what should i learn to play first?
Pick an instrument you enjoy playing or could practice every day, don't pick an instrument which is a big personal hassle.
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I'd say that the most important would be that you like the instrument and won't give up/lose interest after not being a pro after just a few weeks, then it'd be kinda a waste of money ;)
Myself I love my bass guitars and grew up with a father that loves his bass guitars as much as I love my own ones, so I'm a bit biased when that's the instrument I recommend, but either way I wish you luck!
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Nice GA, thanks. I play the bassguitar with distorted sound. :)
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Learning to play the piano would give you a base to start from if you want to take up another instrument. No matter the instrument you will have to learn to read sheet music, so prepare to do some music theory :)
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As a drummer, it was a pain LOL.
Our sheet music is entirely different. :X
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i loved it too, but now in france they use Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si Do for C D E F G A B C. so i gave up theory. i mean, when my teacher says do a La! I cant. But if she says F its automatic for me. RIP theory
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Yeah, I never learned solfege either...the song from The Sound of Music is as far as my knowledge there goes.
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I took piano for a couple of years, actually started with the recorder. My mom is a music teacher so it was sort of mandatory, although she sent me to someone else to take lessons.
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Guitar is certainly a good choice. Can do folk and rock. Can get a fairly cheap starter one and move your way on up.
Honorable mention to violin. Takes you into the world of string instruments. They're everywhere and easy to get a hold of.
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Guitar is probably the lowest barrier to entry if you are looking to teach yourself. Learn a handful of chords, watch a few youtube tutorials, download some tabs of easy songs you like, and wallah! Instant musician. Depending on your motivation and ease with which you pick things up, you could be playing and singing some easy arrangements of your favorite songs in a week or two.
That said, if you have any interest in composition or learning about music theory, then proper piano lessons from a good teacher and learning to read sheet music will give you the best foundation and knowledge to really understand (and control) what you are playing.
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lowest barrier to entry
I think this sums up exactly what I've been looking for lol.
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If you want to play solo, piano or guitar are really good because they are so polyphonic (it seems you can play so much on them without an accompaniment)
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Guitar, easy to find around and play to impress the ladies.
Also Metallica.
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impressing the ladies is always a plus.
Haven't been into Metallica in a loooong time (although I can still appreciate some Sandman here and there). If I were going to do some metal I might have to consider some Rammstein... not the best music out there but it would also give me an excuse to brush up on my German while I learn hehe. (Mein Deutsche ist sehr schlecht). Then again, I think There's No Beer in Heaven or Oh Du Lieber Augustin would probably be much easier and more folksy if I went that route. :-)
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Violin! I play guitar but tbh, I wish i played violin instead.
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Love the sound of violins... especially Lindsey Sterling whenever I'm in the mood for violin + dubstep. But I have heard from quite a few folks that they are a bit difficult to learn.... I need something relatively easy to start out with to make sure I keep with it. That's not to say I dislike guitar... I'd say my problem is that I actually like too many instruments lol. I think between feedback here and from a co-worker I found that plays, I am leaning towards starting on guitar although I may start with a classic guitar instead of an acoustic one. Need to read up on them a little more before buying.
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I started with an acoustic. I think it depends if you wanna play with your fingers or a pick. Classical is much easier on your fingers than a steel string. Of course there's other reasons to pick one over the other, but in the end it comes down to a preference in sound.
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Go electric guitar. most likely u can find thinner strings (which makes them easier to play for a beginner) and u can learn easy riffs or solo.
I did electric before accoustic, and by then my fingers were strong enough to bar a fret. plus electric guitar can do some sweet sounds. u dont need to learn the theory unless u really want to, just look up tabs. only downside is electric guitar tend to cost alot more and needs a power source
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I've just started playing the drums this year, and i can tell you i'm really happy with my decision.
