4 ms·

learning curve of the piano is crazy. and if you stop playing you go back to zero really really fast

by boredemployee 3y ago

crossroadsguy 3y ago
What instruments are relatively easier to play?
- marktucker 3y ago
  I could recommend taiko (Japanese) drums as an adult hobby. You very quickly get off the ground in terms of making wonderful music together with a group.
- boredemployee 3y ago
  sorry, in fact i think its hard to play any instrument, but my experience is with piano only. i studied hard for 18 months in my mid 30s and could play many pieces of Erik Satie and some other musicians.
- dheera 3y ago
  Piano or guitar are probably the best instruments for fastest path to gratification i.e. you can play something vaguely nice sounding pretty quickly, on the other of a couple months. With string instruments you sound like a crying baboon for 2 years, and with brass instruments you sound like an underwater crow for 2 years.
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  Tin whistle could be worth looking at. You'll still need a good ear and a lot of practice for your intonation though.
- Der_Einzige 3y ago
  People who are saying "Guitar" or "Piano" don't play insturments. The cello: 1. You're literally sitting when you play, whereas many violinists, violists, and bass players have to stand. 2. Big enough strings to not cause a player to develop callouses, no pain/bleeding. 3. Almost always only play one string at a time - no knowledge needed of chords. 4. Until you get ultra good, you will only need to learn 1 clef, and only a handful of key signatures I think guitar and piano are among the harder of instruments to learn. Bowed string instruments are among the easiest.
  - crossroadsguy 3y ago
    A friend learns Piano and she has tried some instruments. She told me cello and violin are one of the most difficult to even begin. But I will explore this.
QuercusMax 3y ago
That's very much not been my experience. I learned to play when I was in grade school, took most of a decade off during college and early 20s, then picked it back up. I also had an enforced multi-year hiatus when I broke my arm at age 35. I might need to do some extra drills and practice to get back to where I had been, but the fundamentals never left. Like riding a bike - might be out of shape, but I still know how everything works.
- hosh 3y ago
  That's not been my experience with the piano. I definitely forgot a lot. Maybe I never got the fundamentals set enough. It wasn't my lifelong passion either. You don't forget how to ride a bike because the bike is doing most of the work. Because of physics, a bike stays better balanced when it is moving. Compare that to say, pro racers, mountain bikers, trick riders, etc. there are significantly more skill involved in those than casually riding around.
julienmarie 3y ago
I quite disagree. Started to learn extremely young (3 years old) and I guess my relationship with the instrument became second nature. I feel there is a kind of threshold that you cross at some point and then, the skill becomes part of you, forever engraved. You know you're there when you can play the piano without a piano, just in your head and in the tingle of your muscles. When you do not need a rational stage like a score or even a piece to play. You just play what you feel. I don't play that often now, maybe 30 mins to an hour once every two or three days. My technique is not as good as it used to be. But my understanding of music, harmony and emotion is deeper. My music is better now than when I was at my peak as a technician, because as a human being, I matured.
- khazhoux 3y ago
  Similar with me and trumpet. I started in 6th grade and was very serious about it through high school. Put the trumpet down for probably 25 years. Then I got the bug in me again and started practicing and getting my chops back. In almost no time, I was once again an "advanced trumpet player" -- solid tone, good range, etc. My fingers are a bit less nimble and out of shape, but the core tone is there. That instrument is --as you say-- part of me, forever engraved.
skeeter2020 3y ago
not back to zero, but IME back to some previous, steady state.

learning curve of the piano is crazy. and if you stop playing you go back to zero really really fast

crossroadsguy 3y ago

What instruments are relatively easier to play?

marktucker 3y ago
I could recommend taiko (Japanese) drums as an adult hobby. You very quickly get off the ground in terms of making wonderful music together with a group.
boredemployee 3y ago
sorry, in fact i think its hard to play any instrument, but my experience is with piano only. i studied hard for 18 months in my mid 30s and could play many pieces of Erik Satie and some other musicians.
dheera 3y ago
Piano or guitar are probably the best instruments for fastest path to gratification i.e. you can play something vaguely nice sounding pretty quickly, on the other of a couple months. With string instruments you sound like a crying baboon for 2 years, and with brass instruments you sound like an underwater crow for 2 years.
AlecSchueler 3y ago
Tin whistle could be worth looking at. You'll still need a good ear and a lot of practice for your intonation though.
Der_Einzige 3y ago
People who are saying "Guitar" or "Piano" don't play insturments. The cello: 1. You're literally sitting when you play, whereas many violinists, violists, and bass players have to stand. 2. Big enough strings to not cause a player to develop callouses, no pain/bleeding. 3. Almost always only play one string at a time - no knowledge needed of chords. 4. Until you get ultra good, you will only need to learn 1 clef, and only a handful of key signatures I think guitar and piano are among the harder of instruments to learn. Bowed string instruments are among the easiest.
- crossroadsguy 3y ago
  A friend learns Piano and she has tried some instruments. She told me cello and violin are one of the most difficult to even begin. But I will explore this.

QuercusMax 3y ago

That's very much not been my experience. I learned to play when I was in grade school, took most of a decade off during college and early 20s, then picked it back up. I also had an enforced multi-year hiatus when I broke my arm at age 35. I might need to do some extra drills and practice to get back to where I had been, but the fundamentals never left. Like riding a bike - might be out of shape, but I still know how everything works.

hosh 3y ago
That's not been my experience with the piano. I definitely forgot a lot. Maybe I never got the fundamentals set enough. It wasn't my lifelong passion either. You don't forget how to ride a bike because the bike is doing most of the work. Because of physics, a bike stays better balanced when it is moving. Compare that to say, pro racers, mountain bikers, trick riders, etc. there are significantly more skill involved in those than casually riding around.

julienmarie 3y ago

I quite disagree. Started to learn extremely young (3 years old) and I guess my relationship with the instrument became second nature. I feel there is a kind of threshold that you cross at some point and then, the skill becomes part of you, forever engraved. You know you're there when you can play the piano without a piano, just in your head and in the tingle of your muscles. When you do not need a rational stage like a score or even a piece to play. You just play what you feel. I don't play that often now, maybe 30 mins to an hour once every two or three days. My technique is not as good as it used to be. But my understanding of music, harmony and emotion is deeper. My music is better now than when I was at my peak as a technician, because as a human being, I matured.

khazhoux 3y ago
Similar with me and trumpet. I started in 6th grade and was very serious about it through high school. Put the trumpet down for probably 25 years. Then I got the bug in me again and started practicing and getting my chops back. In almost no time, I was once again an "advanced trumpet player" -- solid tone, good range, etc. My fingers are a bit less nimble and out of shape, but the core tone is there. That instrument is --as you say-- part of me, forever engraved.

skeeter2020 3y ago

not back to zero, but IME back to some previous, steady state.