Beginners guide to learning musical Instruments - A KF Community Project

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Do you want to learn an instrument?
No experience? No problem!
Down below is all the information needed to start your journey of development in the field of your choice that with time, patience and endurance will make you a musician! Through proper practice you will become the owner of foundational knowledge, dexterity and form that can be enjoyed in private but if you so wish can be taken into the world by joining an Orchestra, Big band, Little band, Quartet or even as a Soloist!

If to become a better version of yourself is not a good enough reason to pick up an instrument or start your second!

If you're on the edge, think about how many times you were "edging?":punished: instead of doing something useful with your time!

If you just want to talk and have conversations go post here!

Why should I?
If to become a better version of yourself is not a good enough reason to pick up an instrument (or start your second) There are many reasons to become a musician!
Your reasons are your own may it be to casually explore or to see how far you can climb. you will only go as far as you take yourself!
Some of the best people I have met in my life and even on this forum are musicians that are giving away great information for free in an easy to access format right here in this very thread.
Maybe for what ever reason you don't want to go all in or don't want to waste money there is no harm in trying with renting!
I would say most serious people rent for years before buying.
People will help you with almost anything as long as you remember to ask!

Within you is the ability to care and nurture an ability to play well at what you desire, it just requires focus and dedication to make that on command.


But I don't know ANYTHING!
For most people in the beginning (me included) we knew very little or didn't know the instrument existed before touching one!
That doesn't make you more or less of a musician or human, (It does lol)
but if you would like that to change then the difference between you today and you tomorrow is held within this here thread!

Don't think cause you sound bad you are bad, good things take time.

If you don't want to take the advice or look at it differently that can work also! If you would like to casually learn that is respectable and I wish you good luck, But I have written up the approach up above that I believe is solid and fair that if listened to will give you a much higher chance of sticking with practice and becoming content with your progress or happy with the Instrument.


Read me.....
If you have NO idea what Instrument to pursue OR not confident in your choice of Instrument.
First: Before exploring and researching!! Group only 3 to purse then think of why they come to mind.
Second: Watch solos of the Instrument, Truth is if you get good you might never be that good but what matters is you have your dream and try!
Third: DO. NOT. STOP. TRYING!!! NEVER GIVE UP and NEVER GIVE IN, Much of the beginning you will sound bad and halfway you still will sound bad but somewhere somehow you will sound good, Take pride regards!
Talk about Instruments and practicing LINK
Need Help? Kiwi community tutoring LINK

'If you play to grow, to strengthen and to improve upon yourself you will find nothing but Success and Victory!'= )

Glossary of most common Instruments
This is by no means a complete list of instruments. In this thread you will find basic instructions on how to begin almost anything musically related!!

Most heard instruments or types of instruments in music, If you want to learn an instrument it's most likely here in this handy dandy glossary.
String - Cello, Violin, Viola, Double bass and Guitar.
Percussion - Piano, Drums, Bongos, Triangle and Xylophone.
Wind - Trumpet, Harmonica, Trombone, Clarinet, Flute, Saxophone, Bassoon and Tuba.


Buying or Renting
Do not buy an instrument online or face the consequences. Most usable Instruments are not cheap to buy so take time and consider your options.

“I'd make a note for wind instruments about renting being a much better option than buying an Instrument Shaped Object on Amazon. A rented instrument shouldn't cost more than $30-50 per month based on which instrument you choose, includes any repairs, and can also allow you to build equity in the instrument should you choose to continue. Most Amazon instruments are made so fucking cheap that they'll usually either end up needing repairs right off the bat, or be so shit that they'll cause you to give up.“– Canuck Breaker

From my experience its nearly the exact same for classical strings so I'm betting its the same for most types of Instruments.
your time is valuable so don’t waste it on junk.


Some general advice
You are going to need a tutor! This is the most expensive part (In the long term) so its understandable to not have one all the time but having another person to watch you figure out and perform will give you perspective and advice that you wouldn't have found otherwise, leading to less time wasted and more strength gained!
After 3 months of working on your first book you will develop basic understanding, dexterity and form that shall remain with you for the rest of your days on earth...😱
The best advice I can give is love the process because studying even something you love can be grueling!
The desire to feel comfortable will naturally push you to practicing without you even noticing!
Have fun!


