Learning an Instrument

The most difficult and discouraging time you’ll encounter when learning an instrument happens right at the beginning. There’s so much to take in that it can seem mind-boggling. There are fingerings ...

A new instrument can be a serious investment of money, and probably not one you want to make when you're starting out, especially if it's for your child. Some places will rent instruments, which is ...

You've decided what instrument you want to play. Now looking around, you're presented with a range of choices, from cheap to far beyond your wallet. How do you decide which one to buy? The ...

To be a DJ, you not only have to love music, you have to know music, a wide range of music and have the kind of ear for how it goes together. More than that, you have to have a huge collection of ...

It's all about the lips. Beyond talking or eating, most of us rarely think about our lips, but if you're going to play a brass instrument, you'll be considering them a lot. If the roaring sound of a ...

Since man first stamped on the earth or clapped his hands, making rhythm has been a part of life. Rhythm is there in all the music we hear, whether it's a Beethoven symphony, the backbeat of rock 'n' ...

The electric bass guitar is a relatively new instrument, one that came into existence to support the louder electric guitar, and which first found itself in use during the early years of rock 'n' ...

It's quite simple to learn to play the guitar. Mastering it, and becoming a good guitarist, is something that can take years, however, requiring dedication and practice. But anyone can learn the ...

The strings - violin, viola and cello - share several common traits. All have four strings, tuned with the same intervals between them, and are mostly played with play rubbing a bow over the strings ...

There are plenty of pluses about playing the harmonica (or mouth organ or mouth harp – it goes by several different names). It’s very small and portable, you only have to put it in your pocket and ...

Go back a century or two, and it seemed that many people (especially girls) learnt piano. It was one of those skills that rounded out an education. Today, however, very few play, and the idea of ...

Clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, oboe, English horn…they're vastly different instruments, but have one thing in common; they're all part of the woodwind family, which means they're played by blowing ...

Many people find music scores daunting, unable to decipher the dots on a page. But music is actually a fairly simple language, easy to master. And once you've learnt it, it opens up a new world for ...

Buying an instrument is just the first step. Now you own it, you have to look after it. Depending on the instrument, that could mean doing quite a lot, or just periodic maintenance. You have to ...

Learning an instrument is a slow, ongoing process, especially in the early stages when you feel like you're all fingers and thumbs. At times, too, it can be very frustrating, trying to learn a new, ...

There's an old joke that goes "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" "Practice, practice, practice." The thing is that there's plenty of truth in it. It's all very well taking lessons, they can show ...

These days most CDs you hear have programming of some kind on them. That could consist of beats and/or sounds created on computer for the song. You might not even realise you're hearing it - but the ...

Already playing one instrument gives you a big advantage when you start learning another. You already have a solid grasp of music and music theory which is a great help in making music from the notes ...

If you already play one instrument but want to learn something different – going from piano to flute' say – you enter with some distinct advantages. You’ll almost certainly already be able to read ...