i played flute to about grade 7 and it took about 6 years of relentless practise. played saxaphone to about grade 4 or 5 and it took about 2 years. i took up sax after the flute, so i learned it a lot faster as the keys are the same and i could already read music to a reasonable standard. soooo, i suppose the length of time it takes a person to learn an instrument depends on... the person, the experience they have or knowledge of music to start with and their commitment to learning it....
How long would it take to learn a musical instrument to a high level of competence?
- Thread starter Hollis
- Start date
Depends a lot on confidence as well to 'play on stage'
I seen some right rubbish players on stage and getting applause and I seen some very talented musically gifted players sitting in their bedrooms saying they not good enough.
All depends on the size of your balls and what you intend to play.
Also depends on how you want to play.
It is one thing to play by rote, ie just playing what is known and copying it, and its another to know the instrument well enough to play anything.
For instance, I have a music audition on the 2nd of August, for the audition I will play Jose Gonzales - Heartbeats. However, it is a short piece, and I have to fill a fair amount of time, the song is also in a very odd tuning, but rather then re-tuning the guitar in the middle of the audition I have decided to write a song in the same tuning.
Due to the unnatural tuning, this has required some very different finger patterns on the fretboard to anything that anyone would recognise, no simple E chords or C chords because they don't sound very good in the strange tuning (D,A,D,F#,B,E) so I have had to create new chord shapes. Having played for 16 years this isn't such a big deal, because my fingers are very adaptable.
If all I ever played was punk and simplistic songs by rote, then I would be stuck about now.
So depends a lot on what you want, if you want to be a musician then its going to take a number of years, if you want to be able to pick up an acoustic guitar at a party and impress people, then probably a few months of solid hard work would be enough.
I seen some right rubbish players on stage and getting applause and I seen some very talented musically gifted players sitting in their bedrooms saying they not good enough.
All depends on the size of your balls and what you intend to play.
Also depends on how you want to play.
It is one thing to play by rote, ie just playing what is known and copying it, and its another to know the instrument well enough to play anything.
For instance, I have a music audition on the 2nd of August, for the audition I will play Jose Gonzales - Heartbeats. However, it is a short piece, and I have to fill a fair amount of time, the song is also in a very odd tuning, but rather then re-tuning the guitar in the middle of the audition I have decided to write a song in the same tuning.
Due to the unnatural tuning, this has required some very different finger patterns on the fretboard to anything that anyone would recognise, no simple E chords or C chords because they don't sound very good in the strange tuning (D,A,D,F#,B,E) so I have had to create new chord shapes. Having played for 16 years this isn't such a big deal, because my fingers are very adaptable.
If all I ever played was punk and simplistic songs by rote, then I would be stuck about now.
So depends a lot on what you want, if you want to be a musician then its going to take a number of years, if you want to be able to pick up an acoustic guitar at a party and impress people, then probably a few months of solid hard work would be enough.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
To get to a reasonable standard on your first instrument from scratch - couple of years maybe, with at least an hour of practive a day.
And if you are serious learn classical stuff. If you can play most classical music to a resonable standard anything else, with the possible exception of jazz, will be a piece of piss.
And if you are serious learn classical stuff. If you can play most classical music to a resonable standard anything else, with the possible exception of jazz, will be a piece of piss.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Sounds about right - when I was 16 to keep my piano/organ skills up I was doing around 5 hours a day, every day.oicur0t said:
I'm not as good nowadays
trashpony
Hag
beesonthewhatnow said:Sounds about right - when I was 16 to keep my piano/organ skills up I was doing around 5 hours a day, every day.
I'm not as good nowadays
My playing is abysmal now - as is my sight reading. I'd like to think it would take me about 6 months to get it back. But that's probably a bit optimistic
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
6 months to a year sounds about right. I can still play to a reasonable standard, I'm just not as "polished", and for certain parts my fingers aren't as quick as they used to be.trashpony said:My playing is abysmal now - as is my sight reading. I'd like to think it would take me about 6 months to get it back. But that's probably a bit optimistic
As for sight reading, hmmm, I never liked that anyway
A cello teacher speaks
I reckon a year is a period in which you could reasonably expect to be getting pretty competent - enough to play in public without undue risk of humiliation anyway. It''ll depend on which instrument you decide to take up, whether you've played any other instruments when you were a kid (which is a big advantage in terms of being able to do completely unrelated things with your two hands, which otherwise can take a while to come for an adult beginner) and also how much music theory and stuff you already know - being able to read music before you start is a huge advantage, so much so that I reckon it'd be worth learning this on paper before starting on an instrument.