Basic Posting Structure
If you wish to help out pointing the way for an instrument and possess more than basic proficiency we would all greatly appreciate you posting!
Below is the structure for a post in this thread.
It doesn't need to be structured exactly this way but remember its for complete beginners.
If you feel it is appropriate you can add in a sentence or paragraph of additional information to help out the reader.
Imagine what you post as potentially creating a fellow in your field so make it subtly alluring or give it some "Rizz?"🧐​

Structure Example:
(Instrument) Cello
(First Book) Abracadabra Cello Third Edition
(Experience with material) Book starts with the assumption of no prior knowledge allowing the for the development of basic form and dexterity by the half way point would have taught all of first position moving on to basic shifting. Easiest and most fair cello book begin with!
(Test material/Baseline foundational material) Bach Suite No.1 Prelude, Very likely every cellist first real piece requires a barely existent left hand to play but requiring a good right hand to make it shine, the trick is after the 22nd bar middle climax the piece breaks slightly away from its cyclical nature posing a difficult challenge that with gumption can be surpassed and with it creating a cellist! (and beautiful song too.)
Optional (Online resource/recommended youtuber) Cellopedia
Optional (paragraph/sentence of additional information) I really can’t think of anything to put here. Fun fact: The greatest Instrument of all time is the Cello. Why Because I say so.

Clarification: The first book doesn't necessarily need to be your first book but the best first book for an absolute beginner that you can explain. The test material probably shouldn't be from the first book to encourage branching out and can be anything that would fit a first real test of the chosen instrument. Its not test as in get it right the first time its test as in climbing a mountain.


Need help??? If you have any study questions LINK
Big or small (or stupid) go to the Tutor/questions thread bellow and someone will answer! the chances of the same question being asked multiple times is very likely! so the answer should be there. If you really have to contact the poster of the instrument you're learning for advice, Be polite and I'm sure the user will respond, you might even make a new fren! = )
Questions thread Link

Just want to talk? Bellow is a thread made just for that.
Conversation thread link

This thread is to remain a resource and reference thread. To avoid unnecessary clutter have full conversations here

CONGRATULATIONS for taking your first steps on your journey and GOOD LUCK because you will need it! 🥳

Credits - @Canuck Breaker @Butwhythough2 Inspiration and big help with the thread.
@Double Taps Great criticism of the original draft.
@Swamp_Donkey A fellow Cello.
Thank you!
Not just to those above but to those who post,
your information is invaluable.

Semper ad tempus abimus:semperfidelis:​
 
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Is there a preferred way to learn how to quickly recognize notes, or is it just repetition and studying sheet music? I want to be able to listen to a song and say “if I want to play this on a piano, the notes are F F A A E C D …”
 
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If I'm interested in 80s and 90s synthesizers is keyboard/piano where I should start as a completely inexperienced newbie that's been putting this off for a decade and a half
 
Awesome, finally a good thread

Before anyone buys a guitar and quits 2 weeks later, here's a piece of advice for deciding what instrument to play:
Go with what feels right to you, otherwise it might feel tedious to practice and get better. Do some research. Don't go with what you think would be the most impressive or useful.

Listen to some music and think which part clicks with you. What would you be willing to hear a hundred times while you're practicing alone in your room?
Do you want to play melodic stuff or are you a rhythm autist? The kind of music you like will probably be a good indication of this.
High-pitched or low-pitched notes? Open up a virtual piano and see if one side resonates better with you. Before I knew anything about music, I used to mess around with pianos/keyboards, and I always prefered the lower notes. That was a good sign I'll eventually become a bassist.

I may come back later with bass advice.
 
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schzo said:
Do you want to play melodic stuff or are you a rhythm autist?
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I think for a complete noobie that might be too much to consider and even if you want to play more melodically learning chords is important to play melodies off of and likewise learning scales is important for building chords.

