Timeline for Guidance on selecting an instrument meeting certain criteria
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 3, 2022 at 20:08 | comment | added | modenv | @Dekkadeci I was being facetious. I of course agree with you that the sentence is not true, as is saying violin would be easier because "you only have to play one note at a time". Both are very shallow observations of the instruments and while there is a grain of truth behind them, making assumptions based on it is just ridiculous. | |
| Aug 1, 2022 at 21:39 | comment | added | j-g-faustus | @Dekkadeci Still less to think about than many other instruments. I learned clarinet after a few years on piano; way simpler in the sense that you can focus on just one note at a time, but way harder in the sense that there is a ton of work involved in getting a good tone, playing in tune (in tune with yourself, aka intonation, and in tune with other instruments or backing tracks), and having clean articulation (using your tongue to stop the note and start it again, ever so slightly wrong and it sounds fuzzy or squeaks). All challenges that piano doesn't have, violin has even more of those. | |
| Aug 1, 2022 at 19:25 | comment | added | Dekkadeci | "On the other hand, the piano gives you significantly less to think about in terms of tone quality and intonation. Just press the right keys at the right time and you're good, right?" is outright false. You also have to let go of the right keys at the right time. Articulations like staccato and legato - along with pedal - can and will break an interpretation of a piece. For example, I find playing rock and metal on the piano to be significantly more convincing with biting enough staccato notes. | |
| Aug 1, 2022 at 5:12 | comment | added | ojs | I think there’s a second false dichotomy in our thinking and it’s that if you want to change something, you have to change everything at once. Or maybe the idea is that if you don’t like classical training, then punk rock is not radical enough. | |
| Jul 31, 2022 at 22:51 | comment | added | piiperi Reinstate Monica | I guess I tried to say that the OP looks like a victim of assumptions imposed by the prevailing culture, and it's not possible to break away from that because he/she cannot see examples of anything different. Why I commented here, it looked like the answer seemed to accept the assumptions without question. Like, of course you play whole pieces, that's the only imaginable thing that can be done with an instrument... I should have written an answer instead. | |
| Jul 31, 2022 at 22:31 | comment | added | modenv | I am not sure what you are arguing... But no, there is no music theory that will prevent you from exercising in your example. It essentially just gives you vocabulary to communicate it accurately to others. | |
| Jul 31, 2022 at 22:10 | comment | added | piiperi Reinstate Monica | There are different muslcal cultures where learning can be based on playing together, playing along with something or someone. If we abandon "classical" and "pieces", the world opens up. For example, in traditional Western thinking, there must be an active "performer" and a passive "listener". This is not necessary for musical fun. Then there is an assumption that music is in "pieces" that start from silence and end in silence. This is not necessary for musical fun. How about: there is music here, you come and join in, and when you leave, music doesn't stop, music stays there. Revolutionary? | |
| Jul 31, 2022 at 22:02 | comment | added | modenv | I'm not sure I agree with that. If by technical skills you mean reading music, ear training or music theory, it is absolutely helpful for a hobbyist musician to be able to play and communicate music with others. If you mean the goal should be to play music 100% creatively – that is composition. Every composition class I have ever taken will definitely indulge you in your fun unique way. | |
| Jul 31, 2022 at 21:47 | comment | added | piiperi Reinstate Monica | I think one problem is that music schools and courses insist on teaching specific technical skills that are needed for some very narrow, specific kind of music. Particularly classical instrument training is full of that - the goal is to one day become a professional player in an orchestra. The goal is NOT to have FUN, basically at all. Where is the music school where anything goes and teachers just help the student have musical fun in his/her unique way. That's what everyone wants really. Very, very, very few people start playing an instrument in order to become a professional musician. | |
| Jul 31, 2022 at 21:32 | history | answered | modenv | CC BY-SA 4.0 |