Forum Moderators: open
A lot of you know (I posted here) about me and my girlfriend split in September, i'm currently trying to fill my life with new, fun, challenging things.
I thought about playing a musical instrument, I have tried to say no to guitar (I'm 20, so all my friends play the guitar), but who can resist to lure...
Any advice, tips, and theories to stop me from quitting because i'm useless to begin with are welcome.
Any reccomendations on a first guitar to buy, etc etc etc.
Cheers folks!
Jon
edit: speeling.
[edited by: phidentity at 3:54 pm (utc) on Jan. 7, 2005]
Any other reccomendations?
Jon
Jon
Difficulty: 10 the hardest, 1 the easist.
Expense: 10 being the most expensive, 1 the least.
Fun factor: 10 being the most expensive, 1 the least
Drums
Difficulty: 9 - If you don't have great coordination don't even think about playing drums. You're probably going to need a little help at first to get you started.
Expense: 8 - Lots of stuff to buy, can get very expensive depending on what you want.
Fun Factor: 9 - who doesn't like to bang away on something?!?
Notes: Pretty obvious, but drums are LOUD. Do not even consider buying them unless you have a basement that you'll probably ahve to soundproof. Also, if you're considering gigging at some point. You will have tons of gear to haul and that sucks.
Saxophone
Difficulty: 7 - it's a reed intrument which makes it hard. Once you figure out that whole thing, it's *easy* though. You're gonna need some lessons from a professional if you want to take this on.
Expense: 5 - depends on what you buy. You can buy not so good ($300-$400 used) or a nice horn ($800-$1,000 used) What's nice is you don't need all the extra stuff like amps and such. (Just reeds)
Fun Factor: 5 - I really like playing, but I wouldn't consider it super fun.
Keyboard
Difficulty: 5 - Hard to rate for difficulty. The easist instrument to play some basic stuff on. But a very hard instrument to master.
Expense: 6 - Again, depends on what you buy, but a little pricey. You go super cheap($150 used w/amp) or super expensive(thousands). And then there's the whole keyboard (electronic) vs a piano (acustic).
Fun Factor: 8 - You can makes sooooo many different sounds with a keyboard - fun stuff!
Bass guitar
Difficulty: 3 - one of the easier instruments to learn. One lesson (or advice from someone who plays) is good to get started with proper technique. After that you can learn a ton on your own.
Expense: 3 -Like everything, it varies. But I bought my lost bass and amp used for under $250
Fun Factor: 5 - Personally I have a ton of fun playing it and I'd give it a 7 or 8 but I think most would rate it lower.
In summary: If you plan on mostly playing by yourself - get a keyboard, since you've eliminated guitar. You want to play a "chord" instrument. It will be the most fun. If you have aspirations to play with others,I recommend the bass guitar. Especially since you have so many friends playing guitar. They will BEG you to play with them the second you can even play a half-*ssed bass line ,trust me;)
[edited by: mona at 6:47 pm (utc) on Jan. 7, 2005]
I was also interested in Keyboard.
Guitar interests me because most of my favourite music is guitar music, but I don't know.
Now i'm unsure on what to go for.
They all sound so much fun!
Thank you for the rundown :)
Jon
I can imagine a feirce debate in this thread shortly!
jon
Now i'm unsure on what to go for.Just pick one and start on it. When you get bored with it, pick another! That's the beauty of music, there's no finish line, no age factor (unless you want to be the next Brittney Spears or something) I started drums and sax when I was 10, guitar when I was 15, keyboard at 23, and bass when I was 27.
They all sound so much fun!
Of course this would be a shallow reason for choosing an instrument and would not factor into my decision.
Jon
I got lucky with the piano; I met a professional musician who simply showed me something, then I would practice it for a whole week until we met again. Within 6 months I was composing my own tunes as well as sight reading. But I've always moved around too much, a bad thing if you want to play a piano. (Portable keyboards didn't hold an interest for me, I enjoy the rich tones of the real thing.) That's why I like my drums, they go with me everywhere. We are talking about hand drums, not drum kits.
Whatever instrument(s) you choose, it's going to take practice. Preferably every day, even for a few minutes a day. No practice, and your instrument will collect dust.
Whatever you choose, good luck! Hope to see you around a campfire some night with a djembe!
Kinda like playing goalie in hockey, the phone never stops.
Ever hear of Victor Wooten? [victorwooten.com]
I'm a bassist, have been for the past 24 years. I also took piano lessons to expand my bass playing. Folks like Jaco [jacopastorius.com], Vic Wooten [victorwooten.com], Stanley Clarke [stanleyclarke.com], Frode Berg [frodeberg.com] have blown the doors off of bass!
Make 10 to 20 songs, burn it and sell you CD on Ebay :)
A well-known French artist (she is only 25) has done exactly the same and is now selling thousand of CD.
www.stick.com
