be hard, you don't even have to touch the thing

call



time for the Accordion courtesy of the magnificent Duckmandoo

Actually, I reckon a theremin would be the hardest to learn, as there are no visual references whatsoever.
Vanessa May apparently played some of Beethoven's work on a theremin, thats fucking mean.

I still stand by what I said, Ive been playing music since I was five (my Dad is a drummer), and I reckon it's all technique (like Tony Little...."ITS TECHNIQUE!!".
Some techniques are harder to learn than others. I guess it's like singing, you can have all the lessons in the world, but if you have a stink voice, then quite simply - you have a stink voice. Look at Jason Gunn.

Re: the guitar hurting thing, yes it does if you start on a steel string. But no one should start on a steel string (not if you wanna get good anyways), start on a piece of shit classical (nylon string). It hurts less, and if you make a piece of shit sound good, when you get on to a decent instrument, you will blaze! It will give you fingers superhuman strength. This was one of the most important lessons I ever had, and the first thing I told every student I had when I was teaching. The same goes for drumming. I learned on a complete piece of shit Premier kit that I got when I was seven. It was the biggest heap of crap ever. My father was adamant however that I needed to learn on this heap of shit, and when I finally got on to a good kit, I was amazed. But to carry on about technique again, my father also wouldnt let me near a kit for a couple of years. He gave me some sticks and taught me hand techniques on a phone book. I wasnt allowed a kit until I could do a double bounce roll on an old 50c coin.
The other invaluable lesson he taught me was "hit thru the drum, imagine your smashing thru to the bottom skin". Soft hitters only let the skin sing, where hard hitters make the drum sing. Letting the wood resonate properly. Also building stamina and upper body strength, quickly builds callouses (so no blisters popping on stage!)

Anyway, fuck you all!!

Clairinet players insisting clarinet is cool is like gamers insisting WOW is cool.

for the record I don't play clarinet

nor do I play WOW

and for the record I have not paid your last 2 invoices Jono and don't intend to

HA

skin flute

lols

afaik Zenith plays clarinet. Just thought that was important to add.

righto thats it clarinet is OUT

burn them all

Game. Set. Match.

I'll be round later to collect on those invoices Bob_d.

Yeah, was being facetious there, reckon it would be pretty damn hard...but man it's cool...I'd never heard of it until seeing David Grey live and he did and did a section of one song on it, was awesome!

i play the sax. but the clarinet is awesome kool also.

This is what I imagine when I think of Zen playing sax:

yus I have my first lesson next Friday haha it's going to be so awesome.. gonna be beethovening it soon.

@ kris!

So you went piano then? Nice