Can you learn piccolo by yourself?

Question

I currently have played the flute for 4 years and I was wondering if I needed to have lessons and or a teacher to learn the piccolo. My parents said they won’t pay for lessons and I would have to buy a piccolo on my own. I am willing to pay for the piccolo itself but do not have the money for lessons. Is it possible?

Answer 1

Picking up the piccolo is honestly a pretty natural process for flutists - when I first started playing piccolo, I learned it on my own. After you get some familiarity with it, practice with a tuner, because the pitch tendencies of piccolo are different than flute.

Answer 2

Learning piccolo by yourself is like learning any other instrument by yourself: you might have a natural talent and/or be lucky enough to avoid any pitfalls. Or you might end up doing something wrong and land in a dead-end that'll be very difficult to get out of.

Coming from the flute you have a head start, you know the fingerings, but there are important differences in embouchure, air-flow and tuning. You might pick them up naturally, but you might not.

In the end it comes down to the level you want to play at. If you want to play for fun you'll probably be okay. If you want to play in a top-level orchestra you're going to need lessons.

Answer 3

How are you learning flute? If you HAVE a teacher, I'm sure a few minutes of each flute lesson could be a piccolo lesson! Or if you're not taking regular lessons, but can afford to buy a piccolo, surely you can afford ONE lesson? Or is there a piccolo player in your band you could hang out with? (I guess someone who plays flute and wants to play piccolo IS in a band of some sort?)

Or just try. As people are saying, it's not THAT different.