Given time and the right teaching I reckon there's no reason why adult beginners shouldn't get just as good as people who take it up when they're kids.
I reckon a year is a period in which you could reasonably expect to be getting pretty competent - enough to play in public without undue risk of humiliation anyway. It''ll depend on which instrument you decide to take up, whether you've played any other instruments when you were a kid (which is a big advantage in terms of being able to do completely unrelated things with your two hands, which otherwise can take a while to come for an adult beginner) and also how much music theory and stuff you already know - being able to read music before you start is a huge advantage, so much so that I reckon it'd be worth learning this on paper before starting on an instrument.
Given time and the right teaching I reckon there's no reason why adult beginners shouldn't get just as good as people who take it up when they're kids.
trashpony
Hag
beesonthewhatnow said:6 months to a year sounds about right. I can still play to a reasonable standard, I'm just not as "polished", and for certain parts my fingers aren't as quick as they used to be.
As for sight reading, hmmm, I never liked that anyway
I got kicked out of a choir I auditioned for a few years' ago because my sight reading is so crap.
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
beesonthewhatnow said:
Not true at all. Classical training doesn't teach you how to improvise or jam along, which in any other field is an essential skill. I've known good classical musicians completely at sea in jam sessions or in a band when expected to write their own parts on the spot.
I played the violin from when I was 4, and it took until I was 14 to do Grade 8 - though I guess I didn't practice properly when I was really small, like 15 mins a day or so... I only really started practicing properly (as in, not being shouted at to do it) when I was about 11, and by the time I did grade 8 I was doing an hour a day. I went to music college at 16 and realised that some of the people there were doing way more - this one girl did 8 hours a day!!
I started piano at 12 and did grade 8 at 17, though it was easier because a) I could read music and knew about it, b) I wanted to do it, and c) it's easier - unless you press the wrong key (or the whole thing isn't in tune), it's the right note, no messing around.
My mum got sponsored to do grade 1 cello in 3 months - as in 3 months from picking it up to sitting the exam. She got distinction, but she had been a professional singer, and I guess there was the incentive of being sponsored.
What am I trying to say? I don't know. I guess, it varies from instrument to instrument, prior musical knowledge, talent, how much work you're willing to put in, etc.
I wish I still played but I don't anymore...
I started piano at 12 and did grade 8 at 17, though it was easier because a) I could read music and knew about it, b) I wanted to do it, and c) it's easier - unless you press the wrong key (or the whole thing isn't in tune), it's the right note, no messing around.
My mum got sponsored to do grade 1 cello in 3 months - as in 3 months from picking it up to sitting the exam. She got distinction, but she had been a professional singer, and I guess there was the incentive of being sponsored.
What am I trying to say? I don't know. I guess, it varies from instrument to instrument, prior musical knowledge, talent, how much work you're willing to put in, etc.
I wish I still played but I don't anymore...
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
1997zenie said:
it may be a local authority thing tho. my music lessons weren't free in the eighties.
sleaterkinney
Well-Known Member
What's sight reading?
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Someone puts a piece of music in front of you that you've never seen before, says "go", and you do.sleaterkinney said:
han
love is the answer
RubyToogood said:
Totally agree with that. I've seen this situation arise a few times too. Either that or sometimes they just come out with cliches, cos they know all the 'rules'.
It totally depends on how much time you are prepared to put in. To get to a decent level, you have to practice pretty much every day really. It is a discipline. And not just playing, but practice (eg. scales, arpeggios, sight-reading, etc....). These things aren't just useful for classical music, but for all music. If you can play scales and arpeggios, then in terms of technique, eventually you'll be able to play any style of music.
It took me playing every day from aged 5-18 to get to grade 8 on violin and piano, but then I wasn't mega motivated or obsessed by it.....I was out playing bike tig when I should've been practising
I know people who have got to that stage in about 3 years by practising for an hour a day.
So it all depends on how much time you want to put in. And finding the right instrument for you. Strings (not incl. guitar and bass), brass and reed instruments are the hardest I reckon. Piano, guitar, bass, accordion, tin whistle
are probably good ones to learn if you want to make a nice sound quickly Falling in love with an instrument is the best way to get yourself motivated
Sing - it's cheaper and easier
I've been doing it for 16 odd years and I'm still not at a standard that I'm happy with (in certain areas at least) but then again I'm aiming fairly high.
(e2a - I'm a fucking sick sight reader. I shit it, I really do.)
I've been doing it for 16 odd years and I'm still not at a standard that I'm happy with (in certain areas at least) but then again I'm aiming fairly high.
(e2a - I'm a fucking sick sight reader. I shit it, I really do.)