Before i choose which instrument i wanted to play, i looked back at my music collection. What did i buy ? What did i love ? Why ? Was it for the melodies, for the rythme, for the lyrics ? What kind of sounds did I like ? Was it short sharp and clear bursts of notes, or long stretched and slow puddles of noise ? Was I more of a leader or a shadow man ? Did I want to create or to consolidate ?
But hey, best way to tell it's to play the according instrument.
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Voted Acoustic Guitar, but you said you didnt want your fingers trashed so i would say go electric guitar easier to learn anyhow,dont worry about getting technical with it at first just learn some basic chords and at least the lower scale and just see if you enjoy it before you invest to much time and money into it.
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I would go with guitar.
Like you I had 0 musical background, apart from listening to a lot of music.
When I was 34 and backpacking in south america I decided that i would start learning how to play the guitar when I got home. Almost 5 years have passed and I still love it to bits. Will never be an awesome guitar player but it really makes me happy!
On youtube you have a lot of great teachers and you might want to take a look at rocksmith for help with the practice.
Good luck and above all, have fun :)
Edit: I own an electric, a spanish and an acoustic guitar... my favourite by far is the acoustic with niquel strings. To this day I don't really enjoy playing with nylon strings.
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That's funny... I just turned 34 in Dec lol. Appreciate the good luck wishes and glad to hear it worked out for you as well :-)
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So as a musician i play the piano and accordeon for over 8 years now (i think) and i still am not as good as i want to be. I also learned myself to play guitar and am learning this for 3 years or more now. For Piano and Accordeon ive had lessons but for guitar i had to figure it out by myself. I would say that guitar is the easiest to start on your own. Its easy to learn but hard to master. (THE HARDEST THING WHILE LEARNING MUSIC IS STAYING MOTIVATED). Ive seen a lot of people around me who wanted to learn something, but gave up because it was ''too hard'' or because it took too long. You cant learn an instrument in a day/week/year. You will improve everytime you practice.
So how do you get started then? Well, buy a guitar xD and find a song you want to learn (I dont know what kind of music you like but in case of pop/rock it is pretty easy to find the chords on ultimate guitar). This site also has a feature where you can hover over the chord to show how to play it. For guitar you want to learn to read Tab.
Another REALLY usefull program is yousician. Its free and offers guitar lessons, piano lessons and ukelele lessons. You only can play 20 minutes a day unless you buy premium, which is worth it if you like the learning method. It is a game which learns you to play the instrument from starter to at least intermediate if you keep practicing :)
So i hope ive helped a little. Here are a few usefull links:
http://yousician.com/
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/
You can also consider taking lessons ofcourse, but that can be a little expensive!
Motivation and practice is the key to becoming a great musician :D Good luck!
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I picked Other for banjo. Got a nice "twang" sound.
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Now that we are into 2017, it's time for me to get off my ass and get started on some of my resolutions. One of these was to learn to play a musical instrument. Since no one in my family / close friends is musically talented, I'm asking SG for help. And here's a GA :-)
Betrayal at Krondor GA - LVL 1+
Keep in mind that I have 0 musical background other than faking my way through a high school chorus class a long long time ago and having once dated a girl that played piano... so looking for something somewhat easy to start out with that won't take ages to learn. If I manage to stick with it, I can always graduate up. Anyway, I am thinking more toward classical/folk music but also some classic rock such as the eagles and maybe some progressive rock. More inclined to learn a string instrument but I might consider a something else if it gets recommended enough. Anything that won't destroy my fingers is also a plus (leaning toward nylon strings for this reason).
Especially interested in hearing from folks who managed to figure things out on their own or taught someone in a similar boat. But if you grew around music and/or have tips still feel free to share.
UPDATE 1/10:
Looks like Guitar wins by a landslide. Which is awesome because I was pretty much really between Guitar and Uke in my head when I started this thread. Based on all the feedback I'm wondering if 'acoustic' is really the right one to start with (going to look into what I'm told is called 'classic guitar' as well) but now that I've narrowed to guitar it should be a lot easier to research. Thanks for all the feedback!
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