When I first started learning how to play I didn't even realize or consider that there were different roles for the same instrument. I just learned whatever parts I enjoyed and was capable of playing in songs I liked and it wasn't until I'd started getting a decent hang of playing that I started really considering rhythm and lead parts in songs.
 
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Grub said:
I think for a complete noobie that might be too much to consider and even if you want to play more melodically learning chords is important to play melodies off of and likewise learning scales is important for building chords.

When I first started learning how to play I didn't even realize or consider that there were different roles for the same instrument. I just learned whatever parts I enjoyed and was capable of playing in songs I liked and it wasn't until I'd started getting a decent hang of playing that I started really considering rhythm and lead parts in songs.
Click to expand...
You're in a beginner's guide to musical instruments thread. Any useful info that isn't obvious to a noobie could be put in the OP, no?

I personally think talking a bit about what each instruments does to a beginner gives them a better idea of what they're getting into, especially if they want to play in a band. It doesn't have to be complicated though. Just simple stuff like "if you want to play the singing part of a song on an instrument, a violin would be good". You can of course do that on anything - even a double bass - but that's not gonna happen 99% of the time.
 
Alright for Bass, I will suggest as stupid as it sounds is: Bass Guitar for Dummies by Patrick Pfeiffer. It assumes you know nothing about Bass. It gives a run down of each of the parts of the Bass, how to maintain and care for your bass, and introduces you to famous bass players that revolutionized bass playing, along with some other tid bits of info. It starts of slow teaching proper posture while playing. Then it dives into teaching how to play notes, scales, modes, then teaching you to create your own bass lines, fills, and solos. It teaches different genres and how to get a good idea of how to play them. It comes with a CD to play along to, to make sure your playing the examples correctly. There's a lot more in there but this is long enough already.

I also would recommend; Bass Guitar: Total Scales, Techniques, and Applications by Mark John Sternal. It's a more advanced book with a lot of exercises to really push your playing to a higher level. Each exercise builds on the last and it' has a good reference in the back of a lot of different scales. Look into it if you have been playing for a while and are kinda at a plateau in your playing it'll help you get over it.
 
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schzo said:
You're in a beginner's guide to musical instruments thread. Any useful info that isn't obvious to a noobie could be put in the OP, no?

I personally think talking a bit about what each instruments does to a beginner gives them a better idea of what they're getting into, especially if they want to play in a band. It doesn't have to be complicated though. Just simple stuff like "if you want to play the singing part of a song on an instrument, a violin would be good". You can of course do that on anything - even a double bass - but that's not gonna happen 99% of the time.
Click to expand...
I agree. But asking someone to decide something like that before they've even picked up an instrument can be overwhelming. One thing I've seen a lot with people wanting to learn an instrument is becoming overwhelmed with all the things and decisions involved and being put off by it all. Giving people yet another decision to make on top of all the other decisions they have to make when choosing to learn an instrument can be enough to put someone off. The number one thing I've seen that gets people to stick with learning an instrument is whether or not they're having fun.

Some people are autistic and like all the choices and all the shit you have to learn. A lot of people don't like it and they just want to learn to play songs they like. I've always found keeping shit as simple as possible, with as little actual decision making involved, for absolute beginners and slowly introducing things has always worked the best. Almost every person I've met over the years that's told me about trying to learn an instrument and giving up also has a story about some teacher pushing a bunch of shit they either weren't ready for or weren't they weren't interested in and giving up because they weren't having fun and it was all too much for them.

It's easy to take things for granted when you've done something for a long time. Even simple things you don't even think of as being a thing can be something completely brand new and overwhelming for someone who's never been introduced to it before.
 
That's one of the simplest suggestions I could make, man. And you're in a thread with a lengthy OP about how to start playing instruments... so I would guess anyone who reads this is at least mildly interested in knowing some stuff. It's not like I suggested looking into string gauges or what kind of wood your future instrument is made of.

You gotta tell me why you think this in particular is too much for a beginner. What happens when you get a tutor doesn't matter because that's at a different point in time - after you bought the instrument. And I agree too many teachers get autistic too fast and start teaching the circle of fifths or whatever
 
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There is some solid advice being posted here but no more walls of text about learning instruments, posts should be about what to look at to learn a specific instrument that you have experience with. The idea is to post references, books or any material that you recommend the reader to look at to learn an instrument in a quick and easy to read manner. If you would like to talk about learning go here or if you have questions go here.
 
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Cello

First Book
Suzuki Cello Volume 1

Information on The Suzuki Method
This information is generally applicable to anyone learning music, not just cello.

I think there is a general misunderstanding of The Suzuki Method as compared to the books. The books themselves are structured quite nicely with memorable and nice sounding music that implements new techniques in a very well thought out and natural progression. While I advocate for the books, there is nothing special about them.

The "Method" on the other hand is very underappreciated. It is built on the idea that music is a language, children learn language through immersion, therefore you should learn music through immersion. While it was intended for children, I feel this is still very helpful to adult learners as well. Listening to the music you're learning is absolutely crucial to the process. Many people neglect listening to music as a part of their journey of learning. There are some things you simply can't learn without listening.
suzuki.png

Test material
I think this should be chosen on an individual basis after the first several months. I would highly recommend performing it for people. Your first performance is a big deal and a lot of fun. The drive to practice pieces only you will hear can be difficult to maintain. The extrinsic reward and pressure will greatly help your practicing.

As for the specific piece, choose something (or a couple things) that you really love to listen to (listening is crucial to learning).

Online Resources
I would recommend a private teacher but if you begin without one then spend a lot of time watching demonstrations.
Andre Navarra demonstrates the bow hold and bow arm in absolutely minute detail. Don't try to absorb everything at once but come back to this video many times. He also talks about some advanced stuff so don't try everything all at once

This is just one way of doing things. Everyone is different and there are different schools of thought so if you see someone teach differently, that doesn't mean anyone is wrong.


Finally here is just one great cello performance.

Please @ me in the questions thread if you want to ask anything about the cello!​
 
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Swamp_Donkey said:
The "Method" on the other hand is very underappreciated. It is built on the idea that music is a language, children learn language through immersion, therefore you should learn music through immersion
Click to expand...
I remember Victor Wooten talking about music like this. He didn't say The Suzuki Method, but he gave a similar talk. He also said he took inspiration from other instruments to create his iconic style of playing.
 
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Anyone got a good book on how to play piano?
I know how to make chords and do scales but I have trouble making my hands play two different things at once. It's natural for me on bass and guitar, but piano it isn't.
 
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If you play guitar or bass get a copy of Rocksmith, either for a computer or a gaming platform. I have Rocksmith 2014 for my PS4. You need to have electric guitars/bass or acoustic-electric. It has videos to teach you techniques, so it shows you how to do something, but not why you're doing it (it's only real flaw in my opinion). But it really shines as an agility trainer on real songs. It has games as well as songs to reinforce the skills and the AI learned where you're at and will increase difficulty and incorporate more of what you already know along the way. It's helped me tremendously and I can't recommend it enough.

The current version is subscription based, which I personally detest, but if you can't get an older version you may need to go with that. But it has a million songs from real bands like the Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash, QotSA, just a ton of bands in every genre, but I really recommend playing outside of your favorite. I hate emo bands but will play their music just to learn it.

For keyboards or other electric based instruments, there is surely something comparable.
 
What worked for me when starting out was using Guitar Pro.

I download a dump of 1000s of songs, and I would learn to play along to songs I liked, then eventually songs in the dump I didn’t know.
I also tried to play with others at least once a week.

Tabs are very convenient and easy to understand, but theory is the way to go if you’re in it for the long run.
You’ll be much more informed when playing with others, but it isn’t strictly necessary.
If you develop your ear you will be able to find the key and note without theory, and you can also watch what others are doing around you for information.
But theory is the way to go.

There are plenty of good beginner videos on YouTube to help you get started, and the biggest thing is to have fun.
I hated having a teacher, but loved figuring stuff out on my own with the aid of Guitar Pro.
I ditched the teacher and went back years later to fill the gaps.

Another great learning exercise (although a little more advanced), is to learn a song you like by ear, or even just a chorus of a song.
Once you unlock that skill you will have so much fun.
 
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